Refrigerated Trailer Technology Is Rapidly Changing

Episode 311: We recently attended the Technology and Maintenance Council’s (TMC) spring meeting in New Orleans where we had the opportunity to delve into the forefront of innovation in the trucking industry. Our host Jamie Irvine had the chance to interview subject matter experts about how the trucking industry is expanding and embracing advancements in technology to mutually benefit the industry and the environment.

In this episode, we’re joined by Chris Tanaka, VP of Product Management at Thermo King, discussing their innovative technology and predictive analytics, and how they are leading and learning with their customers. Join us as we explore how their approach is driving positive change in trucking.

Show Notes: Visit HeavyDutyPartsReport.com for complete show notes of this episode and to subscribe to all our content.

Sponsors of this Episode

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Transcript

Jamie Irvine: 0:39

You're listening to the Heavy Duty Parts Report. I'm your host, Jamie Irvin, and this is the place where we have conversations that empower heavy duty people. In this episode, we are going to talk about why feedback from the market is so very important for heavy duty parts companies, how refrigerated trailer technology is rapidly changing, and we're going to talk about how making the same mistake repeatedly isn't heavy duty. Let's get started. I was recently at the Technology and Maintenance Council's spring annual meeting in New Orleans, and while there, I got the opportunity to interview a number of the exhibitors at the show. It was a fantastic show. Over the next four weeks, we are going to share those interviews with you, and we're also going to provide you with some of the things that were learned while I was at the show.

Jamie Irvine: 1:34

On the first day that I was there, I attended their press release day, or their press conference day, and that is where I got an opportunity to hear about some of the new things that are happening in the heavy duty industry. Let me tell you, there is some exciting stuff coming in the way of technology and in the way of new parts. While I was there, I got the opportunity to meet a lot of their marketing departments and we talked about having those companies come on the show. Look forward to some of those interviews in the weeks to come. I was also very privileged to have the opportunity to volunteer for one of the task force. I volunteer for S14, which focuses on last mile delivery and vocational vehicles and equipment. The work that we have done over the last few months for VMRS codes has actually been very impactful for the vocational fleets that run equipment that are outside of the normal Class 7 through 8 truck and trailer combos. Next, this task force is going to work on tackling how to prep a battery electric vehicle for upfitting.

Jamie Irvine: 2:43

The work that is done at these task force meetings is just one of the many ways that the TMC, or the Technology and Maintenance Council, provides a really high level of ongoing support to the trucking industry. As someone who's been in this industry for a long time, I can tell you it is a real privilege to work with the men and women in this task force and participate in a small way. Everybody adds to that and participates and the results are really good for the trucking industry. In today's episode we are going to share with you an interview that we did with ThermoKing at TMC. Before we do that, I want to talk specifically about something that Chris Tanaka from ThermoKing said about their company's approach to developing new products and solutions and adapting to the changing mandates for commercial equipment. Listen into what Chris had to say.

Chris Tanaka: 3:37

Well, we're leading and we're learning. So we're leading in that the segments that are already being regulated or soon to be regulated, we have leading products available now for customers to use and to buy again at scale In the places that are yet to be regulated, including like trailer refrigeration zero mission is not clear what path that will go from a technology standpoint regulation and so we're experimenting and running field trials and learning with our customers, because it impacts both the way we build equipment and how we service it for them, and also how customers will operate their fleets.

Jamie Irvine: 4:18

Now this really jumped out to me, because when we are consulting with heavy duty companies, in both I would say the manufacturing side of the business as well as the distribution side of the business, there is sometimes a reluctancy to openly learn with customers. Now, after all, the reason anyone buys from a supplier whether it be for a product or a service is supposed to be because that supplier is an expert in what they do. The problem that arises, though, is that if you don't take enough time to really learn what's going on in the field or in the marketplace, then you can miss unexpected lessons and learnings that can really help you to expand your offering and solve more problems for your customers. This is what happened with ThermoKing. They were able to humbly approach the market and say, look, there's a lot happening with electric vehicles and with the changes in the mandates, and we don't pretend to know everything. So we're going to join forces with our customers and we're going to learn with them. So we're going to lead and we're going to learn, and I thought this approach was so good. Now, later in the interview, chris explains one of the unexpected things that they learned by working with their fleet customers and how that actually impacted ThermoKing. So I'll let you listen to the rest of the interview to hear what Chris had to say.

Jamie Irvine: 5:42

At the Heavy Duty Consultant Corporation, we provide our clients with a service we call a market investigation. We've helped our clients get a better understanding of how their customers perceive them. We've helped our clients get a better understanding of what their actual buying journey actually is like for their customers, both in the traditional sense also in a digital sales channel. And also we, of course, have worked with our clients to determine how obtainable a specific product category is for them. What is the total market size? What could they reasonably expect to obtain, given the infrastructure and the resources at their disposal? So these are the kinds of things that we have done with our clients to really help them get into the field, understand what's going on and be able to then use that information to strategically make changes in their business to better serve their customers. Now, when we do a market investigation for a client, we do interviews remotely, we collect research and data, but most importantly, we do field work, where we actually go out into the field and talk to real people and find out what's really going on. This information has proved to be extremely valuable for our clients and has led them to really transform the way that they go to market. If you would like to meet with us to discuss having us conduct a market investigation for you, what I'd like you to do is go over to heavydutyconsultingcom, click on the Meet with Us button and we will set up a meeting to discuss your specific situation and find out whether or not we would be able to provide you with that investigation to find the information you need to know to make your business better for your customers, because that's what it's all about. Now we're going to take a quick break to hear from our sponsors and when we get back we'll be sharing our interview with ThermoKing that was conducted at TMC, where we are going to discuss why refrigerated trailer technology is rapidly changing. We'll be right back.

Jamie Irvine: 7:42

Are you deferring maintenance because of filter cost or availability or, worse yet, are you trading down to no-name filters to try to save a few bucks? Either way, you're rolling the dice. The good news there's a new premium filter option for fleets Hank's filtration. If you're responsible for a fleet, you won't believe how much using Hank's filters will save you. But you've got to go to heavydutypartsreportcom slash hanks to find out more. That's heavydutypartsreportcom. Slash H-E-N-G-S-T Head there. Now. This episode of the Heavy Duty Parts Report is brought to you by Find it Parts, your ultimate destination for heavy-duty truck and trailer parts. Discover a vast range of parts at finditpartscom. Don't spend hours a day looking for parts. Instead, visit finditpartscom and get them right away. We're back from our break. Listen into my interview with ThermoKing at TMC, where we talk about why refrigerated trailer technology is rapidly changing. My guest today is Chris Tanaka, the VP of Product Management at ThermoKing. We are in New Orleans at the Technology and Maintenance Council. Chris, so glad to have you on the Heavy Duty Parts employee.

Chris Tanaka: 8:53

Thank you.

Jamie Irvine: 8:54

Thank you, it's been great. So we're here at TMC. I know that there's a lot of fleets that come to this show. This is one of the big shows of the year and I wanted to take a little bit of time to get to know you, get to know your company. But before we get into that, can you tell me why is the segment of the trucking industry that you serve? Why is it so important?

Chris Tanaka: 9:14

So, jamie, we're a climate innovator. 15% of the world's greenhouse gases come from heating and cooling buildings and another 10% come from food waste. We sell and manufacture refrigerated transport equipment, and that does both it's heating and cooling on the move, and it's also protecting food and medicines perishables as they transport across the country.

Jamie Irvine: 9:41

For all of us that work in the trucking industry. I think we understand how integral the trucking industry is. But during COVID I think the world got a reminder of why the trucking industry is so important. We saw those supply chain issues that had a massive impact on everyone, and when I think of the trucking industry playing that critical role in society, if you don't have food, things go bad really, really quickly, correct.

Chris Tanaka: 10:04

Yeah absolutely. There are other segments of trucking that are really tied to consumer spending and demand, but everybody's got to eat and everybody goes to the doctor, so perishables are critical to keep control.

Jamie Irvine: 10:16

Critical to keep control. So tell me a little bit about your company, then. And it's like why? Because you've dedicated this entire company to serving that part of the market and really supporting society. That's a big thing to really attach yourself to and to be committed to doing real excellence in that area. So just tell me a little bit of it.

Chris Tanaka: 10:38

I think you had before that your company has an interesting why, thank you? So our purpose is to challenge what's possible and to innovate for a sustainable world. So how that affects the transportation space is that we're going through a transition. We're transitioning from predominantly diesel technology to electric and other forms of zero emission technology. That's a big change and all through it, the demand for food and for medicines will continue.

Jamie Irvine: 11:06

Yeah, absolutely. So tell me a little bit about the kind of ideal customer that you're looking to serve. Now, obviously they have to be in that refrigerated space and you could say just fleet. But then you give me a little more detail about who you're really looking to work with.

Chris Tanaka: 11:21

So our business has certainly four fleets that are doing temperature control of perishables. That's a segment. But then also right behind us we have auxiliary power unit equipment that actually can be for dry fleets. Anybody who's idling an engine today. We can move that to a solution that reduces idle, reduces greenhouse gas and fuel emissions.

Jamie Irvine: 11:47

Right, right, no, that's such an important part of the market as well. So let's talk for a moment about the kind of the core problems that those kinds of fleets face that your company has really committed to providing a solution to. So talk to me through. What does those problems look like and how does it impact?

Chris Tanaka: 12:04

their business. So the most common problem as people look to transition from traditional technology to tomorrow's zero emission technology is typically the fuel or power source for transporting all of this and keeping temperature. Control is on board in the form of an engine, and so, no matter how inefficient you're running your operation or how far you need to go, a gas station is just around the corner. So as fleets look to move to zero emission technology, they now have diminishing power source on board in the form of a battery, and so range anxiety is a term that we hear in our space.

Chris Tanaka: 12:45

So, can I make my journey? Can I make it to all the regular stores I used to go to with the same truck, the same load, and that's different. Fleets are learning.

Jamie Irvine: 12:56

So what would be the economic impact of that range anxiety manifesting itself in a worst case scenario?

Chris Tanaka: 13:02

Well, worst case scenario is always load loss, right where you actually lose the cargo. But to adjust for that, if you're not able to complete the identical ranges, you have to buy more assets, because instead of being able to stop at, say, four stores, you can only stop at two. So now you need two trucks or you have to come back and charge at home base and that affects the total cost of operation, logistics of getting trucks in and out of your yard, etc.

Jamie Irvine: 13:31

Yeah, and a rise in cost across the industry and the trucking sector has an impact on everybody, so it drives up the price of everything that gets delivered.

Chris Tanaka: 13:40

Yeah, absolutely so. Cost is, even if we just are able to serve the same customers with the same number of assets the physical cost of the technology, charging infrastructure. All of these are things that, as we work towards scale, the costs will come down, but in getting started these are typically more expensive technologies.

Jamie Irvine: 14:02

So let's talk a little bit about the way that your company has approached a solution to these problems to try to alleviate that pain. You mentioned that word, right, those words total cost of operation. So how are you helping drive that down as these fleets transition to this new technology?

Chris Tanaka: 14:19

Well, we're leading and we're learning. So we're leading in that the segments that are already being regulated or soon to be regulated, we have leading products available now for customers to use and to buy again at scale. In the places that are yet to be regulated, including like trailer refrigeration, zero mission is not clear what path that will go from a technology standpoint regulation and so we're experimenting and running field trials and learning with our customers, because it impacts both the way we build equipment and how we service it for them, and also how customers will operate their fleets.

Jamie Irvine: 15:01

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense to me Now, when you are in that learning phase and you're doing those field tests what has been? Without obviously giving away anything, but just tell me a couple of interesting things that you learned, that that maybe, from your perspective, you're like hmm, didn't see that coming.

Chris Tanaka: 15:18

Yeah. So one one that was was really striking is when we first put an all electric unit and we had a backup diesel engine so they could operate as a hybrid, so there was no risk of load loss. The customer's intention was to run it all electric. They had done all the math and said I can make it to all my stops and we learned, using our telematics data, that 85% of the battery charge was consumed before the truck ever left the yard. It's 85% Now.

Chris Tanaka: 15:51

that was news, obviously, to us and affected the ability to run the experiment, but it was also news to the customer right. So in that moment they learned a ton about their on the ground operation, of how operators were doing early pull down and cooling of their equipment much earlier than was needed, which was leading to higher electricity costs, higher diesel costs and also higher emissions.

Jamie Irvine: 16:16

You know I've been selling parts a long time and you can look at it like you're just selling a replacement part or you're speccing something for OEMs, but at the end of the day, there's this real world impact of what we do, and I love it. I love hearing stories like that because to be able to actually go to a customer and say we manufactured this, but while we work with you, we're gonna help you in these other areas of your business. To me, that's where we've won.

Chris Tanaka: 16:41

Yep, I agree. And as you think about moving to new technologies, setting up the supply chain and the aftermarket to be able to service these new technologies, for us to have at our dealer locations, for example, train technician write parts on hand in the right locations. This is critical as you move from one technology to another.

Jamie Irvine: 17:02

Absolutely. So you're here at the booth. You're gonna be talking to customers all day long. Just tell me about one of the things you're gonna talk to them about when they come to your booth.

Chris Tanaka: 17:11

Well, one of the things we're gonna talk about is our telematics journey right? So when you electrify, you digitize. So all of this equipment is electronics, and one of the best things we can do to help protect the customer's load and also to teach them and learn side by side with them about electrification is to read back to them in real time exactly how their units are operating, how it's interfacing with the ambient, climate, environment, door openings, all the things that affect their operation and in choosing the right assets. So we have that on display here. We're doing predictive analytics in a way that 93% of the time when we alert a customer that hey, this component is likely to fail in the next two weeks if they don't take action, it fails.

Chris Tanaka: 18:03

Yeah, yeah 93% 93%, and that's because we have years and years of the warranty manufacturing history of this and the service history with our dealer network. So we know the equipment intimately and we're able to help coach customers on how to do proactive service instead of waiting for something to break out on the road, which is a big interruption.

Jamie Irvine: 18:27

Tell me another story of how you've helped a customer recently to have success with one of your solutions.

Chris Tanaka: 18:33

So another customer was looking at buying our auxiliary power units for their Class 8 sleep retractors. They previously weren't buying them. They are a large national, international brand and they've made some lofty climate commitments. So some of those things like fully electrifying a fleet, these are very capital intensive things to do. Charging infrastructure is gonna take time to buy it, but one thing that they could do right away is to buy our auxiliary power units so now when a driver is sleeping overnight they don't need to idle the tractor engine, which could be burning as much as that can be.

Chris Tanaka: 19:15

Yeah, so that can be that can be almost a gallon per hour of idle and instead they can move to an electric solution or they can idle less than a tenth of a gallon an hour. And the motivation though it makes financial sense. There's a great payback on buying that asset. The real motivation is this was a step function down payment on their journey towards decarbonization, because the carbon emission that was saved was tremendous for that company. That's fantastic that's fantastic.

Jamie Irvine: 19:44

Well, I really appreciate you taking time talking to me today. I know that these shows are very busy, so I'm gonna let you get back and start talking to some more customers. You've been listening to the Heavy Duty Parts Report. My name is Jamie Irvin. I've been with Chris Tanaka. He is the vice president of product management at ThermoKing. To learn more about ThermoKing, go to thermokingscom. Links will be in the show notes, Chris. Thanks for being on the show. Jamie, thank you so much. Awesome. I really enjoyed my conversation with Chris Tanaka from ThermoKing and I hope that you did as well.

Jamie Irvine: 20:15

It's now time for the segment that's Not Heavy Duty. In this edition of that's Not Heavy Duty, I wanted to talk about a trucking company that is from my old stomping grounds. They are from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Now this particular company it's Kohan Freight Foreraders LTD. They have had their operating license pulled by the provincial government. Why did that happen? Because of six overpass strikes. Six of their trucks have hit either overpasses or bridges in a very short period of time and therefore they've had their operating license pulled. Now, to put that into perspective, there have been 34 overpass or bridge strikes in BC since 2021. That means that this one fleet is responsible for 5.6% of the overpass or bridge strikes in that time period. Now, 5.6% doesn't sound like a lot, but you gotta realize there are 26,000 trucking companies in British Columbia right now. So this one company is accounting for many, many of these bridge strikes, and obviously there are thousands of companies that are having zero overpass and bridge strikes. Now, we don't know all the details of why this is happening.

Jamie Irvine: 21:36

Everyone makes mistakes, but making the same mistake repeatedly is not heavy duty. The solution, of course, may be multifaceted. Perhaps there's systemization, required training, and obviously there needs to be some enforcement to ensure that these policies and procedures are followed to avoid this kind of an outcome. But wouldn't you agree that when the stakes are this high, all of that work is totally worth it? That's the heavy duty way.

Jamie Irvine: 22:06

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Heavy Duty Parts Report Tune in next week, where we're gonna share two interviews with you, again from TMC, about technology in modern trucks and how to effectively handle all that data that is being created by all of this technology. If you haven't already, head over to heavydutypartsreportcom and hit that follow button, Sign up to our weekly email one email a week so you never miss out on our content. If you're listening on the podcast player of your choice, hit the follow button and if it gives you the option, give us a five star review and a rating. That would be great. And if you are watching the video version on YouTube, make sure that you hit the subscribe and that bell notification so you never miss out. Thank you again so much for listening to the Heavy Duty Parts Report. I really appreciate you and, as always, I wanna encourage you to be heavy duty. Thank you.