ThermoGuard
With record high diesel fuel prices impacting the profit margins of trucking companies, finding every possible savings pays off. Refrigerated motor carriers understand that as insulation in a refrigerated trailer ages, it degrades, which adds to fuel costs because the trailer’s cooling unit works harder, runs longer and consumes more fuel to keep the trailer at the desired temperature.
Most refrigerated trailers today are insulated with polyurethane foam because it is lightweight, cost effective, versatile in the manufacturing process, and allows for a wide variety of applications. Though polyurethane initially provides excellent insulating performance, the foam inevitably loses its ability to insulate effectively as the trailer ages.
To resolve this problem, Great Dane Trailers developed a product that addresses this challenge very effectively by combining the advantages of an FRP liner with the sealing ability of a metal skin. The patented interior liner for refrigerated trailers is constructed like traditional FRP, but with an added composite layer to seal the insulation and significantly reduce insulation degradation.
Great Dane’s answer is ThermoGuard, an exclusive glass-reinforced thermoplastic reefer interior liner. ThermoGuard is not just the only liner that helps maintain insulation performance for the life of a trailer, which can extend vehicle life and enhancing resale value. But it is also an environmentally friendly solution made from recyclable materials that provides the added and highly valuable benefit of reduced fuel consumption.
Incorporated into the revolutionary design is a composite layer that seals the trailer’s insulation, enhancing the insulation’s thermal efficiency and helping maintain excess cooling capacity. Year after year, that advantage leads to reduced cooling unit run-time, saving fuel. Over the course of five years, ThermoGuard can potentially reduce cooling unit run time by more than 1,000 hours.
To reduce cooling unit run time and in turn fuel consumption, ThermoGuard addresses the thermal degradation that occurs in the polyurethane foam insulation used in all traditionally lined refrigerated trailers. While lightweight and providing for excellent insulating performance in a wide variety of applications, polyurethane foam insulation injected into walls, floors and ceilings is subject to a chemical reaction. During this process, insulating gas in the foam expands and is retained in the cell structure of the polyurethane. Over time, some of the cell gas escapes from the foam and air migrates into the cells.
As more of the insulating cell gas escapes and air gets into the cells, as well as from trailer damage, moisture intrusion or air loss, the polyurethane foam loses its insulating capacity. When insulation performance suffers, longer cooling unit run-times are required to make up for the subsequent loss of thermal efficiency.
Durable and substantially stronger than other reefer liners, ThermoGuard can also lower operational costs by cutting maintenance and repair needs. Incredibly thin, this strong, lightweight lining is superior to traditional liners used in most refrigerated trailers and can save up to 200 additional pounds as well.
ThermoGuard helps save cooling unit fuel and extends the useful life of a refrigerated trailer, making it a very valuable trailer option for the bottom lines of both fleets and the environment.