Big Y Foods to upgrade refrigerated trailer-truck fleet

Regional grocer Big Y Foods aims to keep a closer watch on cold-chain transport by upgrading to new truck trailers equipped with Carrier Transicold’s X4 7300 refrigeration units and eSolutions remote management platform.

Plans call for Springfield, Mass.-based Big Y to replace two-thirds of its 70 refrigerated trailers with the new solution through Ryder System Inc., with Carrier Transicold of Southern New England (CTSNE) providing the refrigeration units and telematics support, Carrier Transicold reported. The eSolutions technology stands to bolster food safety by providing continuous visibility of Big Y’s cold-chain assets through a centralized data stream that shows trailer temperatures, location and movement and enables remote control of refrigeration units.

Within Big Y’s expansive service footprint, the refrigerated trailers serve more than 70 supermarkets and 12 convenience marts in New England. Overall, Big Y Foods operates 85 stores in Massachusetts and Connecticut, including 71 Big Y World Class Market supermarkets, one Fresh Acres Market grocery store, one Table & Vine Fine Wines & Liquors store, and 12 Big Y Express fuel and convenience locations. 

“We have a very robust program for monitoring temperatures and conducting food safety checks,” Steve Creed, vice president of logistics and distribution at Big Y Foods, said in a statement. “The Carrier Transicold telematics system is an important contributor to that initiative.”

Related:Albertsons marks milestone with 100% zero-emission truck delivery

Besides monitoring trailer temperatures, eSolutions sends Big Y notifications as trailers arrive and depart from geofenced areas assigned to the grocer’s distribution center and key locations in its retail network, according to Athens, Ga.-based Carrier Transicold, part of Carrier Global Corp.’s Truck Trailer North America arm. The system also optimizes refrigeration unit performance to improve fuel efficiency and product protection; monitors trailer pre-cooling time to minimize fuel waste; and raises refrigeration unit uptime via continuous analytic and diagnostic information on unit performance, including alerts if a warning condition occurs on a unit in service.

Carrier Transicold noted that eSolutions also can locate unused or under-used trailer assets, including trailers dropped off by Big Y’s third-party logistics provider at vendor partners — where they may be parked idle for a few days until loaded — and helps avoid emergency call-out situations, where a refrigeration unit must be reprimed because it ran out of fuel. Fuel level monitoring sensors allow dispatchers to receive low-fuel alerts via eSolutions, and units can be programmed to automatically shut down before running out of fuel, Carrier Transicold said.

Related:UNFI cuts emissions with DC’s shift to all-electric cold truck trailers