3 Ways to Control Temperature with Wialon

Most of consumer goods are transported by land. Our partners mastered the whole process of ground transportation, from fuel control to driving behavior and tacho data analysis. But that doesn’t seem to be enough - businesses more and more often perform refrigerated transportations of special categories of goods where temperature conditions are critical (chemical products, medications, flowers and perishable subsistence).    

Temperature variations may cause considerable losses (up to 15% of dairy products). The refund is up to freight forwarders (if the guilt is established) or insurance companies (which makes insurance more expensive in future). Sometimes refrigerating system may be turned off by unfair drivers willing to save fuel.More than 60 Gurtam partners operate in hot countries, where deactivated refrigerator may result in 35+ °С inside the trailer. It means that within an hour you’ll get a full truck of spoiled goods. Apart from financial losses you risk to be discredited and fall behind those companies striving for goods safety. Factory-installed temperature controllers allow to track cargo condition throughout the way. The use of special refrigerator control system combined with Wialon ensures real-time temperature control for you to be notified on temperature alterations, door opening/closing and refrigeration unit status in different moments of time. Upon that, the cost of satellite tracking system implementation and maintenance may amount to <1% of total fleet management costs of carrier companies and allows for higher safety of cargo transported. There are various methods to implement the solution: temperature sensors installation, temperature recorders utilization and alternative iOFreeze solution.

Additional Sensors

It’s now a common practice to install temperature sensors (loggers) collecting data on temperature and humidity to control refrigeration units. UAE-based Gredenza company use door opening sensors, allowing to determine the reason for temperature conditions violations and prevent thefts. Sensor values alterations and event locations are displayed in reports while alerts are sent immediately.Sensor values are stored in logger memory and reflected on special displays. To make the data available in a tracking system the memory module must be connected to a computer. It should be noted that not every system can handle the analysis of large amounts of data, as to define connection between doors opening and temperature variations you need all the parameters to be displayed for a single time period. The main disadvantage of the approach is the complexity of installation (mounting long cables throughout the trailer and truck). Moreover, every sensor records only one parameter in one point. To build a complete picture a large number sensors is required, which makes the installation process both time-consuming and costly. To pass over the inconveniences wireless sensors are implemented, making temperature monitoring more accessible.  

Refrigeration Unit Recorders

Some refrigerator trucks are supplemented with recorders (retranslators). The devices collect data on refrigeration units from temperature and door opening sensors and use automobile controllers to transfer data to a tracking system to register and predict critical variations. The recorders may either be pre-installed or purchased later on, with Euroscan, DataCold and i-Box being the most well-established. Wialon system provides a dispatcher with comprehensive information on environment alterations throughout the trip. 

• Outside temperature;
• Specified cargo temperature (actual vs. required);
• Mode of operation (continuous, automatic, defrost);
• Motor hours and engine hours;
• Diagnostics data.   

Just recently Gurtam presented an effective combination of Carrier refrigeration units and DataCold recorders. Thus the users acquire the following data:

• temperature (tables and charts for any period of time, online/SMS/e-mail notifications, unit tooltips);

• refrigerator status (reports on switch on/off times and locations);

• door opening/closing (door opening/closing detection);

The main advantage of the solution is the completeness of data obtained, as certain data can’t be acquired only with separate sensors. Secondly it doesn’t require time-consuming sensors mounting. However, the solution is rather costly and not all types of GPS trackers are supported. For instance GalileoSky devices read data from i-Box, DataCold, Euroscan recorders (for Thermo King, Carrier, Mitsubishi, Lumikko refrigerators), Teltonika and Ruptela devices work with i-Box and Euroscan (for ThermoKing, Optitemp and Carrier refrigerators). So really has to be considered is the choice of equipment. 

iQFreeze Solution

Just recently Quarta Technologies has released iQFreeze as an innovative solution for refrigeration units control that contains iQFreeze on-board unit adapter-recorder as a core component. The utilization of this component allows to transmit data to the system right from refrigeration unit controller, omitting CAN and RS-232. iQFreeze solution is integrated with Wialon system allowing the dispatcher to analyze information on cargo condition in real time:

• Reports (actual vs. required temperature, location and door opening duration);

• Charts (temperature data visualization);

• Online, SMS, e-mail notifications.

Moreover iQFreeze alerts drivers with sound and visual notifications via iQFreeze mobile application. At the moment iQFreeze and Wialon combination is used for ThermoKing, Carrier and Zanotti refrigerators and proved to be cheaper loggers/recorders installation and maintenance, thus making refrigerated transportation cost-effective. With multiple ways of temperature control, Wialon system is expected to bring significant benefits to all parties involved in transportation. Clients are always sure that the cargo is delivered in full and on time. Carriers immediately address transportation conditions violations, unauthorized refrigeration unit shutdown, thus minimizing the probability of cargo spoilage. Finally, the buyers never experience interruption in high-quality products deliveries. English localization is coming, so very soon our partners from the international region can benefit from the solution! Every approach has its own pros and cons. In most cases the choice is determined by specific purposes. The necessity of temperature control is proven and Wialon makes it accessible.