As a seasoned veteran in Australia’s refrigerated transport industry, Transport Refrigeration Services (TRS) knows all about quality. The refrigerated transport solutions provider has dealt with this quality firsthand for decades by supplying the domestic market with an assortment of trusted cold chain brands.
This innate understanding of quality is also present in TRS’ manufacturing, a side of the business which came to fruition later in its lifetime. TRS’ Thermaxx refrigerated bodies and custom meat hanger bodies are built with this quality in mind and have become standouts in their respective fields.
“We’ve built over six-and-a-half thousand Thermaxx bodies in the 12 years that we’ve been manufacturing them,” says TRS National Sales Manager, Luke Gordon. “Our builds lead the market in quality and are backed by a four-year warranty and lightweight construction.”
Thermaxx is known in the market for its low K-value and versatility. According to Luke, the product line attracts two distinct customer types.
“We always angle our builds to what our customers want,” he says. “We will often have either a very sustainably conscious customer that is after lower emissions with better cooling or someone who simply needs to lower their operating costs.
“Both of these needs are valid and both can be accommodated by Thermaxx. Our builds can cover all the facets of what a customer wants because these different requests are tied together by one non-negotiable factor – cost of ownership.”
TRS’ Thermaxx bodies boast a low cost of ownership through their sheer durability and longevity. This has long been a cornerstone of TRS’ promotion for the product range, but Luke says it’s now finally proving to be true.
“The Thermaxx build is a two-chassis body when given the right amount of love,” he says. “We always knew this was the case, but we can finally see the proof now because the product has been in the market for 12 years.”
“Our Thermaxx model is being used by a whole range of customers because of how long it lasts. This includes pharmaceutical companies, art businesses, standard food distributors, linehaul operators and more.”
To Luke, this wide variety of customers is a testament to the integral nature of cold chain logistics and TRS’ ability to provide a solution for it.
“Anything that has an optimal temperature range can’t be sat on the back of a tilt-tray on a 40-degree day,” he says. “So many things need to be temperature-controlled, and we offer that service at a very high quality. The dynamic and durable nature of the product is the best thing about selling them.”
The noteworthy durability of the original Thermaxx range is also carried over to TRS’ line of meat hangers, as both products are made with the same sturdy material.
“The panels that you see in a run-of-the-mill advertised Thermaxx body are the same ones used in all meat-hanging units,” Luke explains. “So, our meat hangers offer the same thermal efficiency, warranty and return on investment as our other builds.”
This is bolstered by a lightweight fibreglass construction which reduces running costs while offering greater payloads due to its high strength-to-weight ratio.
Versatility is another feature that the meat hangers share with the Thermaxx product line. As Luke explains, the niche market of meat carting comes with its own stringent demands.
“We tailor each meat hanger to the particular customer receiving it,” he says. “We offer different rail configurations, hook systems and spacing depending on what’s needed by our customers.
“For pork, beef, lamb or any kind of meat that’s hung during transport, our meat hangers have ‘east-to-west’ rails which run side-to-side within the body for transporters who are delivering meat to butchers. Alternatively, some of our meat hangers are also built with ‘north-to-south’ rails which are typically used by abattoirs when meat is coming off a line.”
For TRS, it is imperative that it caters to such specific industry needs so that its meat hangers can have a wider application. Luke believes this ability unlocks the benefits of the range for all sorts of end users.
“Our customers know exactly what they want and what works for them,” he says. “We have a great design team that creates the schematics of our meat hangers and shows it to the customers prior to manufacturing them so that they know precisely what they’re getting.
“There are so many idiosyncrasies that the end-user has and requires in this space. We don’t tell them what they need or how to do their jobs. They tell us how to do ours and then we get to building.”
These idiosyncrasies ultimately define TRS’ building approach. Rather than observing major trends and patterns which define the company’s builds, the TRS team evolves its value proposition for each customer’s particular needs.
“I don’t think the actual nuts and bolts of a heat hanger are going to change any time soon,” Luke says. “But we always strive to offer the best version of what we think a meat hanger can be for our customers and their visions.”
