Fontaine Modification Offers Refrigerated Trailer Electrification

Fontaine Modification is expanding its extensive electrification integration services to include refrigerated trailers through a strategic alliance with electric transport refrigeration unit provider eNow.

Fontaine will offer application engineering, integration, and installation of eNow’s proprietary renewable Rayfrigeration eTRU technology on refrigerated trailers from all manufacturers.

The system can be powered by any combination of solar, e-axle and shore power. The renewable power sources maintain a high-capacity lithium-ion battery that can power an all-electric unit from 10-12 hours at temperatures from below 20-degrees Fahrenheit to 60-degress Fahrenheit.

Fontaine has modification centers strategically located across the United States. The company’s technicians will install the systems at its facilities in Charlotte and Statesville, North Carolina; Springfield, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Dublin, Virginia; and Mineral Wells, West Virginia.

“As electrification becomes increasingly mainstream, we see tremendous potential for moving beyond the truck powerplant to trailers and other equipment,” said Dave Brosky, vice president of sales and business development at Fontaine Modification Work Truck & EV Solutions.

Heavy Duty Trucking named eNow’s eTRU system for reefer trailers one of the Top 20 Products. The company successfully tested the first zero-emission eTRU for commercial use on a Challenge Dairy truck making urban deliveries in 2017. With support from the California Air Resources Board, eNow’s diesel-free reefer system was deployed during a summer in Fresno, California, and achieved emission reductions of 98% nitrous oxide, 86% carbon dioxide, and 97% particulate matter compared to traditional diesel-powered systems, according to the company.