Japanese auto, manufacturing leaders agree to provide cold chain transport solution

With a projected 10% growth seen in the domestic cold chain industry, three Japanese auto and manufacturing leaders pooled their engineering expertise together to come up with the Hino 300 ref van.

This is aimed at providing the transport solution from the first and up to the last mile delivery segments of the cold chain industry.

On a Japanese Hino 300 series light truck will be mounted either a 10 or 11-footer Japanese Cooltech ref van body from Centro Nippon Fruehauf (CFCI). Cooling power will be provided by a Japanese Denso DS2 cooling system, whether the need is for a chilled or frozen cargo condition.

In a recent Cold Chain Logistics Workshop between the Philippines and Japan, Cold Chain Association of the Philippines President Anthony Dizon showed that the cold chain industry is projected to grow to 550,000 pallet positions this year.

“And we see the need nationwide for ref vans to transport goods from the farm or piers to the cold storage facilities, then to the processing plants, then back to the cold storage facilities for its last-mile delivery to the retail outlets”.

This makes Mr. Hiroki Senoo, Vice President for Business Planning Division of Hino Motors Philippines (HMP) excited about this latest product offering resulting from the partnership.

“With its outstanding features, we expect the Hino 300 ref van to be a game changer in the cold chain industry. It will fill the need for a reliable ref van and its durability and uncompromising quality will be backed by Hino’s one-stop solution where servicing of the ref system and body can also be done at any Hino dealership nationwide. That will make after sales service very convenient”.

HMP Vice President for Sales Division Oliver dela Cruz adds that the Hino 300 ref van is expected to change the country’s trucking and logistics landscape.

“With the tough and tested Hino 300 light truck as platform in combination with a Denso cooling unit and Cooltech ref van body, it is designed to take on the rough and challenging terrains in the countryside. Customers can thus look forward to what is probably the best in Japanese technology in a ref van”.

For its cooling power, Denso has its highly reliable DS2 ref system which Mr. Masahiko Tanaka, Unit Head of Denso’s Sales Unit says has been proven to perform efficiently at lower operating cost.

“It can handle the cargoes at the temperature desired by the customer whether in chilled or frozen condition. On top of that, it is environmentally friendly based on the materials and refrigerant used. We have engineered it to work well with the Hino 300 light truck and the Cooltech ref van body and deliver outstanding performance expected of an all-Japan product”.

The Cooltech ref van body uses extruded polystyrene which is a less water-absorptive insulating material. CFCI Production Manager Edd Nieva explains that the production of the insulated sandwich panels and subsequent assembly of ref vans utilizes Japanese technology, process and stringent quality control standards.

“The Cooltech ref van body is engineered to fuse perfectly well with the Japanese Hino 300 light truck and the Japanese Denso ref system to come up with a reliable all-Japan ref van. It is the perfect fusion among a tough, durable truck muscle, a cost- efficient cooling unit and a high-quality ref van body”.