The encyclopedia · Engineering & Operations · Product decision · 1938–1942
Thermo King bolted a cooling unit on a truck and created transport refrigeration
Joseph Numero and Frederick Jones patented a truck air-conditioning unit in 1940; Thermo King's Model C let perishables travel any distance by road.
Thermo King Corporation
the move
Before 1938, perishable food moved mainly by rail with ice, or not at all; trucks had no way to keep cargo cold. Movie-theatre sound-systems maker Joseph Numero and self-taught engineer Frederick McKinley Jones designed a portable air-cooling unit — Thermo King's origin story credits a load of overheated chickens.
Their patent, U.S. 2,303,857, 'Air-conditioner for vehicles,' was filed November 16, 1939 and granted December 1, 1942. ASME, which made the unit a landmark, says the 1938 truck installations revolutionized transportation of perishable foods.
The self-contained Model C, mounted on the front of a truck or semi-trailer, was in production through the 1940s, and units spread to refrigerated trailers, ships and railcars; during World War II the cooling systems also served field hospitals and cockpits.
Jones, later Thermo King's vice president of engineering, held more than 60 patents; in 1944 he became the first African American elected to the American Society of Refrigeration Engineers, and he and Numero received the National Medal of Technology in 1991.
why it works
- Self-contained design needed no ice depots along the route.
- Road vibration was engineered out, so units survived long hauls.
- One platform worked for trucks, trailers, ships and railcars.
- Fresh meat, produce, blood plasma and vaccines all became shippable.
what transfers
When the transport asset is the bottleneck, attach the missing capability to the vehicle itself: the truck became a rolling cold room, and an industry followed.
what came after
Thermo King became the dominant transport-refrigeration brand; ASME notes that today more than three-quarters of U.S. food is shipped or stored under refrigeration. The company, now part of Trane Technologies, still builds truck, trailer and container units.
references
- ASME Landmark #192: Thermo King C Refrigeration Unit — 1938 installations, patent 2,303,857 filed November 16, 1939
- US Patent 2,303,857 'Air-conditioner for vehicles' — Numero and Jones, filed November 16, 1939, granted December 1, 1942
- Thermo King — About Frederick McKinley Jones: 60+ patents, National Medal of Technology 1991
- National Science and Technology Medals Foundation — Frederick McKinley Jones, National Medal of Technology 1991
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