With five or six installations of SLXi domestic refrigerated container (DRC) units taking place each day at TK Services, Inc. in Los Angeles, the dealership has embraced the growth opportunity that the latest Thermo King product offering has presented to the rail industry. Their partnership with fellow dealerships like Transport Refrigeration of Northwest Arkansas has enabled a factory production intense operation with constant inventories, real-time coordination, quality checks, and the successful delivery of SLXi-DRCs to customers such as J.B. Hunt – in the quantities and timeframe demanded.
Coordination is key to the success of this operation. And with components coming from all ends of the globe – containers from China, fuel tanks from Canada, the SLXi units from Thermo King’s Galway plant and various aftermarket components from the partner dealer, that coordination is extremely detailed.
“In terms of space, we doubled our footprint a couple of years back to expand our capabilities and ability to handle orders of this scope,” said Alan Grenier, vice president, and general manager at TK Services. “The sheer size of the units and containers, and the complexities of the installations need clear staging areas, and our team has done a phenomenal job of streamlining the steps and following standard work that contributes to success.”
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. is the single largest buyer of Thermo King’s slim line SLXi domestic refrigerated container product to date, having purchased 400 in late 2018, 900 in 2019, and plans for another 1,000-plus in 2020. Selling dealer Transport Refrigeration of Northwest Arkansas and installing dealer TK Services, Inc. in Los Angeles are keeping up with demand by completing 30 container deployments per week until order fulfillment. And the customer is taking notice. Adam Neil, vice president of refrigerated services at J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc. recently recognized Thermo King’s contributions on LinkedIn.
