The transport refrigeration brand of Trane Technologies plans to transition to a lower global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant as standard in its truck and trailer units. This will reduce the carbon footprint of refrigerants used by long-haul, middle-mile and last-mile delivery fleets supplied by Thermo King for customers by nearly 50%, or about 650,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent annually, equivalent to the emissions of 143,000 passenger vehicles per year.

Thermo King’s Precedent trailer portfolio will transition to the lower-GWP refrigerant (R452A) in JanuarySource: Thermo King 2022, and truck products will come standard with the new refrigerant mid-2022. New units will no longer use R404A as the company strives to reduce customer emissions by a billion metric tons by 2030.

In addition to helping customers meet their sustainability commitments, using a lower-GWP refrigerant as standard will help customers prepare for future regulation. Beginning in 2023, the California Air Resources Board will require transport refrigeration units operating in California to use refrigerants with a GWP of 2200 or less. In North America, Thermo King is one full year ahead of this regulation.

As part of the global transition to more sustainable refrigerants, Thermo King has been using R452A for its entire Europe-Middle East-Africa portfolio for several years and select products in North America and in Asia Pacific.