RVE LAUNCHES REFRIGERATED TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS

From Transport Talk | Written by: NIGEL MOFFIET | November 30, 2021

New Zealand vehicle enhancement specialist RVE is venturing into the chilled and refrigerated transport market with the launch of a new product offering. 

CoolBox has been in the market for around six months targeting builds on small trucks, vans and utes up to 4.5 tonnes for the last mile delivery sector. 

With competition focused mainly on larger trucks, RVE is spotting a gap in the market for the smaller chilled delivery vehicles to transport perishable foods and other commodities like pharmaceuticals. 

RVE business development and marketing director Jim Stanners says the idea for the product came about during the first lockdown in 2020. 

With demand for online grocery shopping and home deliveries spiking, he noticed it suddenly became difficult to get the supplies due to more bottlenecks. 

Stanners says his first thought was “why couldn’t we help the country’s situation out by jumping into this market and help people get what they need faster?” 

“We thought, ‘what can we do to help the industry and help families and actually make something out of it ourselves?’” 

Stanners points out that refrigerated box bodies on smaller vehicles like utes hasn’t really caught on in New Zealand before but it’s a more common sight in Australia.

“Everyone else in the industry has played around with it but are not focused on it as they are way too busy with existing customers,” he says. 

Stanners says there has already been quite a bit of interest in the idea through talks with potential clients, including independently owned supermarkets. Discussions about using the vehicles for an Uber-style delivery service are also underway.  

A number of CoolBox Bodies have already been sold and RVE is also working with dealers and small truck importers to try and accelerate the product offering.

Stanners reckons there will be an increasing need for smaller refrigerated vehicles around smaller, tighter streets with retailers and distributors shifting to offering online direct deliveries as a result of COVID. 

The product can be customised for different requirements and offers deep freeze, refrigerated, chilled, ambient and dry freight options. The company has a display model built on a Toyota Hilux which includes multi-zone temperature sections. 

RVE can help clients design the perfect set up and the boxes are then manufactured overseas in a German-certified factory. Stanners says RVE will be equipped to manufacture the product locally should that be required. 

Another benefit of such an option, is that the chilled box body can be easily swapped over so the vehicle can be put to other use down the track. This is not such an easy solution for other custom-made refrigerated vehicles. 

Stanners is excited about the future of the product which has the potential to be a stand-alone company. For now, is runs alongside RVE’s other operations where the company has built a solid reputation for over 50 years as New Zealand’s leading leather interior and automotive accessory supplier. 

*This story appeared in the November 2021 issue of TransportTalk – click here to download a free copy of the magazine.