TriPac 3 Payback
Use your overnight idle time, diesel price and estimated installation cost to estimate fuel savings and payback. Results include estimated TriPac service costs.
Open TriPac calculator
Refrigeration for trailers, trucks and vans
Thermo King solutions for temperature-controlled transport, TriPac APUs and TracKing telematics.
Thermo King
Refrigeration, driver comfort and telematics
From refrigerated trailers, trucks and vans to TriPac APUs and telematics, Thermo King offers solutions for the work you do. Transport Refrigeration supports that equipment with sales, service and parts.
Tools for your operation
Calculate potential savings
Use our calculators to explore how equipment and operating choices could affect your costs.
ThermoLite Solar Payback
Choose a TriPac APU, Precedent reefer or both. Estimate potential fuel savings and TriPac service savings based on operating hours, solar cost and your assumptions.
Open solar calculatorElectric Standby Savings
Compare diesel and electric costs while a compatible truck or trailer refrigeration unit is parked. Include your energy prices and any equipment, plug or site costs.
Open standby calculatorEstimates use your inputs and adjustable assumptions. Contact information is required.
Products
Thermo King equipment
Explore solutions for refrigerated trailers, trucks and vans, driver comfort, and connected fleets.
Trailer refrigeration
Precedent
From single-temperature loads to multi-temperature deliveries, Precedent offers a range of trailer refrigeration choices.
- Applications
- Single- and multi-temperature trailers
- Featured model
- S-750i diesel-electric with integrated shore power
Refrigeration for trucks and vans
Self-powered truck refrigeration
T-90 Series
Refrigeration that operates independently of the truck engine, with single- and multi-temperature options.
- Power
- Self-powered
- Configurations
- Single- or multi-temperature
Vehicle-powered refrigeration
V-Series
Refrigeration for trucks and vans powered by the vehicle's engine.
- Power
- Vehicle-powered
- Standby
- Electric standby on select models
Auxiliary power
TriPac APUs
Keep drivers comfortable while reducing the need to idle the tractor's main engine.
TriPac 3
Diesel auxiliary power for cab heating, air conditioning and electrical power.
TriPac Envidia
Battery-powered cab cooling and electrical power without a diesel APU engine. An optional fuel-fired heater can provide cab heat.
Heating and telematics
Trailer heating
Heat King
Trailer heaters help protect temperature-sensitive cargo from freezing.
Explore Heat King
Connected equipment
TracKing telematics
Monitor temperature, operating status and location, with remote controls available for equipped units.
Explore TracKing
Transport Refrigeration & Thermo King
The TriPac Story
The original TriPac began at Transport Refrigeration in De Pere, Wisconsin. Dave Swanson, its inventor and owner of Transport Refrigeration, developed an auxiliary power system to provide cab heating, cooling and electrical power without idling the truck's main engine.
2005
Thermo King acquired the TriPac patents and intellectual property from Dave and brought the system to its dealer network. By 2012, Thermo King had manufactured its 100,000th TriPac unit.
Today, TriPac continues in diesel and all-electric models. It remains a lasting connection between a Transport Refrigeration invention and the Thermo King product lineup.
Since 1938
The Thermo King Story
The beginning · 1938
Frederick McKinley Jones and the invention that changed transportation
In the 1930s, transporters relied on ice to keep food cold on the road. After a load of fresh chickens spoiled during a trip, entrepreneur Joseph A. Numero asked inventor and engineer Frederick McKinley Jones to find a better way.
Jones developed the Model A, a self-contained mechanical refrigeration unit for trucks. The 1938 invention helped make longer-distance refrigerated transportation practical and laid the foundation for Thermo King.
In 1941, the Model C moved the refrigeration unit to the front of the trailer. The new position helped protect the unit from road dirt and debris.
1940s
Refrigeration during wartime
During World War II, the U.S. military used Jones's cooling technology to transport food, medicine and blood plasma. His systems also helped cool field hospitals. In 1948, Thermo King introduced a refrigerated boxcar unit for rail transport.
1950s
Beyond the highway
In 1956, Thermo King developed bus air conditioning and the ROL for refrigerated marine containers. Its first diesel-powered refrigeration unit, the UWD, followed in 1959.
1960
More than one temperature
Dual-compartment trailer refrigeration made it possible to carry different perishable products at different temperatures in the same trailer.
1971
Refrigeration for smaller vehicles
Thermo King introduced the TNP for small trucks and TNT for vans, expanding refrigerated delivery beyond the long-haul trailer.
1984
Cycle Sentry
Cycle Sentry start-stop technology helped diesel-powered units control temperature without running continuously, giving fleets a way to reduce fuel use.
1991
An inventor's legacy
Jones earned more than 60 patents during his lifetime. In 1991, he and Numero were posthumously awarded the National Medal of Technology. Jones was the first African American to receive the honor.
1992
Electronic temperature control
The ThermoGard µP-IV brought microprocessor control to trailer refrigeration, giving drivers and fleet owners a way to manage temperatures and review delivery data and alarms.
2012 & beyond
A new generation
Thermo King introduced the Precedent trailer platform in 2012. Its equipment has continued to evolve with electric power options, connected controls and tools that help fleets monitor their loads.
Thermo King dealer network
Equipment and support
Transport Refrigeration dealerships are part of the Thermo King dealer network, providing equipment, service and genuine parts.