A key to success is the advancement and modernization of equipment, whether talking long haul trucking or in this case, the machines that ready pallets with trays of strawberries, protected by the Tectrol CO2 process.
Tectrol is a patented process held by TransFresh Corporation in Salinas, CA.
TransFresh has what it calls a modified squeeze which effectively allows the company to increase the productivity of its conveyor system at packing facilities. Now research is being conducted to use the squeeze system in the field, according to Rich Macleod, vice president, pallet division, for TransFresh.
“An older model can produce 45 to 55 pallets per hour across that machine,” Macleod says. “With the double down version, we’ve significantly modified the squeeze portion. We’ve also added mechanisms that square the pallet. We’ve changed the conveyor roll on so they are able to produce 55 to 65 pallets per hour.”
Continuing, Macleod notes there also are programs allowing machine operators to stop and back up the pallets on the system when trouble shooting is needed. This allows the problem to be quickly addressed.
In general, it (the system) is faster. So all of this is good for the produce haulers. The boxes on the pallets are more squared than ever and this reduces chances of shifting (of the load) even more. It also protects the strawberries, providing a better seal. Perhaps most important is it helps to speed loading onto the truck, reducing the wait times at the dock by the drivers,” Macleod says.