Top 10 Refrigerated Transporter articles of 2025
The refrigerated segment of the trucking industry experienced ups and downs this year, like the rest of the industry. But manufacturers and fleets power through, developing new technology, establishing partnerships, and finding success where possible.
The top 10 articles from Refrigerated Transporter highlight these successes and reefer issues going into 2026. Take a look to get a snapshot of reefer progress in 2025.
10. How fleets can optimize TRU performance as transport refrigeration technology evolves
Transport refrigeration is more sophisticated today than in 1938, when Thermo King patented the first trailer unit. Diesel-powered engines are more efficient, high-voltage electrical architectures are advancing, and system controls are smarter. But maximizing performance still comes down to proper use and care—two old-school principles that haven’t shifted.
That’s why the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) broke out two key sessions collectively aimed at optimizing transport refrigeration unit (TRU) operation and maintenance at this year’s Refrigerated Meeting in Colorado Springs: “Optimizing Your Reefer Unit” and “The Future of Reefer Technicians.” Read more…
9. How Four Seasons’ private fleet is fueling 50 years of success
Four Seasons Produce next year will celebrate 50 years of supplying fresh food to communities throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Sunrise Transport is an essential ingredient in its success.
The wholesale distributor’s private fleet in 2024 traveled 8.5 million miles and safely delivered 17 million cases of organic and conventional fruits and vegetables to independent retailers, food cooperatives, and local markets that value specialized customer-centric service with a fleet of 118 trucks and 115 refrigerated trailers. “Where we go and how we get there is truly unique—and really does set us apart,” said Ryan Miller, Sunrise director of transportation operations. Read more…
8. Utility Trailer develops dealer network
Utility Trailer Manufacturing Company announced two major developments for its dealer network.
The company added a new dealer in the Seattle area, stocking full Utility parts and offering on-site and mobile TRU services. Two Utility Trailer dealers in Texas also joined forces to form Utility Trailers of Texas, with plans to expand further across the state. Read more…
7. Evolving operation: Kordish leads RMI into new era
Ralph Moyle, Inc. (RMI) CEO Ashley Kordish grew up on a small farm in Mattawan, Michigan, where her grandfather, RMI’s namesake founder, started their refrigerated trucking business. Her earliest and most fond memories involve playing in the backyard of the family farmhouse, and watching heavy-duty trucks pull in and out of the fuel island behind the fence.
So, diesel is in her blood. But she wasn’t always sure trucking is in her heart. Read more…
6. Nuclear verdicts are raising the stakes for refrigerated carriers
A July run between Phoenix and San Antonio. Triple-digit heat. A dock delay pushes the clock. A multi-temp unit throws an alarm.
None of this is unusual in refrigerated transport. What has changed is the legal and financial interpretation in case a serious road incident follows. The records left behind, such as logs, alarms, schedules, and incentives, now speak as loudly as eyewitnesses.
Across the industry, eight-figure “nuclear verdicts” have reshaped how risk is priced and argued. Transportation is often in the spotlight, and refrigerated operations offer plaintiffs more threads to pull: temperature control, food-safety obligations, and high-value cargo that expands the claimed damage. Read more…
5. Data-driven decisions enhance reefer revenue
Strategic freight planning is affected by a countless number of variables—far too much for a single person to follow precisely. When bumping against the limits of what human decision-making can anticipate, data-driven technology can help.
Grand Island Express, a refrigerated carrier that is consistently recognized as one of the Best Fleets to Drive For, had reached that limit of human-driven freight planning. Read more…
4. Lineage, Tyson solidify $1B partnership
Lineage plans to expand its U.S. cold storage network via a series of new acquisitions, greenfield developments, and enhanced automation implementation.
Namely, Lineage recently agreed to acquire multiple existing cold storage warehouses in the U.S. from Tyson Foods in a deal that builds on a longstanding customer relationship with Lineage. Lineage’s strength as a leading global network and automation expert, together with proprietary data science capabilities, aligns with Tyson’s objective to enable a faster, smarter, and more integrated supply chain to meet the demands of an increasingly dynamic, evolving, and growing market, the companies reported. Read more…
3. RoadLites brings Euro safety technology to US
The founder and CEO of refrigerated trucking company Angie’s Transportation now is in the commercial vehicle lighting business, too.
Angie Twardawa, whose operation Refrigerated Transporter spotlighted two years ago, started RoadLites with dad Andrew Twardawa and brother Rafael Twardawa in 2022 as a way to bring European lighting and safety technology to the U.S. after a trip to Poland to visit family. Read more…
2. Reefer Outlook: Carriers cautious despite expert’s optimism
John Larkin, a strategic advisor with Clarendon Capital, tried to introduce a little bit of optimism into his refrigerated market outlook during the Truckload Carriers Association’s 2025 Refrigerated Meeting, pointing to developments in Washington that bode well for trucking, including deregulation, tax cuts in the Big Beautiful Bill, and industrial onshoring incentivized by tariffs.
“The political winds have shifted in the last 18 months or so—pretty dramatically in the right direction, in my opinion,” Larkin said July 16 at the Polaris Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Read more…
1. This material could change refrigerated bodies
Transportation firms face constant pressure to improve sustainability. With Wabash’s new composite technology, the next big leap forward in temperature-controlled transport efficiency is in the structure of the refrigerated truck body.
“The market has not seen a new way of constructing refrigerated truck bodies for half a century,” Kevin Sumrak, senior director of sales and truck body strategy for Wabash, told Refrigerated Transporter. “That’s why it’s something that’s really revolutionary in the refrigerated market today.” Read more…
In addition to these articles, FleetOwner publishes several popular annual features that attract attention across the trucking and transportation industries. These include our annual looks at the largest commercial transportation systems in the U.S., the FleetOwner 500: For-Hire and FleetOwner 500: Private Fleets.
Our annual profiles of women in the industry, Women in Transportation 2025, were published this spring. Each year, FleetOwner recognizes the transportation operations of private fleets with the FleetOwner Private Fleet of the Year award. This fall, we expanded and rebranded our annual New Models into the 2025 FleetOwner vehicle guide, our largest-ever look at the next generation of heavy-duty, medium-duty, light-duty, and alternative-powered trucks and vans.
We wrapped up the year with the 2025 Trucking By the Numbers feature, an infographic highlighting the facts and figures shaping the trucking and transportation industries.
To view what's ahead for FleetOwner in the new year, please check out our 2026 Media Kit.
About the Author
Jenna Hume
Digital Editor
Digital Content Specialist Jenna Hume joined FleetOwner in November 2023 and previously worked as a writer in the gaming industry. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from Truman State University and a master of Fine Arts degree in writing from Lindenwood University. She is currently based in Missouri.