Thermo King is an American manufacturer of transport temperature control systems for

refrigerator truck A refrigerator truck or chiller lorry (also called a Reefer), is a van or truck designed to carry perishable freight at low temperatures. Most long-distance refrigerated transport by truck is done in articulated trucks pulling refrigerated semi- ...

s and trailers, refrigerated containers and refrigerated railway cars along with

heating, ventilation and air conditioning Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HV ...

systems for bus and passenger rail applications. Headquartered in the

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Thermo King is a subsidiary of

Trane Technologies Trane Technologies is an Irish-domiciled holding company focused on the manufacturing of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) and refrigeration systems. The company traces its corporate history back more than 150 years and was cr ...

History

Joseph A. "Joe" Numero sold his Cinema Supplies Inc. movie sound equipment business to

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

in 1938 and formed a new entity, the U.S. Thermo Control Company (later the Thermo King LLC), in partnership with his engineer, inventor Frederick McKinley Jones. Jones designed a portable air-cooling unit for trucks carrying perishable food, for which they had obtained a patent on July 12, 1940, subsequent to a challenge to invent a refrigerated truck over a golf game by associates of Numero's, Werner Transportation Co.'s President Harry Werner, and United States Air Conditioning Co.'s President Al Fineberg, resulting in the "Model A" and the founding of Thermo King. The invention ushered in the era of frozen foods, large supermarkets, and the modern restaurant industry. Refrigerated transport made the delivery of fresh produce anywhere in the country a possibility, regardless of the season. The concept of continuous cooling of perishables is often referred to as the "Farm to Fork"

cold chain A cold chain is a low temperature-controlled supply chain network. An unbroken cold chain is an uninterrupted series of refrigerated production, storage and distribution activities, along with associated equipment and logistics, which maintain qu ...

. With mobile refrigeration compressors driven by fuel-powered engines and stationary refrigeration compressors driven by grid-sourced electricity, the food is kept cold from the point of production through to the point of distribution to consumers. DAF LF 320 FA 19t mit Kühlkofferaufbau

In 1942, Jones developed the first portable refrigeration units for troops stationed overseas in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Thermo King also introduced the first gasoline-powered mechanical refrigerated boxcars in the 1940s, which reduced shipping costs, making fresh produce more widely available and affordable for the public. By 1949, annual revenues reached $3 million for the company. With the introduction of diesel engines in refrigerated units in 1958, engine life would out-perform their gasoline-powered counterparts in terms of longevity. Thermo King was not limited to transport refrigeration products, however. Some of the additional products the company built and sold included milk coolers, golf carts, school desks and shopping carts. On March 5, 1966, a group of 75 people associated with the company were among the 113 passengers and 11 crew members who died when

BOAC Flight 911 BOAC Flight 911 (call sign "Speedbird 911") was a round-the-world flight operated by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) that crashed near Mount Fuji in Japan on 5 March 1966, with the loss of all 113 passengers and 11 crew members ...

crashed near Mount Fuji, Japan. Company executives and their top dealers were on a 14-day company sponsored tour of Japan and Southeast Asia, which was organized as a reward for sales performance. A company spokesman, quoted in the press in reaction to the tragedy, said that "this has got to be one of the worst things that a company can experience." During the 1970s, Thermo King continued to manufacture equipment for the transportation industry. Their early efforts have evolved into a widely recognized line of products and Thermo King has becoming a worldwide business. Thermo King Europe opened in Galway, Ireland, and began producing refrigeration units to be sold throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia and Asia. Their global expansion continues to this day. In 1991, the

National Medal of Technology The National Medal of Technology and Innovation (formerly the National Medal of Technology) is an honor granted by the President of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development ...

was awarded to Joseph A. Numero and Frederick M. Jones. President George Bush presented the awards posthumously to their widows at a ceremony in the

White House Rose Garden The White House Rose Garden is a garden bordering the Oval Office and the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C., United States. The garden is approximately 125 feet long and 60 feet wide ( by , or about 684m²). It balances the Jacqu ...

. Jones was the first African American to receive the award (see Frederick McKinley Jones). In 1997,

Ingersoll Rand Ingersoll Rand is an American multinational company that provides flow creation and industrial products. The company was formed in February 2020 through the spinoff of the industrial segment of Ingersoll-Randplc (now known as Trane Technologies) ...

acquired Thermo King from Westinghouse for $2.56 billion in cash, 13 times earnings, and added it to its Climate Control Technologies (later Climate Solutions) businesses, alongside

Trane Trane is a manufacturer of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, along with building management systems and controls. The company is a subsidiary of Trane Technologies, a company focused on manufacturing HVAC and refrigerat ...

and Hussmann. At the time Thermo King controlled close to half the global market for refrigeration equipment.

References

External links

Thermo King Model C in MNopedia, the Minnesota Encyclopedia

Official websiteThermo King EuropeThermoKare Service SolutionsThermo King Turkey
{{Authority control Auto parts suppliers of the United States Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning companies Trucking industry in the United States Manufacturing companies based in Minnesota Companies based in Bloomington, Minnesota Trane Technologies 1997 mergers and acquisitions