Hidden fuel waste, inefficient cycles, and repairs that don’t always fix the problem
Refrigerated transport is usually assessed through distance, fuel type, and regulatory emissions factors. What often goes unnoticed is that a significant share of both emissions and operating costs is driven by the refrigeration unit itself.
Recent peer-reviewed research published in the International Journal of Refrigeration shows that around 20% of refrigerated road transport emissions come from the refrigeration unit alone, not from vehicle propulsion. Across Europe, this translates into tens of megatonnes of CO₂-equivalent emissions every year.
For operators, the implication is simple. The same mechanisms driving these emissions also drive excess fuel consumption, accelerated component wear, and rising repair costs.
You can read the research here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140700726000095
When fuel consumption has little to do with driving
The study shows that refrigeration energy use is driven largely by how reefers operate during real missions, not by how far vehicles travel. Pull-down cycles, partial-load operation, and prolonged transition states account for a substantial share of total energy demand.
The authors estimate that up to 28% of refrigeration energy consumption could be avoided by using technologies and operating practices already in use today.
In practice, this means fuel is consumed while vehicles are stationary, during loading and unloading, and long after cargo temperatures should have stabilised. From a distance-based view, this waste is invisible. From a cost perspective, it compounds quietly across fleets.
Inefficient refrigeration cycles become normal because they aren’t visible
One of the most important findings in the research is that control behaviour under partial load significantly degrades efficiency. On–off cycling keeps reefers operating far from optimal conditions, extending inefficient operating periods and increasing energy use.
The study shows that improving control strategy alone can reduce refrigeration energy consumption by around 8%, even without replacing equipment. Combined with better insulation and refrigerant choice, total CO₂-equivalent emissions reductions of up to 72% are achievable.
What stands out is how much inefficiency exists before any upgrade is made. In daily operations, teams rarely see how long reefers remain in transition mode, which assets repeatedly struggle to stabilise temperature, or where energy use is driven by behaviour rather than route length. Over time, inefficiency becomes accepted as baseline operation.
Repair costs rise when degradation is misunderstood
The research also highlights how ageing insulation and component degradation increase thermal losses over time, forcing refrigeration units to work harder for the same cooling outcome.
Operationally, this creates a familiar pattern. Energy consumption rises gradually, temperature stability degrades intermittently, alarms appear late, and maintenance is triggered reactively. By the time a component is replaced, months or years of excess fuel burn and mechanical stress have already occurred.
The key insight is that degradation is progressive, not sudden. Most maintenance strategies respond at the end of that curve, when costs have already accumulated.
From reactive maintenance to predictive, performance-based decisions
The research explains why refrigerated transport becomes inefficient at a fleet level. What it cannot do is tell operators which reefers are heading toward failure, which models perform better in real conditions, or whether a repair actually improved performance.
This is where Greensee closes the loop.
By analysing real reefer energy behaviour across trips and operating contexts, Greensee enables predictive maintenance, not just monitoring. Changes in transition duration, rising energy use on comparable missions, repeated pull-down events, or increasing temperature instability all signal that a reefer is drifting away from expected performance, long before a failure occurs.
These signals feed into Greensee’s Reefer Technical Performance Index (RTPI).
RTPI provides a clear view of reefer health, both at an individual asset level and across the entire fleet. Operators can compare performance between makes, models, and age groups, based on real fuel consumption, energy efficiency, and CO₂ emissions, not assumptions.
Greensee also makes the impact of repairs visible. After a maintenance action, the platform tracks whether energy consumption returns to expected levels, whether refrigeration cycles stabilise, and whether emissions intensity improves. Teams can see if a repair genuinely reduced fuel use and CO₂, or if it merely cleared an alarm while inefficiency continued.
This combination of fleet-wide oversight and granular asset-level insight supports better decisions across operations, maintenance, procurement, and sustainability.
Lower emissions follow lower costs
The study shows that over 90% of local air pollutants and up to 72% of CO₂-equivalent emissions can be reduced using existing solutions. What’s often overlooked is that the same actions reduce operating costs immediately.
Less cycling means less fuel.
Less stress means fewer repairs.
Better targeting means longer asset life.
In refrigerated transport, emissions reduction isn’t a trade-off. It’s a consequence of better operations.
The real underestimation isn’t emissions, it’s cost
Academic research now clearly confirms that refrigeration inefficiency is systemic, measurable, and significant. What many fleets still underestimate is how much it costs them every day.
Greensee turns refrigeration science into operational intelligence, helping operators reduce fuel spend, improve maintenance effectiveness, track CO₂ at the asset level, and understand overall fleet reefer health in one platform.
Because in cold-chain logistics, what you don’t see doesn’t just emit more, it costs more.
Want to uncover hidden fuel, maintenance, and emissions costs in your reefer fleet?
Talk to Greensee.