Transportation of Frozen Citrus Concentrate by Railroad and Motortruck from Florida to Northern Markets

Excerpts from the report Introduction: Transportation facilities capable of maintaining temperatures low enough for the adequate protection of frozen foods moving long distances are a major problem for processors and distributors. It is intensified by the increasing demands resulting from the rapidly growing Florida citrus concentrate industry. Research has shown the desirability of maintaining temperatures at or below 0° F. for long storage of frozen foods. The industry has therefore considered it essential to hold all its products at this temperature in transit and storage, although there is no conclusive evidence that somewhat higher temperatures for short storage periods are harmful to quality. Although data had been collected on the rail movement of frozen foods, very little was known about the performance of refrigerated trucks. It was therefore decided to devote the major effort of the study to trucks, with enough attention to rail equipment to bring up to date the data on equipment, including some new types of experimental cars, used in the concentrate movement. The work was started in April and continued intermittently through October 1950. It included 4 rail tests from Florida to eastern points and 22 truck tests from Florida to eastern and midwestern destinations.