In 1940, Frederick McKinley Jones patented a refrigerator tough enough for moving trucks; it changed how fresh meat and dairy could travel long distances

In July 1940, Frederick McKinley Jones patented a refrigeration unit designed to withstand the repeated jolts of a moving truck. It was one of the first such units to allow road transport. Before this, meat and dairy could not travel long distances on the road without spoiling. According to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, his invention became the basis for modern refrigerated trucking, helping grocery stores carry fresh meat and dairy from long distances.

From runaway orphan to self-taught mechanic

Jones took an unusual path to that patent. According to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, he was born in Cincinnati in 1893, and when his mother died when he was nine, he was sent to live with a priest in Covington, Kentucky. There, he served as a helper and janitor at the church until he ran away at eleven. He worked at an auto garage, became a mechanic at 14, and was promoted to foreman at 15. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I, where he worked on military vehicles and repaired equipment such as X-ray machines and telegraph systems. After being discharged, he moved to Minnesota, where he taught himself electronics. He used his knowledge to build a radio station for the town and to improve the sound systems in local movie theaters. His self-taught expertise in electronics later caught the eye of Joseph Numero, his future business partner, who later led the company that revolutionized refrigeration.

The road-spoilage problem

For years, shippers often packed perishable goods with ice and salt during distribution. Salt and ice helped keep things cool, but food and other products that required stable, prolonged cooling still spoiled during transit. Mechanically cooled railway cars were used, but they were heavy and unsuitable for road transport because of constant rocking and rolling. As a result, road trucking companies could not widely adopt mechanical refrigeration. This made it harder for many grocery stores to stock products from farther away suppliers.

A casual favor that turned into a breakthrough

On a summer day in 1938, one of Numero's colleagues complained that food on the road kept going bad. Numero joked that the man should get a refrigerator for his truck, and the man took him up on the suggestion. Jones was hired because he'd already shown his skill by fixing a few sound systems that nobody else could get working. He climbed into the trailer, took measurements, and told Numero he could build a system that would work.

Inside the patent that changed cold storage

He created a compact, shock-resistant cooling unit powered by its own four-cylinder engine. The unit was placed underneath the trailer, beneath the cargo area. Unlike previous inventions, this cooling unit could withstand the rough road. The National Inventors Hall of Fame credits the invention with being the first successful mobile refrigerator. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that Jones was granted the patent on July 12, 1940, and that he and Numero later formed a company to produce and market the invention. The company later became known as Thermo King.

From battlefield medicine to the grocery aisle

During the war, the design also helped keep food cold and transport blood supplies for hospitals and troops. The company expanded production during the war. Later, as highways expanded, the same equipment helped move meat and dairy products across the country. Many general stores could now offer fresh products from farther away.

The honor that arrived long after his death

Jones went on to earn dozens of other patents and ultimately accumulated more than 60 patents in different fields. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Jones and his business partner, Joseph Numero, were named recipients of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 1991. The medal recognized their development of refrigeration technology for commercial vehicles such as trucks, trailers, boxcars, ships, and planes. Jones did not live to receive the honor himself. He died in 1961, and his wife accepted the medal on his behalf at a ceremony held during President George H. W. Bush's administration in 1991.

The 1940 design still underpins refrigerated trucking today

Refrigerated trucks that carry fresh seafood or dairy products from one state to another still use a design based on Jones's 1940 invention. With limited formal schooling and plenty of trial and error, Jones helped solve this problem at a time when opportunities for Black inventors in mechanical engineering were few. The industry his invention helped create still transports food across the country today.