Thermo King

Jones designed a portable air-cooling unit for trucks carrying perishable food,[3] for which they had obtained a patent on July 12, 1940,[4] 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,[5][6][3][4] resulting in the "Model A" and the founding of Thermo King.

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.

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 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.

President George Bush presented the awards posthumously to their widows at a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden.