Thermo King Corporation is a US firm manufacturing temperature control systems for freight transport, including trucks, railroad cars and shipboard containers, as well as climate control equipment for passenger transport. The company was founded in 1938 by a businessman Joseph Numero in cooperation with an engineer and inventor Frederick Jones. In July 1940 Jones got a patent for his invention, a mobile air-cooling unit which was used to create a refrigerated truck that became a historic landmark in the transportation of perishable food items. Today the company has its production facilities in Europe, Australia, Asia and the Middle East, as well as in Africa.