Reefer Question Need Little Help Please!!

Our son Michael has driven truck with a reefer for 26 months but some of that was making Dollar General deliveries which is not a typical type job and mostly serves as some sort of penance here on earth. :) He's been on a dedicated fleet pulling a reefer for 19 months and his record times for getting unloaded was something like 15 minutes at some Mexican food supply in Washington (they said it was no big deal, it is typical for them) and then a little over 7 hours but usually not more than 2 hours and some are drop and hook. He got a good sleep on that 7 hour unloading. His only gripe is if he's parked to sleep somewhere that's very hot his reefer is running a lot more and is more disturbing, though he seems to sleep through things a lot better than most people. He will sometimes try to time things so that he is parked at night when it's cooler or in the mountains where it's cooler.

One time Michael had a load of cheese where the papers said one thing for the required temperature but the guy at the shipper told him a lower temperature so he noted that down and followed his instructions.

I remember well that when BK was leaving Schneider he said he did not want to pull a reefer but he ended up going that route and is now glad he did.

Many people bash reefer , but the larger the carrier, the more trailers they have for a drop and hook. In the beginning I did about 50% of drop on at least one end of the load. With longevity in the company, I am up to about 80% I drop on at least one end.

I did get locked into 4 different customers by going to sleep. One place told me i could park overnight, then locked the gate. Two just left me and no one woke me. The place that ticked me off the most took my BOLs and told me they would give me a door in an hour. When I went to check, they all had left but the cleaning staff. I was locked in the padlocked gate. In the morning, I put that truck in the only door they had and refused to move until they unloaded me.

In all those cases I got sleep and got paid detention for it. 😂. Full clocks to roll with.

Many people bash reefer , but the larger the carrier, the more trailers they have for a drop and hook. In the beginning I did about 50% of drop on at least one end of the load. With longevity in the company, I am up to about 80% I drop on at least one end.

I did get locked into 4 different customers by going to sleep. One place told me i could park overnight, then locked the gate. Two just left me and no one woke me. The place that ticked me off the most took my BOLs and told me they would give me a door in an hour. When I went to check, they all had left but the cleaning staff. I was locked in the padlocked gate. In the morning, I put that truck in the only door they had and refused to move until they unloaded me.

In all those cases I got sleep and got paid detention for it. 😂. Full clocks to roll with.

So, Kearsey, I find it ironic that you got locked in at more than one stop. I thought YOU were the one who did the locking up. Lol.

I’ve not been locked in at any stop, but Kearsey has driven a lot longer than me, so maybe my day is coming.

BK wrote:

"but Kearsey has driven a lot longer than me, so maybe my day is coming."

Did u just call me old?

Wow thank you all for the help!! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it just starting out on my trucking journey. I think each division of trucking has its own share of ups and downs, pros and cons, just like any other job I guess but I'm excited and nervous lol for the opportunity to learn the business of trucking. Again thank you all for the help I'm sure I'll have lots more questions in the near future it's nice to have a forum like this one to gain knowledge.

It helps if your sleep cycle is boned to begin with 🤣

I can grab a nap nearly anywhere, and have my phone ringtones set for very specific things. Each person in my contact has their own easily identifiable ringtone. Non contacts have an obnoxious and identifiable one that I can't sleep through. Text messages come through with a very annoying an difficult to sleep through one.

Needless to say, my "wakeup" alarm is part of a song, and every time that song is on the radio, I have that little jolt of "ok where am I?"

Yes, I know I am quite possibly rediculous. Ya gotta be a teensy bit to do this job. 😁

Something about reefer newbies get scared of... They think they need to be mechanics for the reefer. Not so. If reefer which is a totally separate engine, starts acting up, I take it to a mechanic. I'm not adding fluids and such.

U push a couple buttons and set it, then fuel it every day to two. Many times we run dry loads and don't use the reefer at all. It isn't as scary as people think.

Something about reefer newbies get scared of... They think they need to be mechanics for the reefer. Not so. If reefer which is a totally separate engine, starts acting up, I take it to a mechanic. I'm not adding fluids and such.

U push a couple buttons and set it, then fuel it every day to two. Many times we run dry loads and don't use the reefer at all. It isn't as scary as people think.

The first time I was asked to set a reefer unit, I felt scared. I had no clue. I was shown how to do it once, but trying to remember so much, that part wasn't retained.

Something about reefer newbies get scared of... They think they need to be mechanics for the reefer. Not so. If reefer which is a totally separate engine, starts acting up, I take it to a mechanic. I'm not adding fluids and such.

U push a couple buttons and set it, then fuel it every day to two. Many times we run dry loads and don't use the reefer at all. It isn't as scary as people think.

The first time I was asked to set a reefer unit, I felt scared. I had no clue. I was shown how to do it once, but trying to remember so much, that part wasn't retained.

You weren't trained by me 😂. My students do everything the last month in training. I get lazy

Something about reefer newbies get scared of... They think they need to be mechanics for the reefer. Not so. If reefer which is a totally separate engine, starts acting up, I take it to a mechanic. I'm not adding fluids and such.

U push a couple buttons and set it, then fuel it every day to two. Many times we run dry loads and don't use the reefer at all. It isn't as scary as people think.

The first time I was asked to set a reefer unit, I felt scared. I had no clue. I was shown how to do it once, but trying to remember so much, that part wasn't retained.

You weren't trained by me 😂. My students do everything the last month in training. I get lazy

You misunderstand. I was still in training and trainer was asleep. Dispatch called me (since trainer was logged sleeper berth) and told me to turn on the trailer to pre-cool, which required changing the set point. I was nervous as hell when I said "ok," and dispatch hung up. I was thinking I would be walked through it, since they called and had me on the phone. I was sweating worrying about having to wake trainer up because he had gone to sleep not long before.