Reefer Question Need Little Help Please!!

Speaking of being scared Kearsey lol, I have another question for you or any other reefer driver that wants to chime in? Do reefer drivers have to worry about someone turning off your reefer unit when you're either away from your truck or even sleeping during your breaks? Has it happened at all and if so how often would u say that it happens? Is there any type of locking system or code that u need to turn on or off the reefer unit? I would hate to wake up from my break just to find a non running reefer unit, and I don't want to be responsible for a load going bad because someone messed with my reefer unit? So any information you guys or ladies can give me on this is once again much appreciated 👍

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.

I have a suggestion…

Focus on the following:

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

The what-if scenario you presented is rather far fetched. In over 8 years running Walmart Dedicated, never happened to me or any of the other 200 drivers assigned to my DC.

Speaking of being scared Kearsey lol, I have another question for you or any other reefer driver that wants to chime in? Do reefer drivers have to worry about someone turning off your reefer unit when you're either away from your truck or even sleeping during your breaks? Has it happened at all and if so how often would u say that it happens? Is there any type of locking system or code that u need to turn on or off the reefer unit? I would hate to wake up from my break just to find a non running reefer unit, and I don't want to be responsible for a load going bad because someone messed with my reefer unit? So any information you guys or ladies can give me on this is once again much appreciated 👍

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.

Reefers are simple to operate. It’s mostly automatic and does not need tending. When you are loaded you set the temp by pushing a few easy to learn buttons and it runs until you get unloaded. Then you turn it off. My company wants me to check the digital display screen about 3 times a day. So if I’m starting in the morning, I will send in the set temp and the box temp with the trailer number on the ELD macro. Takes about 30 seconds if you really milk it. When I do the temp checks, I also check the fuel gauge on the trailer fuel tank to make sure I have plenty of fuel. If you can operate a microwave, you can run a reefer. It’s easy even for a Neanderthal like me.

Nope. Never had anyone turn it off..had someone yell at me for parking next to her. But it was the last space. Screw her. Our reefers are connected to road assist and dispatch. If the temps go out of range for any reason, alarms get sent to them and our QC. Worst case scenario, dispatch would call the driver. Only once did my reefer break and require me to keep restarting it.

Speaking of being scared Kearsey lol, I have another question for you or any other reefer driver that wants to chime in? Do reefer drivers have to worry about someone turning off your reefer unit when you're either away from your truck or even sleeping during your breaks? Has it happened at all and if so how often would u say that it happens? Is there any type of locking system or code that u need to turn on or off the reefer unit? I would hate to wake up from my break just to find a non running reefer unit, and I don't want to be responsible for a load going bad because someone messed with my reefer unit? So any information you guys or ladies can give me on this is once again much appreciated 👍

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.

Never experienced that myself. I have never heard of it happening. It's much more likely that dispatch will change something on the reefer settings remotely because on their end load profile shows a different temp setting than the actual BOL. I have also woken up to the unit being off and a message from dispatch that I shouldn't have the unit running when not on a load. That happened twice. Once I forgot to turn the unit off after being unloaded and the other time I had the trailer pre-coolimg for a load and night time dispatch was not aware of the assignment.