Hi,

I am a student, learning about big rigs and heat transfer.

Imagine this scenario: you are driving a refrigerated truck carrying an expensive shipment and your truck breaks down, losing all of your cooling capability.

What do you do? What are standard practices to keep your shipment from getting hot? I'm thinking back-up systems, insulation, calling a mechanic, calling another rig, finding a cold-storage house, etc.

Anything I'm missing?

Thanks!

well the 1st thing you do is find the closest reefer shop in your area where you breakdown, thermo king, utility etc...also depends on the product your hauling...if its frozen meats ice cream or fish you will need to think much faster those products usually are most expensive and quicker to go bad as hours ticking...produce like apples and livestock nursery can be salvaged and usually can withstand more higher temps...always keep a reefer breakdown code book..units usually will throw out a code when it breaksdown and you can find out more about the specific problem then you call the shops make sure they have the part and how soon they can get it done...the sooner the better and be prepared to write a nice check or com.check...cold storage should be your next thing on your mind after you find out that your unit may not be fixed for more than a day, you can also hire another company to cross dock it and put it on a different carrier if you have that ability.
i run 7reefer units we mainly run fresh salmon, fruits/vegs and sometimes frozen meats, never hauled ice cream however we did haul ice to LA during Katrina...
Depends on the product some companies may require higher cargo insurance especially stuff like king crab, fresh fish and shrimp, usually these kind of loads require teams and they pay pretty darn good lol.. reefer breakdowns are never fun and nerve wrecking...theres also stuff like temp recorders that some shippers will put inside your trailer but its a whole another story and i wont get into to it....try to keep ur unit as much updated as you can and have post trip inspection as you normally do with your tractor, your reefer unit is just like a 2nd engine in your truck.

Semi-trailer reefer units are separate from the truck's power plant. The truck breaking down usually will not affect the freight. Reefer boxes are also as well insulated as possible (compromise between insulation ability and trailer capacity) with walls a few inches thick.

If the reefer itself breaks down, I call maintenance immediately and they send me to the nearest repair facility. If the truck AND the reefer were to break down at the same time, they would probably send a mobile repair unit for the reefer first, worry about the truck later.