"I've never had a driver check the temperature before"

Like taking the temperature of the product itself? On a frozen load, I'm satisfied if the product is actually frozen solid. Beyond that doesn't make any difference to me as long as it remains that way to delivery.

 

About the only time I might get out the temp gun on a frozen load is if the load looked sketchy. Condensation, wet or crushed cardboard cases or the like. Even then I'd probably just have them either take it off or sign a statement on the condition and take pictures at the shipper. Also matters who the customer is, and who's shipping and receiving it. Sometimes they really don't care, or even part of their regular practice. For example, I ran a shuttle load of "frozen" chicken a couple weeks ago. It was a straight thru delivery to a cold storage. It came out of the packaging plant and I knew the load was hot. There was slush all over the floor and the load was not iced. I been dealing with all 3 parties for years and knew this load was not abnormal, and it came off with no drama. I was only a little mad about having to get a washout afterward, that I wasn't counting on.

 

Some shippers ship the load hot and it doesn’t freeze fast in the trailer so tattle tale may be out of range. I’ve loaded fresh pork that was supposed to be frozen once all parties were notified I got the go ahead to run it . PS got $100 extra for reefer fuel on that one since it would be running high speed a long time.

 

I had our dedicated fresh fish trailer Wednesday night…always smells out of range. Good thing I only have to open the doors once

 

On my Tyson loads with set points of 26, I’ll make sure it’s frozen solid.

We haul a ton of ice cream set at -10 or -20. I verify it’s in range by the heavy, low visibility fog that fills the parking lot when I open the doors at the receiver lol.

 

When I did reefer I checked the temp via the access door every pre and post trip. And checked the reefer fuel tank and looked at the reefer unit every time I got out of the truck.

It became habit. Haven't pulled a reefer in 2 years but still look between the cab and trailer almost every time I walk by my truck.

 

A 26° Tyson load is a fresh load. It will never be frozen solid. Tyson ships their frozen loads at -10°.

 

Can the driver get access to the temp tale data mid-route? Seems like it'd be helpful to know if there's a big temp deviation ASAP so it can be corrected in route?

 

No. It is inside the sealed trailer, probably near the center of the trailer. Looking at the reefer display is what the driver should be doing. Every time he/she gets out of the truck, just need to glance at it to insure it is in range.