Reefer controller in cab?

Most are dedicated between two units(even though wireless) Indicators on the trailer should show cool,heat,defrost,out of range or fault.

 

Wireless data technology allows for a lot of things such as "putting the unit console in the cab" but the modern day reefer is generally fault-free and if not the yellow/red light in the mirror should be all that is required to get someone's attention. What if your box decides to monitor the unit that backed in next to yours while on your 10? But for the yard jockeys at Cargill and such it would be nice if they could remotely start and set a unit and be confident which unit they are controlling ... The technology would be better suited to dedicated trailers and maybe not so much for fleet application where trailers are constantly swapped out. I can see where an o-o with his own trailer might like to have the ability to interrogate his unit from in the cab, particularly if it could use the same info screen as is used for the tractor and not have to deal with losing still more limited dash space. And also for o-o's, being able to monitor fuel level remotely.

But, if I started and pre-cooled the unit to 28 from the cab, I'd still go out and look at the unit to make sure the command was registered and applied properly.

 

My '09 and up units send me out of range and fault codes by e-mail and text. Same as the virtual technician on the trucks. But you get drivers that will un-plug sensors just to "F" with you at night.

 

If you get an alarm you are going to get a yellow light regardless. One needs to pullover, get out of the seat and investigate. There is no need for clearing alarms going down the road because they are coming back until the problem is fixed.

I have seen remote controllers inside the back doors to control different zones. But those are accessories for ones that haul different kinds of freight in one trip regularly.

They do have a couple different remote lights for the front corner of the trailer.

I like these as they display temperature and fuel level along with alarms.

 

Most are just going to the notification. It takes the driver out of the picture. On the newest units i can lock out the driver from changing temps or even turning the unit on and off. Depending on where a driver parks,sometimes they ask me to lock it out. I prefer the drivers to monitor themselves but some customers are requiring otherwise. When there is a problem the unit"tells"me what is wrong and a customer can track the temps.

If your unit isn't ancient,you can turn on an audible alarm for any malfunction.

 

Qualcomm already has that. It will tell you if there's an alarm and you can monitor temps on the screen. That's old technology now though, like wichris said on the newer trailers it's all monitered by disp. Gotta dumb it down so they can just hire anybody.

 

Some places yes. New units you can program a shipper into it and have a temp just for them. When they are dispatched it will auto set that temp. Cut's the dispatcher out of the picture. Larger company the lockout is a nice feature. It is nice to be able to pull the info on a load(records every 3 minutes)when there is a temp issue.