"Protect from freezing" dry van experiences.

How the hell is the driver supposed to protect a load from freezing in a dry van when it is freezing cold outside? that makes no sense, it sounds like they need to request a reefer trailer.

 

You gotta fight ice with ice

 

They have some van trailers called insulated service and you can get away with running through a cold snap temporarily with them. Thats one of the reasons I preferred reefers, you can do dry van work, insulated or heating and cooling if need be.

 

"Protect from freezing" might have different facets. I am afraid the main one is the sentence on the BOL itself which can be paraphrased as "if it freezes, you'll pay for it" but a carrier may unload it to a warm dock (there could be a seal issue), cover it with blankets, set up fire underneath the trailer and call a fire squad to watch it for them.

 

Back in the day, this was in 1980, we used to give several spotted trailers to a company in Pennsylvania that made steel file cabinets, blanket wrapped, no cartons. At the end of the year they would load them, that gets them out of their inventory for tax purposes, they didn't care when we picked them up, or delivered them.
I picked one up on Dec 29th, been loaded for about a week. Headed for San Jose, CA. Trip started at about 10 deg above zero, 40 below across Wyoming. San Jose it is 60 degrees on Jan 3. Opened the trailer, it was steaming, like you just opened up your freezer to get some ice cream. First guy slides the pad off the first file cabinet, his hand froze to the side of it. Just like the kid in A Christmas Story who puts his tongue on the pole in the schoolyard.
A little warm water gets him free. Everyone had to put on gloves. It never got above 10 degrees in the trailer until it was almost empty. Basic HHG van trailer.

 

We deal with much colder temps, and some of the companies have actual heated dry vans, but we still use the propane powered heaters we put in the back of the trailer too.

 

At my second LTL job, I had a "protect from freezing" load I took to one of our Minnesota yards where it was around zero degrees.

Being diligent, I called my dispatch and asked what to do. The dispatcher goes, "Oh geez...I can't believe they did that. What the hell were they thinking? Okay. I'm gonna need you to stay there, and rub the sides of the trailer to keep it warm."

Still one of the funniest ####ing things I've ever been told.

 

Right now I have a “protect from freezing” load. I haven’t turned on the reefer yet. Currently the temp is at 53, but the sensor is high inside the trailer. I’ll see how low it gets this morning. Temps are 3 F right now and will be 1 F consistently tonight.

A couple weeks ago I hauled another “protect from freezing” load, and I did not have to turn on the reefer at all. This was a 5-day load.

 

Now that is a dispatcher I would take out after work and buy him a beer....

 

He was a funny, sarcastic mother####er.