Detained at the shipper dock for too long.

Better keep the reefer at the proper temperature that's required for loading.
Too warm or too cold and your trailer will be rejected.
Always top off the reefer fuel before arriving at a shipper.

 

Why is it open?

 

It’s always fun to sit at the shipper for 10+ hours until your reefer starts throwing codes then the mega you work for sends another driver with a different reefer so you can take the broken reefer to a service center and sit for 3 days not getting paid.

Sorry I blacked out there for a second... I turned my reefer off after 2 hours of sitting.

 

Can make some decent money waiting like that with detention pay. I think FFE pays something like $22.00 hr. to wait. Log all that time as sleeper berth which helps the log book.

 

I always do my best to make sure my reefer is at least 3/4 full before I go to a shipper. I really do understand the excessive delays getting loaded and unloaded. My record is 26 &1/2 hours to get unloaded. Another time was just over 17 hours, numerous 12 hour waits and I generally plan for between 4 and 5 hours.
The thing is, to run reefer loads, which are usually live load and unloads, you have to have patience. I do and learned a long time ago to play to your strengths. That's why I'm a reefer jockey, I have the patience it requires. Many don't.
It's not all bad, I have to jump through couple of hoops, but if I do, I get detention pay, which is pay to sit on my butt while I nap, putz on the internet, read a book, watch a movie, etc.
And, waiting is not On Duty time, so it doesn't hurt my clock. It's pretty simple, whe you are at a shipper or receiver, and you are waiting for the next thing to happen, you can be off duty.

 

Welcome to pulling reefers. My record was 33 hours on what was supposed to be a drop and hook at Hormel in Austin Mn. Did a few 24-hour days at Michael's foods in Gaylord Mn too. My suggestion. :Learn a skill in your downtime. I used my time in the docks to learn web development. Now I make more money and I don't got to worry about sitting in no darn docks.

Other options include. Learn about advertising and affiliate marketing and start a blog/YouTube channel (run it like a business if you want to make real money don't be a hack like many trucker vloggers) trade stocks, become a copywriter, get an online degree or certification etc.

I precooked a lot of meals as well when I knew I was going to be in a dock for a while. That way when I finally was able to get going I could run hard and not have to worry about spending an hour of my 10-hour break prepping and cooking a decent meal.

Time in the docks doesn't have to be wasted time.

 

The mega (kind of rimed with the fifth month of the year) I worked for didn’t pay detention pay or pay for the time sitting at a service facility. They paid $115 per day you logged driving. So if you sat at a service center for that 24hr period you got nothing. At the end of the month you got the difference in miles if there was one.

long story short after the second time of sitting at a service center for days I started turning off my reefer.

the americold in Ontario, OR was the worst. If they opened their bay door and a thermometer placed in the middle of the trailer didn’t show -5 degrees they wouldn’t load you. Of corse it’s not going to show -5 degrees after sitting at the dock with my doors open in 90deg heat for 10 hours. I’m sure the reefer iced up after 2hrs and couldn't deice so it just ran on high for the last 8 hours. I’m surprised I didn’t have any reefer fires.

 

The option of springing a set rat trap on my privates seems appealing compared to pulling a refer.