Checking your refer while off duty

Load won't go bad quickly. The air temp will rise, but the freight itself is *a lot* of mass to warm up so will stay cold a very long time, even if a door was left open. And the boxes on the perimeter would spoil long before the boxes in the center so wouldn't be a complete loss depending on time.

Of course, this also depends on if the load has a temp monitor in it and how strict the reciever is on following it.

 

Shippers are known to place all kinds of "goodies" in these loads. Another tool used by receivers is this ----


I might also add that the reefer units themselves save history. In my career, I had to go two times to have a TK dealer pull history because of rejected loads.

 

Then you had better be paying me for my time, if you're the one who booked the load. Reefer SHOULD BE just in time freight, anything other than that and you're losing money by agreeing to be a storage unit for product. If you did book a load that was far too lax then the driver is losing money as well with those wheels not turning. Personally, I'd tell you where to park your truck, and you can get the next moron willing to drive for a boss who doesn't care about the driver.

 

With respect, the only time a running reefer should be left by a driver is at a terminal OR final on a Drop & Hook something I have done many times. Since this topic has come up I have tried to remember if I ever left a loaded reefer unsecured. I did once a few years ago after a breakdown. I was not able to check the load and the company repowered it within 12 hours. In my opinion, it is just not smart to leave a reefer unsecured.

 

The answer here is simple. If it makes you sleep better to spend part of your off-duty time baby sitting a reefer unit, then do it. If you think you should log on-duty for it, then do it. Whatever makes you rest easiest is what you should do. That’s the answer. There’s no wrong answer here.

Legally speaking, I suppose you’re supposed to log it , but
who the hell is going to know if you rode your motorcycle to your truck to check the reefer?

Personally, I wouldn’t go near the #### thing on my off time, and I wouldn’t lose one second of sleep worrying about it. That’s just me. Off duty means just that, and that means I’m relieved from ALL work related activities.

 

Dispatch can check ours remotely. It's suggested to check them at start and end of 10s. I used to be able to check them on my phone.

 

Depends on witnesses. If there are no witnesses, you just keep it off duty between you and the fence post. Get through the territory and no one is the wiser. If you have to go to the company yard and swipe a card to get into the gate for example, there is a paper trail that you were there. So you'd have to log on duty to explain your presence.

 

If I owned the truck and the load, I wouldn't leave it 34 miles away unattended. Time off that weekend wouldn't have been in the cards for me.

 

Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about logging a temp check, but I sure as heck wouldn’t leave it anywhere but a secure lot, the kind with fences and guards.