need to get to -20 with older trailers

I used to put up blue tarps to keep frozen product nice and cold in the front of the trailer. Don't know if it would work for the whole thing though. It might.... Hope this helps.

 

I've hauled plenty ice cream loads in old trailers that would struggle to get to -5. I don't know if they can make it lower?

I've never been rejected before with an old trailer. The ice cream remains hard frozen at -5.

Sometimes at night I have bumped it up to 5 degrees while sleeping so I didn't have to listen to it scream. Then lower it back down when I got up.

Check the temp at a warehouse sometimes. No where near that. Maybe zero.

 

I personally have rejected loads when working the dock, that were not at the right temperature. it is my signature on the HASAP after all. same thing with outbound. even frozen pork goes out at -10F

 

It takes upwards of 24 hours for temperatures to adjust. Even doing what I said the core temp of the product won't drop below -10. I never slept more than 6 hours anyways. More like 4 hours. Ice Cream hauls at -15 to -20 to remain hard frozen. But actually anything will remain hard frozen under zero degrees. That's what the Fahrenheit scale is based on. Ice cream suffers the most loading and unloading. It takes several temperature changes for the ice crystals to change shape. You can easily recognize ice cream that has been put through the ringer by frost on the outside of the packaging. I use to haul regularly into Dean's Ice Cream. I never had a claim or rejected load. There's been 3 or 4 times I've got stuck with an old unit that never made it below -5. They accepted them loads also.

I've also hauled countless loads of pork and you don't freeze them unless the customer requests it. All loads of pork I've hauled went out 32-34 degrees. The grocers have to cut up and package the meat and you don't freeze meat twice. You might sent out prepackaged already final processed pork at -10. Pork from the slaughter house stays just above freezing.

 

Now I remember why I stopped doing reefer....... nobody has ever rejected a load of lumber because it was 2 degrees off......

 

Ice Cream at -20 is more of a preventative measure in case your reefer conks out that you have, in extreme heat, maybe a half hour/hour at most to get it running again before the ambient temperature reaches a point where the product won't be accepted by the receiver.