What to do if you have reefer emergency?

They are called cold storage warehouses... Same places you pickup and deliver to... Think of what a nightmare they are to pick up and deliver to and multiply that by 1000 and that's what you will be dealing with if you have an "emergency"... Most thermoking dealers have someone on call 24 hrs, but they aren't on every street corner, so knowing your equipment is sound ahead of time is important.

I made emergency repairs myself, so if your worried, and mechanically inclined, you should be fine. I had a drive fire blow out on me in the middle of nowhere Kansas that took out my mudflat, trailer crossmember, and fuel lines for reefer.. I'm talking 2 lane highway, MiDDLE of nowhere at 3 am... I keep different size brass couplings to repair air lines, they work for TK fuel lines too I discovered, removed and flattened out my mudflap, tied up the flailing crossmember, and eased on the 160 miles to the closest tire shop....

 

Road service 24/7 365.All usa.

 

Yes they will fix your reefer too.

 

Both TK and Carrier have emergency after hours reefer repair. Hopefully, you re in a area where their shops are open late. Otherwise, after hrs labor usually run $140/hr plus with 2 hr minimum labor plus parts and mileage.

 

yes carrier and thermo king all have 24 rd call assist if yu call tell em where yu at and the product yu have on and the temp they will direct you to the nearest dealer that can help they both work on each others units and with these new units they will give yu fault codes on what is goin wrong that way yu can tell the serv.tech on the phone! i've been pullin a reefer for about 23 yrs there not that complicated just keep a check on all your fluids and belts and keep it serviced thats the best advice i can give!

 

As someone said, keep an eye on your unit - regular maintenance and you won't have that many problems. If something does happen I normally try to fix myself or if that fails call TK out and cry my eyes out when the bill is due. Just another note, when they are busy (summer) sometimes you have to go to them or be reasonably close to get any after hours service.

 

Get the service directory for whatever unit you have. E of I-35 you're just about less than 200 mi from any dealer no matter where you're at. Depending on the temp (ambient and inside) and weight and temp of the product on board, you might have anywhere from one to several to hours to get the unit running or onto a cold dock. Usually cuts down on service time if you move to meet the truck at their shop if that's possible. The van is insulated and 20 tons of product doesn't spontaneously warm up unless it was hot to begin with. But then you pulped the load first so that's not a problem LOL. Of course don't dilly dally.

If the detour is going to make you late, obviously your second call will be to advise your customer of the crisis and new ETA. Having your next steps already figured out will go a long way toward less panic on the customer side. If a cold dock is your play, your customer will probably have a list of places to send you.

One thing you should have on board is a thick set of jumper cables. Battery/alternator failure on the reefer is a non-event when you have them since most truck battery boxes are right there on the frame below the unit. Can also be a lifesaver if your truck needs a jump off the reefer.

 

Also a few of the Carrier and TK dealers have a dock and trailers sitting around that they can transfer a load on to. But this comes at a pretty big charge and sometimes a issue with the shipper/reciever.