Switching from dry van to reefer i have a couple questions

You are asking impossible questions to answer. Most reefer fuel tanks have a fuel gauge. The temp of the load, the outside air temp, no one can tell you for sure. Most reefers are loaded when you get there. I have had to "finger print" my share. I switched to flat bed, then heavy haul. Get a book on Thermo King units, and read it. May help. It's not a bad gig, just different.

 

Yeah...
Outside Temp, Reefer Set Temp, will make a big difference.
Is the Unit running on continuous or cycle, will make a big difference.
Age of the Unit and the Trailer itself.

How well the Trailer is insulated.
My Company has some older trailers, the Units are really loud and the Trailers are quite heavy...But I think they are insulated a lot better than some of the newer ones.

You could have a Meat Load in the Winter, if they allow Cycle at 25-35 degrees, the Reefer pretty much won't run, and of course won't use much fuel at all.

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Unloading...really gonna depend on where you go to.
Many companies won't want you to unload at all.
Others will make you unload because they don't want to pay Lumpers.

 

You will figure it out as you go.

 

I pulled them for years......you will learn fast and it really is not bad.
I pulled produce and frozen and rarely fingerprinted any loads.

Always pre-cool the trailer before doing pickups and don't let it run out of fuel.
They can be a real pain to get started again.
The new Thermo Kings are really nice....not very noisy at all.

Learn to pulp the product to check temp,
Some loads have temp recorders....but you will get used to it.

 

If you will work for a larger national carrier that does a lot of drop and hooks, you will rarely keep a trailer long enough to "run out of fuel" because the drop point won't let you in to drop unless the gauge reads above 3/4 full. So you'll just be putting in small amounts to top off here and there. In the winter, beginning with a nearly full tank, you can run a week in some cases and not even go below a half tank. But it all depends but fuel levels should not be a concern for new drivers. If the gauge reads below a 1/3, top it off and don't worry about it for 3 or 4 days if you keep the trailer other then to check the level every time you walk along the trailer doing inspections and fuelings to make sure some fuel didn't "walk off" or if there is a fuel leak or other issue.

With refrigerated carriers SO SO SO much depends on where you work as to what the overall experience will be like in terms of miles, unloading work, typical appointment times, etc, and the experience can vary considerably from one job to the next.

 

Here is an example we run three loads a week of frozen from Dallas to Philly. Two Carrier XTCs and one TK SB210. Reefers leave with a full tank of diesel. During the hottest part of the year the two Carriers return with a little more than 3/8th of a tank and the TK is just under 1/4 tank. When it's cooler they use a little less, but there isn't too much difference. We run frozen on cycle (start-stop) and things like produce on continuous.

 

Depends on whether or not the reefer is running on continuous or start /stop. Also depending on the outside air temp. If it's 90+ it's gonna drink the fuel and you will need to fuel it once a day. If the temps are lower, you can get away fueling every other day.
Rule of thumb. Always fuel the reefer when you fuel the truck. The first time your reefer runs dry, ( it has happened to every reefer driver out here, you will learn , never to forget to top it off)
Find a company that will hire the lumpers. We drive the truck, not lump our loads.

 

auburmdale fl to temple tx 35 degrees continuous burned 42 gal
transam being a starter co with newbie drivers has a policy of topping off reefer every time you fuel up