Continuous Loads - Really?

Many times the brokers are scared of the reefer not starting when on cycle sentry mode. The driver being asleep or whatever maybe the problem, plus most brokers do not care if it burns more fuel or not on the reefers, best advice as bad as it does suck to hear is run it the way it is requested to always be on the safe side of things. The brokers have to account for the drivers that just do not give a crap about anything or the ones that do not have the sense to get in out of the rain. I see the point they have but I am also a driver, an owner operator and own a company with several trucks running I look at it from business on dollars and cents worth but it still isn't worth having to buy a load over a few dollars of reefer fuel wasted. Just like when you back on the door to unload, look at all the fuel that is wasted cooling the parking lots, nothing we can do as small fish in the big ponds but you don't hear anyone fussing because PRIME trailers cut off when the doors are open?? I know first hand due to the fact I bought a few year old Ex-Prime trailer and unloaded at Walmart DC, you would have thought I committed a felony because the reefer cut off when I backed on the door. Had to spend a bunch of money to put it in the shop to have it bypassed permanently. But that goes with the big company thing vs small companies Just my thoughts on it. Better safe than sorry

 

We never run anything on continuous. One product we pick up specifies that the reefer must be set a 33 degrees continuous, but every time we hook up to the trailer, that immediately gets put in cycle sentry. We've never had any problems doing this. Even when delivering the product and the bills say it MUST be set on continuous, we've never had any receivers come check the reefer for that. Hell, most hi-lo drivers just shoot the temp gun in the trailer and if it's somewhere near where it's supposed to be set, they always take it.

But that's the advantage of working for a small, family owned company. We deliver to the same places so many times and they know our name like the back of their hands, so they're pretty trustworthy with our logistics.

 

I set the Reefer on whatever the customer wants it at period. If the company wants it set differently they better be willing to put it on Qualcomm.
We do have one drop shipper that likes to put them on continous. But they don't write it on the bills. So it gets switched to cycle.
I was stuck once in a snowstorm running low on fuel I practically had to beg to switch to cycle.