Forgot to get reefer fuel.

Or let it run out. You could be a feature story in a trucking magazine against e logs.

 

Just make sure you siphon it from the right truck!

 

Should be fine at 40% and low idle continuous
Don't panic til you get to about 1/8
Just keep an eye on it

Unless you have one of those prime ultra light weight trailers that has what looks like about a 12 gallon tank on it.

 

Headline:

DRIVER SETS CLOCK TO 34HR RESET BUT FORGOT TO GET REEFER FUEL, GETS CLAIM OUT OF FEAR OF BEING NON COMPLIANT

 

Ok...

Edit your logs to show 10 minutes on duty fueling at the BEGINNING of your 34.

Fuel the reefer off duty.

When your log person calls with the nonsense...

Explain the issue, take the internal company penalty point and keep it moving.

Your company wants your truck moving just as much as you.

Here's the deal...

Had you not forgotten, you would have started your 34 10 minutes later any way.

Or...

Log The 10 minutes at the END of your 34.

Either way...

You have to put fuel in that reefer and in order to protect your 34 you should not go on duty to do it.

 

Just to be safe, can you give us the brand name and product codes for that load? We’ll be careful not to buy any of it at the store.

 

Another idea. I cannot help it... when I think enough about a problem...

If you see another company reefer sitting empty, mooch his reefer tank. It's all the same company fuel paid for on the books. It might show up however if a bean counter discovered that truck B burnt 50 gallons in reefer fuel in a afternoon while empty and ask questions. Document everything, unit number, trailer etc. And the overall situation.

There has been times Ive given away reefer fuel to company trucks that had dry reefers, but very carefully documented it. If I am empty myself etc.

Another would be to ask Dispatch for anyone empty in your area with a full reefer tank, stick a hose in his tank, shake with one end covered a moment and transfer to your tank quickly, It should flow from his to yours provided he is on the higher ground than your tank is.

I don't think there is anyone who will be giving you any difficulty for trying to protect a potentially expensive and valuable cargo.

 

Most meat loads are okay to run cycle but some, the customer or shipper demands continuous and will utilize a temp log to insure it's ran this way. Also, if going to a food processor where the product is processed soon after receiving, if you run meat on cycle, there's no way you can assure that it reaches the dock [and processing equipment] at a very specific temperature that their equipment likes. Meat at 26 F behaves differently in machine equipment than meat that's closer to 31 F. Also, the meat probably must be at/below a certain temperature for quality control purposes before it can be used.

The problem with meat loads is it's often "warm" as it's loaded, and running on cycle will cause it to take a long time to reach a preferred temp (if it ever does) than if ran on continuous. In fact with some trailers and some loads, the meat may never drop below 32F ran at cycle even for 4 days. But a lot has to do with the load temp of the bulk of the meat and the outside weather conditions and the efficiency of the trailer. If any of these are a potential problem, then you better run continuous [like the bills say].

Meat going to a grocer for later processing is not as critical so long as the average temp in transit is below 29F