An Ideal used Reefer trailer

Well, I'll tell you right now, if you say you hate food warehouses, guess where 97% of your freight will be going. I hit them all in the mid-west, and one is worse than the next. Like I say, the only way I'd do reefer again is by the hour, and even then, I swore I'd never go to another one. Ever hear of Roundy's or SuperValu in Wisconsin? You will, trust me. Years ago, it was all O/O's at those places, but very few O/O's at those places anymore, all company trucks, and for good reason.

 

Companies are going to have to ask for mandatory detention.
What kills me is even if you get detention,it usually starts when you get a door,not giving you credit for the time waiting in the lot.
Another option is dropping a trailer at every location and have a yard dog move your trailer in and out of the dock.
Rates will have to go up.

 

Whaaat? Who negotiates these kind of deals?

I thought timer begins when you get past the entrance gate, and 2 hrs after that, the detention "SHOULD" start. I will have to bake detention into my quotes, but more likely I'll stick to drop & hook (since I dont have my own trailer anyway).

re: rates, yup. the only way is UP (I dont see it any other way)

 

2007 TK with 15k hours? What model to is it? If it's an SB-210 or SB-230 they were some of the most reliable TK's ever made however if the maintenance was not kept up on you can easily dump 1000's into these units especially when Thermo king wants 600 dollars just for 1 door not including hardware to mount the dang door. Stay away from SB-400 or SB magnum units. But I've seen many SB's with over 40k engine hours running fine, however there are a few common problems with these units.
1. Check the coolant tank for any sign of black residue, if its black head gasket is gone. Common problem with every single TK with yanmar engines, known issue continues even to this day even with precedents with yanmar engines.
2. Check belts for wear, if extremely loose or really cracked what else did the skimp on maintenence wise? OEM TK filters or aftermarket? OEM belts or aftermarket? Are the filters dated? Check for plastic behind plastic bulkhead inside trailer on evap coil, if a lot of plastic and debris is behind there somebody did not service PM it properly. Make sure unit drops below 30 degrees then put unit in defrost. Make sure both defrost drain lines are working. If one is not blow in it or flush with water hose to flush debris. If Unit can't defrost unit won't cool
3. Water pumps leak look for red residue under pump. Coolant should also be red in color, not green not any other color
4. Check all 4 motor mounts. If The 2 mounts on belt side are soaked with oil or coolant they need to be changed along with water pump/ or front seal. Look at difference between top and bottom mounts for guide. Push on lower fan belt and see if engine lifts up and down if mounts are really gone.
5. Check compressor sightglass for oil color. Sightglass will most likely be dark however with a flashlight look for shiny metal particles, a few are normal with 15k hrs, however a lot shows compressor is due soon. Look at one with 3k or low hours just to compare if you don't know what to look for in normal color and metal flakes
6. Look at all clamps holding down copper refrig lines. In particular the first 2 off the discharge line of the compressor. The first is a u clamp just before the vibrasorber. The second is plastic clamp just after the vibe, replace if missing. Extremely common failure and will blow all the charge when it will break.
7. Doors, they are expensive make sure they are all there and all the hardware is there, make sure they stay closed.
8. Let unit cool for 10 min. Go into sensors menu go to temperature differential. If unit is ETV TD should be -18-25 degrees if throttling valve it should be -10-15 degrees. After checking TD look above battery. ball in sightglass should be floating. If floating unit has enough Freon for current temp.
Look for any severely frosted refrig lines if ball not floating. Frosted lines show restriction on evap ( plastic wrap, dirty, etc.) Suction pressure should roughly correlate with box temp and should roughly be 10lbs lower than box temp with ETV fully open at 800
9. Go into gauges with unit running for about 20 minutes. Go to coolant temp. Should be below 170 degrees if above 175 unit condenser cool and radiator needs cleaned out. Will code out in summer months if not addressed.
10. Ask how long unit has been sitting. Units that tend to sit leak Freon especially from compressor shaft seal. Look for black residue around compressor seal for refrigerant leaks.
11. Look at every wire, fuel line etc. Open the doors and just touch, feel, pull on every wire, fuel line, any part. Feel for loose parts, Chaffed wires, rubbed fuel lines, oil leaks on compressor and engine. Slow down here, take your time here. Look at every thing for 20 minutes or so. 15k is worth your time to just slow down and look over what you are buying. your not a mechanic but use common logic and common sense. Does it look maintained, clean for its age or filthy, Does it look oem or has it been rigged together, any parts look broken, they might be.
Use it as bargaining power if you find anything out of line however remember that TK and Carrier are hilariously expensive to repair. Its borderline price gouging. The radiator that gets dirty is around 3500 bucks, Door $600 each, micro 2,000. Reman Compressor 2500, new compressor 3-4K, HMI 1,500, These are Parts only cost, labor is also not cheap and loaded units never break M-F 8-5 it's always after hours when 2hr minimum at $165 an hour labor charges apply. Not to mention all the fees that go along with that, mileage charges, fuel surcharge, environmental fees, etc.
These are most of the common problems however it's not at all inclusive best of luck and if u have any more questions just ask

 

Hey Bud! If you get the 2007 reefer, you will do just fine for few years. Just because the reefer is older doesn't mean that they don't work well. Only real hiccup is when get it insured. Some insurance companies don't like to cover reefers if they are more than 7-10 years old. But that doesn't mean there aren't good insurance companies out there that do cover older reefers. 15K hours isn't so bad depending on which TK unit it has on it. (I.E. Sb190, SB210, etc.). Anything higher than SB210 will be fine with 15K hours as long as it's been taken care off. They usually can reach about 25K hours without any issues as long as they get the regular maintenance. The price is fair as well. Usually you can get them for about a thousand or two cheaper. But that's not a bad price either as long as it doesn't need to much work on the inside and out. But as far as these people telling you reefer work sucks!

Don't let all this negative talk scare you away from Reefers. I've done reefer work all my life. Been raised in the reefer business since I was 6 years old and now almost pushing 40. I never have thought about doing anything but reefers. Even though I have family that does dry vans, they are slowly all converting over to reefers as they see the number I hit. If you know how to work the market it pays extremely well. Some of these guys telling you not to do reefer are prob. in the reefer business them self and doesn't want others to be part so they can have more for them self. Now one advise I will give you, DON'T EVER PICK UP CHEAP FREIGHT. Cheap freight is anything lower than 2 bucks a mile in the cheapest areas. I usually average anywhere from 2.5-8 bucks a mile, depending on the area and season. That's the only tricky part. If you know how to work the area and the seasons, you will do great! I know some of these guys on this forum might be laughing about me hitting 8 bucks a mile on reefers, But, when I hit the bank deposits the only one laughing is me.

 

@FAT_CAT ... I like you already!

 

I'm not always on here. But, I'm going to be making more of an effort to come on here little more often as I'm trying to find drivers to expand my fleet. So if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I will try to help out with anything possible. I have been in the trucking industry and around trucks all my life. So, I have a broad area of knowledge including repairs and all when it comes down to this industry. Also, If you have a general knowledge of repairs, you will have no problem working on your reefer for most of the general maintenance issues. Good luck with your decision and hope everything works out for you.

 

Knight is selling a bunch of 2011 Reefers for $19-$20k

 

Check out Penske / Ryder / Desert Trailer Systems.