Has anyone ever ...

Opened the trailer doors to put a load lock in and almost passed out from fumes?

Happened to me for the first time today. It was a strong chemical smell. Shipping said it was something to do with the refrigerant system ???

 

I nearly blacked out. I am being 100% serious. I informed receiving when I got there and he appeared to be familiar with it and just said "thanks for letting me know".

Wtf?

 

It wasn't that it smelled "bad" it was a chemical smell. Kind of like ammonia but not exactly. It was over powering and I immediately had a reaction to it.

 

It wasn’t a bleach smell. But I suspected it was a washout chemical. I have smelled a bleached washout before, this was something far more powerful. The shipper mentioned it was probably refrigerant.

 

I waited for 2 hours for it to get loaded, it is a company trailer not a trailer I have hauled before. The yard driver had set it out for me so the doors were closed. Temp was at 20. The odor “stung” and yes it did have a kind of sweet smell. I got dizzy and lightheaded and just walked it off. I could feel like I was about to black out. I felt very weak and got a headache.