Question about idling with a refer van

a reefer has it's own motor/fuel tank etc. It's completely self sufficient.

 

Depending on the temperature outside our drivers are allowed to idle the trucks while sleeping. In our minds it's a saftey issue. You want a driver to have a good night rest.

The reefer units have their own engine that run just like a car. They start and stop as need be. However I had a reefer that had a problem where the driver hooked up booster cables to the reefer to keep it charged because it was having charging problems.

 

Actually some or a lot of local laws prohibit idling no matter what the temperatures are! If a company tells their drivers to idle, get a ticket and we'll pay it I'll drive for them unless there is a good company with APU's and I'll go there first!
As for a reefer they have their own engine and refrigeration unit. The anti idle laws always has a "loop hole" for the reefer as it just might be their produce or meat or whatever that could go bad and jack up the prices in the area so they don't include a reefer unit into the law EXCEPT socialist California! The units must now pass the carb laws! This has got to be pretty good for those drivers going into that socialist libtard state with an older unit!
As for the driver who had cables hooked to the unit it's happened and it'll haoppen again! If the alternator goes bad on either unit the truck OR the reefer the driver will hook a set of jumper cables or a special cable some of us have made up over the years to hook between the units to keep power flowing. A reefer unit will keep the lights running on a truck that the alternator stopped working so the driver can get to a shop and yep the truck will keep the reefer running till a shop can be found.