Reefer myths and legends

Like I said above, I try to be courteous, and park next to other reefers or in a row of empty spots. Sometimes you just can't, though. I do have to wonder, though...since when did truckstops become hospital "quiet zones"? I'm guessing sometime over the past 10-15 years when idling became a big no-no among the companies and the states. Before then, nearly every truck idled, and as such, the reefer noise wasn't as much of an issue as it is today.

 

pretty soon wel have no smoking sections in parking lots .

 

Never mind.

 

I know this is an old thread but since when do you have a huge choice of where to park in a Truck Stop? Heck you are fortunate if you find a spot. Forget about being next to other reefers. IF you arrive before 3 PM a spot by itself might be available

 

I’ve been driving for 6.5 years now. About 4 of those have been reefer, and the rest was mostly flatbed.

As far as flatbed equipment theft goes, I worked for Melton and TMC, and both had locks on their equipment boxes and headache racks, and I always locked mine up, just like I lock my cab’s side boxes. So the most theft I experienced was once someone took my bungees off my tarps in the middle of the night (the joke was on them — they were old, ratty bungees that we’re on they’re last load, and I had brand new ones to put on...). Another time, someone stole all the lugnut caps off of one wheel.

Now, reefer... yes, I’ve had my reefer shut off by a disgruntled driver — twice. The first time was in Phoenix in July, and I was carrying ice cream. I was also sick at the time and was passed out. I woke up to no reefer and ice cream dripping from my drain holes. The truck stop had video surveillance, the cameras had a clear shot at my truck and could see what driver did it well enough to get a company name and truck number, and they were willing to give the video to Stevens.
The other time, I parked and went in to relieve myself. Came back out to find the reefer off. Turned it back on, put up my curtains, turned off the lights, and watched for awhile with my phone ready to take video. Sure enough, a few minutes later, some grumpy old hillbilly climbed out of the ratty ol’ Pete that wreaked of urine (and was fast-idling!!!) parked next to me, and he walked right up to my trailer and reached for the controls. I had hit record when he got out and I followed him with the camera. When he touched the controls, I popped the door open, pointed my phone and my Maglite in his face, and told him that I had his face, his actions, and his info all on video, and if he touched my truck again, I was calling the cops. He gave me some macho talk, but backed off and went back to his truck. 10 minutes later, he shut my reefer off again, so I called the police. The cops came out, and I don’t know what they said to him. They were probably going to give him a warning, but ####### decided to shove one of the officers. He went to jail.

In regards to parking cliques, not only have I noticed that drivers seem to seek out those of their own freight types (reefers with reefers, flatbedders with other flatbeds, etc), I’ve noticed that drivers like to park next to drivers of the same company when possible. I’ve gone to bed before with several open spots around me and woken up to 5 or 6 other drivers from the same carrier parked beside me (this was a common thing with Stevens... Buzzards of a feather park together I guess).

 

I'll be a 100% honest here, I used to haul reefers for a company that had the loudest junk units on the parking lot. When I had a chance to find a secluded spot I did park there but if I could not, I was not particularly concerned of others' well being. I thought, "You don't like it, go to a motel." It's been 9 years I've been hauling dry box and I've become a reefer and APU hater myself, especially now with ELDs when staying parked for at least 8 hours at a time is unavoidable. I find it criminal to touch anybody else's equipment, I would not even find audacity to ask someone to move but I will move my truck, if a loud or even medium loud reefer unit is parked next to me. Funny part is, I am seriously planning to buy a reefer... and I know that once I have it, I won't be bothered by the noise any more. Yes, you have the right to call me hypocrite. That's how it works though, the body demands the best possible environment for comfort when resting...No matter how you look it at it though, whether the noise bothers you or not, it is detrimental to your rest quality and overall health in the long run.
On the other hand, at this day and age why have they not standardized the noise muffling requirements for such equipment (APU's too)? Would it be that difficult? Years ago, when I worked at a medium size manufacturing shop who wanted to be ISO 9001 complaint, they were addressing the noise level issues at a production line. In trucking they focused on HOS and sooth levels only. Especially Carrier units (APUs too) are horrible at this.

 

In my experience, Carrier reefers are the worst, and their APUs come close to being the worst. I’ll take a TK Precedent over any reefer on the road. Very quiet, and very efficient.
I just had to do a drop & hook. I lucked out because both trailers are brand new (the one I hooked is actually a couple weeks newer than the one I dropped), but I dropped a Precedent I could barely hear when I was in the bunk, and I grabbed a Carrier that I can hear go into high speed defrost while I’m going down the road.
As far as APUs go, I’d rather have an APU, even a Carrier, sitting beside me all night than the ####### cranked up to 1200 rpm with no exhaust muffling...

 

Seriously look at getting a ThermoKing Precedent. In my experience, not only are they quieter, but they use noticeably less fuel, they seem to be more reliable and run smoother, and they just work better than the Carriers. The only thing the Carriers we have do better than the TKs is they can heat up the box 10 degrees warmer (90 degrees F), which helps dry out a trailer after a washout quicker. But that’s about it.

 

There should be a contest! A true side by side comparison

 

Just spoke to our guys in the shop and they all say that they're both pretty comparable! We run both TK and Carrier APUs and Refers... but maybe a true side by side test would be a good idea?