Subzero temperature load

A lot of reefers won’t run in start/stop mode at minus 10 setting. Also being 100 plus outside it’s cheaper on fuel in continuous anyways.

 

Just run it on continuous in the heat the USA is experiencing right now. I was picking up a load of ice cream in Henderson, NV and they wouldn't let me leave the property until the reefer temperature display reached -5 degrees. It took over an hour for it to go down from like 10 degrees to that reading. The outside temp. was about 104 degrees that day.

 

A lot of companies have their reefer units preprogrammed to automatically choose continuous or start/stop based on the temp, product or customer. I worked for Magnum years ago, and we picked up a lot of french fries out of ND. Many of the customers wanted continous but once you put set it to -10 it would switch to start/stop.

 

If it’s a newer trailer, usually they can change settings from the office. I’ve had mine switched from continuous to start/stop, they want to save fuel.

 

Your company has a bean counter who THINKS he’s saving money.. On cycle every time it starts in hot weather it goes full blast to lower temp again. On cycle it might do it 25% of the time compared to continuous ..PS cycle starts up 5 to 10 mins after it shuts off in hot weather .(think starter wear) we won’t even go into temp claim issues.

 

The company I work for keeps the reefers on continuous since we haul refrigerated pharmaceuticals. Much more important to keep at a steady temp.
Our trailers also go down to -35c (-30f) takes a few hrs to get down to that temp! We also have 100 gallon fuel tanks and extra insulation... so the trailer weighs about 1200 extra pounds... If I take a 42,000 lb back haul I am real close to 80,000 gross... we have glycol well temp sensors, printers on the trailer that prints a readout of trailer temps for every 10 minutes for the entire trip and every trailer has to be calibrated and certified to hold temp at -35c, 5c and 20c for each of the pharma companies we haul for.
Talk about reefer stress!

you learn to never touch a load lock at -35c without a good pair of gloves!

 

Wow, what brand of trailer is it? Also is unit carrier x4 7500 or thermoking?

 

Thermo-king S-700‘S on Utility trailers. Ordered from the factory with extra insulation and flat floors. The shoots are only 1/4 way so with smaller loads you can move the bulkhead up so there’s less room to keep that cold.