Used reefer trailer

Earlier this year I made the jump from dry van to reefer. I was leased to a carrier running their pos vans. Never owned a trailer and haven’t pulled a reefer since Pullen Brothers were still in business. I haven’t seen a single thread on used Reefer ownership so I thought since I’ve been drinking HEAVILY and bored I’d share the experience. First off it’s 26 series retired Prime Trailer.. purchased off Craigslist the day after Christmas. It was the 3rd trailer I had driven too see. Unlike the other two the owner spoke English and we ended up striking a deal.



Ok cool... now my problem was finding a place to park it until I leased to my new carrier. I’m out of Orlando, FL. My yard was full and so was everyone else’s. I need a place to park this thing for 2 weeks. I sucked it up and dropped it off at the Carrier dealer. I knew I was about to get raped but hey... need to make sure this unit is tip top condition. I wanted a PM, all 3 belts changed.. and a status LED light installed. I get a call... hey man your water pump is leaking do you want us to replace it... anyways $1600 bill. But 2 of my belts were good and didn’t need replacement.. only the water/alternator

The trailer came with new brakes and drums.. and 6 new tires. Replaced the other 2 with new Kapsens. $500 installed. Before I went to get the tires I was twisting all the lugs with my fingers and found SEVERAL washers loose. Had everything torqued as well.

The bottom part of the wall was also not “load ready” “pickup load and go” like seller claimed. There was ####ing screws sticking out!!!!! 6 bottles of gorilla glue caulk and 3 days later she was ready to go.



Now the fun part.... first load. Get loaded and as I’m closing my doors I realize 6 of my tires are FLAT. All reading 40psi or under. The 2 that aren’t are the two new ones I just put on. The trailer has a auto inflation system. Clearly was broken. 2 hours later I had all of those hoses ripped off and tires pumped up from the trucks air.

4 hours later... I’m feeling like the trailer brakes aren’t working. I pull into the Petro in Kingsman, GA (I never have any shop of this sort ever work on stuff but it’s Friday night and I’m desperate ) and I’m cruising around the parking lot slamming the trailer hand brake.... nothing. I check the brakes adjustment. All good. The awesome tech within 45 mins traces it back to the service line elbow. It’s clogged with dirt.... BOOM. Brakes working. $170

Everything’s good for the next week. I get back to Florida and checking the unit and I find the compressor belt splitting. Ok whatever. I’m on a short load from St Augustine to Winter Haven FL. I take my chances and win.

Get belt fixed and 2 days later go pickup a load.... I sleep at shipper and in morning start reefer.. as soon as it hits high rev it shut off. Wouldn’t start back up. Lost the load. Funny thing is. the LED Status Bar I had the dealer install stayed green. So the entire time I’ve been running loads looking in the mirror this unit could of been off but it’s showing GREEN?????? Take it back to mechanic (New one not the dealership) Manual prime pump was shot. He hooked me up with the quick connect fitting to pressurize fuel tank Incase it ever happened again. His Mechanic also rewired the status light. Can’t remember exactly what was wrong but it was something to do with the trailer door sensor. So at this point my oil is looking extremely dirty. I had the dealership do 4 things and now 2 of them were wrong. I get the oil changed again. Not even 100hours later. I don’t trust those clowns.

Week after all this I realize my ABS isn’t lighting up anymore during Pretrip. It goes back to mechanic. Main wire powering ECU was corroded. And not just a portion of broken wire. We’re talking a foot plus of straight corroded wire. Cool though. I think maybe $100 fix.



Not even 2 weeks later I’m pretripping unit and realize the fanshaft belt is splitting.... WOW... WTF..... Remember when I first bought it how I wanted all the belts replaced??? It holds for my load and it gets replaced. Tech says the pulleys were extremely misaligned. More money. This time I end up buying a spare oil/fuel filter. And spare belts. More money.



Next big fiasco happens in Florence, SC when I walk out of Iron Skillet and realize the return fuel line snapped and it’s pouring fuel everywhere. My drives tires are soaked and so is the asphalt. Where the line broke was directly underneath one of the cross members. It’s unreachable. I don’t have 1/4 brass tube2tube fittings or extra hose and neither does shop. I’m about to lose my #### so I cave in and call Carrier for emergency service. While I got raped the tech spent the full 2 hours of after hours service and showed me how my compressor shaft seal is leaking badly.. I knew my compressor oil was getting lower but was in denial. How much is that to get fixed??? $2000. Wow!! Of course the main mechanic in Florida gets it done for $1093. That’s the new seal, new oil.. latest software update (No more locked out Prime BS settings), belt adjustment, and full Freon recharge.

More spare parts.... 1/4 inch hose for return line.... 3/8 hose for feed. With brass union tube2tube. Never will have this problem again



Last week ABS light comes on trailer. I care a lot about my carrier and our CSA. So I pull into same Kingsman, GA. It’s the passenger rear wheel sensor. $300 after diagnosis. I find that fair and get it done. The job took the tech almost 3 hours. Trucks we’re piling up it was also a Friday night. However sometimes being independent with some #####ing and whining I wasn’t charged extra hours..


Other random stuff with trailer.... the DS Side door would constantly open up while going down the road. Finally figured out the stupid rubber prongs were shot and had them replaced. Zip Ties saved me big time until then.


One time after trailer was serviced I went to open main reefer door and the right side wasn’t connected to the hinge and it hit me right in the face.


I don’t do Ice cream... this is a 2008 Wabash Carrier Ultima XTC. I book a Negative 10 load... when I get to US Cold Storage I’m informed there is Ice Cream on load and set unit to Negative 20.... GREAT. No way is this POS gonna hit set point. Not even 20mins later she’s below set point. Unbelievable.



Anyways I’m done with post.... hope someone enjoyed it. Typed on my IPad. Anytime you see a 26 Series Prime trailer wish them luck! The after hours Carrier Tech in Florence greeted me with a laugh then smile.... “MAN.... somehow I knew this was going to be a 26.. these things stay in here...”

Would also like too add how since 2015 my truck has been such a huge money pit.. however now that she’s married to a trailer she stays out of the shop and parked at the yard while the Reefer is about to take the “Shop Queen” crown.

All in all... my situation so far is absolute proof that I would of been better off with a $1500 payment. A Brand NEW Trailer. However I’ve learned more then I’ve wanted too but blessed at the same time. By the end of the year at this rate I’ll be able to help out anyone with this unit like a certified tech.

 

I haven’t posted in over a year on here. Before I left though I remembered everyone loves reading about people struggling. However in this case it’s a 50/50 of reading about my problems but there’s also a good chance someone is going actually learn something as well. Appreciate you!

 

Chinatown how are you brother??? The owner of this trailer actually bought the truck and Reefer for his son and was running it all 48 with son and girlfriend paying them .50 a mile. This is 2018. Good rates.... Son/Girlfriend got tired of the road and quit. He bought it from Nationwide Trailer Sales who probably got it directly from Prime. His first stop with trailer was a carrier dealer. Had lots of receipts for repairs but I for real believe he was clueless about the money pit I was receiving. Honestly though a lot of the stuff should of been prevented. Or fixed by myself if I had necessary parts. I’ve contemplated texting him in a joking manner asking him if this trailer was a Shop Queen but just keep to myself. 36 loads this year. All reefer. 80% produce. 0 claims. Can’t be too mad.