Why does my reefer have to be at -10?

That is wildly dependent on ambient temperature and unit set temperature. My reefer unit is pretty much on frozen 24/7. My average fuel amount for the last few weeks was 140 47 gallons... so, 20 6.7 gallons a day.

Edited to correct numbers:

 

Condition of trailer, ambient temp, product temp all make a difference. 6-25 maybe

 

I just read my fuel report wrong... 47 gallons a week.

After I read that back, I thought... "Wait a sec, that's almost a gallon an hour! There's no way."

Lol, my bad... that works out to 6.7 gallons a day.

 

If anyone has concerns about reefer fuel spending, they are in the wrong business. Pull a dry van.

 

So $21-$87.50 a day...

it would seem like that is a small price to pay to not end up buying a load-

Or I’m wrong?

 

The product might include a temp monitor 'tattletale' in the load.

Had a refer container of crab meat stolen and offloaded into a domestic refer trailer.
The thief shut off the container refer at the location of the product transfer and abandoned it nearby. APM gave the GPS information to the police and they recovered the product sitting in a makeshift lot under an expressway 'on ramp' full of stolen vehicles.

Perp went to jail. Crab meat was rejected [$289,000.00 against $300K in cargo coverage] despite the 'tattletale' showing it never was above the required temp.

Insurance had the load sampled and lab tested to 'force' the consignee to deal with moving it along instead of making it a 100% loss.

 

I don't even track my fuel... truck or trailer. I know that I spend about $1300 a week and usually end up with a little over a half tank in the truck by the time I get to San Antonio. If it were to deviate from that, I might look to see if there was a problem. I don't drive for fuel mileage... I have a tight schedule to keep.

 

Sysco keeps their frozen warehouse at -10 so shippers requiring -10 on a reefer aren't necessarily using the reefer to cool product. It could just be that -10 is a food grade standard for frozen food set by FDA or USDA or one of those other agencies who know way more about food temp safety than I ever will.

 

That is correct. If there is a temptale in the load, then I'll go by what is on the bills, no matter how retar... I mean, moronic it is.

Some shippers will load whatever trailer shows up, even if the unit is held together with spit and baling twine, with the fan belt squealing like a pig. Then they have damages and wonder why?

I guess the thinking is that if the unit runs continuously, then you don't have to worry about it not restarting because the unit is on its last leg.

Seriously, if I was a refrigerated shipper, I wouldn't load a truck that looked like maybe the driver couldn't afford a sandwich at his next stop.

 

Something I don't think has been mentioned. Different things freeze or stay frozen at different temperatures. 32 is the freezing point of water. But your ice cream will be soft.

So unless you are an expert on what freezes at what temperature. Stop trying to worry about it.

Your job is to transport the client's product at the temperature they require and are paying you. If O/I, you can base your fuel charge on your anticipated extra cost. If you're a company driver, it shouldn't even be a concern.