Rookie Truck Drivers, What Would YOU Do? #2

Just kickin it back up for more ideas

Since the ideas seem to have run dry here I will tell you what I would do and have done. I pulled refer for 15 years in different type of trailer and setups but all had one thing in common. They had to maintain certain temps.

Interesting that Daniel brought up this specific scenario. I swear Daniel you picked this out of my brain to post this question.

There are a few things that you needed to know to make a better educated guess. First nothing goes the way it's planned. Including but not limited to equipment failures. It's happens all the time. Secondly Walmart is very strict about instructions for products. If it does not meet their approval then you are turned away. This and perhaps the most important part... the refer trailer itself.

First thing I would do if I was in the same exactly scenario again would be first to call my dispatcher and explain what is happening and what the mechanic told me while I was heading to Walmart. If you wait and extra 2 hours at the truck stop with the refer Shutdown for 2 hours the load is gone. It's a major claim. Not your fault but a claim nonetheless. So now the only thing to do is hope Walmart will except the load.

The temperature is 5 degrees out of scope. The last thing you want to do is open the doors and check the load. It would quickly turn 70 degrees in there cause you just let out the cold air. Remember the refer failure is not your fault but you can at least try your best and save the load if you can. 42 degrees is the ambient air temp inside the trailer but on the outside of the boxes that is hold the said yogurt about to go bad. Poor yogurt. Refer trailers are extremely insulated and can hold temps for a long time. So there is still a chance something good might come from this situation.

Most if not all Walmart make you back the trailer in and drop it in a door. That means the doors have to be opened. Now the next part will completely be luck. Hopefully you will get an incompetent lumber that only want to get a check and will unload it. It's still going to be cold in the trailer even though the refer is not running. And it's very possible that he might believe it's set to cycle and it's in the off mode right now. But in either case the product is off the trailer. This actually happened to me but ice cream was the product.

Now Walmart may still refuse the load but since it on their dock they most likely will file a claim for it and insurance takes over at that point.

Now all that may have been a foolish dream. At Werner Road Service has the final say of broken equipment. And more than likely would be told to have the trailer fixed if it was determined the load was a lost.

So in closing, until you get a feel for certain things in trucking, your first point of contact is your DM/FM. There is not a whole lot that can be done at this point and you need/have to get direction from your company cause if you choose wrong you could be the proud owner of 38k lbs worth of spoiled yogurt.

Guy you left out one very important thing. Now if the dock worker is in comp and takes the load without concern witch IMHO is likely to happen here is what you need to do... key point here

TELL ALL YOU FRIENDS NOT TO GET YOGURT FROM WAL MART FOR A WHILE!!!

Guy you left out one very important thing. Now if the dock worker is in comp and takes the load without concern witch IMHO is likely to happen here is what you need to do... key point here

TELL ALL YOU FRIENDS NOT TO GET YOGURT FROM WAL MART FOR A WHILE!!!

Lol very true.

And then what do you do, get the trailer fixed and roll to the next load or?

And then what do you do, get the trailer fixed and roll to the next load or?

Whatever the outcome you have to get the trailer fixed before your next load.

So what happens if Walmart won't accept the delivery? Is it your responsibility to dispose of the yogurt? I like yogurt but there's a limit of how much I will eat.

Well...not knowing alot about reefers doesn't help. But I'm guessing the water pump is for the diesel engine that drives the compressor. If the water pump is shot and not working, the engine cant run meaning NO refrigeration. I'd have to guess there's a certain amount of liability involved for both Walmart and your company if spoiled yogurt was sold and someone ends up getting sick as a result. Although I'd have to figure the temp of the product to be well below the 42 degrees in the trailer itself.

Sooo...I'd call my DM , explain the situation and see what they want me to do. If Walmart would accept the load at 42 degrees then you head to them to get it off loaded. If not....well that is a mystery to me.

So what happens if Walmart won't accept the delivery? Is it your responsibility to dispose of the yogurt? I like yogurt but there's a limit of how much I will eat.

disposal means throw away. If it was just a pallet you would find a dumpster but if it's the whole load your company would tell you where to go to get it unloaded.

They couldn't come back on the driver for it could they ?