Any Reefer Drivers Here?

Looks like that's the division I'm going with. Anyone have experience in this? Mostly positive or negative? Is it much different than dry van? So far all I've heard is you deal with a lot of live loading and unloading but the hauls are generally longer.

Looks like that's the division I'm going with. Anyone have experience in this? Mostly positive or negative? Is it much different than dry van? So far all I've heard is you deal with a lot of live loading and unloading but the hauls are generally longer.

Even dry van will have more live load/unload than reefer. And even reefer can throw you 100-300 miles loads. My mentor is Walmart dedicated driver, so I deal with reefer since then. By the time I tested out, I requested to switch to reefer division.

Pros: kinda no "low season", basically reefer loads are food related, always a bunch of loads waiting. Cons: Need to send macro 16 for temperature EVERY SINGLE TIME! Reefer mechanical problem may ruin your trip plan.

Looks like that's the division I'm going with. Anyone have experience in this? Mostly positive or negative? Is it much different than dry van? So far all I've heard is you deal with a lot of live loading and unloading but the hauls are generally longer.

Even dry van will have more live load/unload than reefer. And even reefer can throw you 100-300 miles loads. My mentor is Walmart dedicated driver, so I deal with reefer since then. By the time I tested out, I requested to switch to reefer division.

Pros: kinda no "low season", basically reefer loads are food related, always a bunch of loads waiting. Cons: Need to send macro 16 for temperature EVERY SINGLE TIME! Reefer mechanical problem may ruin your trip plan.

Sounds decent. If all goes well, I'll be in Indy tomorrow night, then test out and get my equipment and truck Thursday. Then some home time and I'm hitting the road!

I've been doing reefer for over 3 1/2 years now. Depending on how your company schedules, and how various customers operate, you'll get a good mix of live and drop & hook. The biggest things to keep in mind are the temp requirements for any given load, keeping an eye on the function indicator on the corner of the box, and checking the fuel level. Don't let it run dry, or you're going to spend a miserable hour priming the engine to get it restarted once you refill the fuel tank. And don't get too freaked out when you get alarm codes. Your maintenance people will get you taken care of with a quickness. Really, pulling a reefer isn't as big a deal as some people make it sound.

I've been doing reefer for over 3 1/2 years now. Depending on how your company schedules, and how various customers operate, you'll get a good mix of live and drop & hook. The biggest things to keep in mind are the temp requirements for any given load, keeping an eye on the function indicator on the corner of the box, and checking the fuel level. Don't let it run dry, or you're going to spend a miserable hour priming the engine to get it restarted once you refill the fuel tank. And don't get too freaked out when you get alarm codes. Your maintenance people will get you taken care of with a quickness. Really, pulling a reefer isn't as big a deal as some people make it sound.

Ok, noob question. When fueling I know you get the option for tractor, reefer or both and then there is def. If you need all three do you fuel the truck, hang up the pump, fill the def, hang up that pump then pull forward and fuel the reefer unit?

I've been doing reefer for over 3 1/2 years now. Depending on how your company schedules, and how various customers operate, you'll get a good mix of live and drop & hook. The biggest things to keep in mind are the temp requirements for any given load, keeping an eye on the function indicator on the corner of the box, and checking the fuel level. Don't let it run dry, or you're going to spend a miserable hour priming the engine to get it restarted once you refill the fuel tank. And don't get too freaked out when you get alarm codes. Your maintenance people will get you taken care of with a quickness. Really, pulling a reefer isn't as big a deal as some people make it sound.

Ok, noob question. When fueling I know you get the option for tractor, reefer or both and then there is def. If you need all three do you fuel the truck, hang up the pump, fill the def, hang up that pump then pull forward and fuel the reefer unit?

Always DEF first, then tractor, off then on, pull up & reefer.(For the company I work for, the way it is.)

I've been doing reefer for over 3 1/2 years now. Depending on how your company schedules, and how various customers operate, you'll get a good mix of live and drop & hook. The biggest things to keep in mind are the temp requirements for any given load, keeping an eye on the function indicator on the corner of the box, and checking the fuel level. Don't let it run dry, or you're going to spend a miserable hour priming the engine to get it restarted once you refill the fuel tank. And don't get too freaked out when you get alarm codes. Your maintenance people will get you taken care of with a quickness. Really, pulling a reefer isn't as big a deal as some people make it sound.

Ok, noob question. When fueling I know you get the option for tractor, reefer or both and then there is def. If you need all three do you fuel the truck, hang up the pump, fill the def, hang up that pump then pull forward and fuel the reefer unit?

Always DEF first, then tractor, off then on, pull up & reefer.(For the company I work for, the way it is.)

Well, I'll figure it out for mine. Lol. It was fuel then def, but that was dry van tractor only.

When I was with Prime, the order of fueling sequence was tractor, reefer , def. As it was pointed out, it may well depend on your company as to the order of fueling.

Ernie

When I was with Prime, the order of fueling sequence was tractor, reefer , def. As it was pointed out, it may well depend on your company as to the order of fueling.

Ernie

Yeah, I was curious. I'm sure I'll be fine.

Most often, the order of fuelling will depend on where you're fuelling at. Pilot/Flying J usually goes tractor, DEF, reefer. Same with Love's. TA/Petro are a little wonky. Some of their locations, for reasons that defy any sense of logic, have you fill the tractor, pull up and fill the reefer , then hang the pump up, BACK YOUR TRUCK BACK UP TO ALIGN WITH THE DEF PUMP, then call the attendant or walk into the fuel desk to manually authorize DEF. Generally speaking, I avoid doing all 3 at TA or Petro because of this. If necessary, I'll make an extra stop to do the reefer as a separate thing if one of my fuel stops is at a TA or Petro, because doing the Fuel Island Cha-cha is ridiculous.