Frozen Meat - Does it required the reefer is ON during loading and unloading of cargo?
Can someone help me where I can find articles, references, etc. related to standard operation for trucking (reefer van)?. If its standard that the reefer must be ON while loading or unloading of products. By the way we are HACCP certified. Also, our implemented SOP is that after the truck pre cooling, the van temperature will be subject for checking, and if it passes, the truck engine will automatically shut off and start loading the products. Similar to unloading of products, after checking the van temperature the assigned personnel for receiving the item will call the driver to go to the designated dock. After docking, the driver will turn off the reefer truck.
Thank you in advance.
May I ask why that is your procedure? Why are you turning off the engine and cooling system?
Is it a safety concern about the engine shifting into gear? Fumes from the motor?
edited to add I would say Yes to your question,
Thanks!
The refer should never be shut off-period
Yes, your product is frozen, but in warm enough weather you could get surface thaw, which could lead to microbial growth
I can't think of any good reason to shut-off the refer during loading/unloading, but I can come up with probably 10 reasons why it's a bad idea. Pre-cool the trailer/box truck, then leave the refer alone to automatically cycle and keep your trailer at set temp while it's open against your dock.
The reefer runs (in the U.S.) independent of the truck and runs even if it's dropped on a dock and the truck leaves.
Should be fully cooled to the proper temp before loading and kept on until unloading complete.
When I worked at a warehouse with freezers/coolers we'd have to do a temp check before we loaded/unloaded and at the midway point to make sure the warm air from our ambient dock wasn't increasing the trailer temp. Our product was required to ship at 5°F or below and if the trailer temp got to 3°F we'd put in padded panels and let it sit until the temp dropped back down. Temp was set at 0°F during transport.
Can someone help me where I can find articles, references, etc. related to standard operation for trucking (reefer van)?. If its standard that the reefer must be ON while loading or unloading of products. By the way we are HACCP certified. Also, our implemented SOP is that after the truck pre cooling, the van temperature will be subject for checking, and if it passes, the truck engine will automatically shut off and start loading the products. Similar to unloading of products, after checking the van temperature the assigned personnel for receiving the item will call the driver to go to the designated dock. After docking, the driver will turn off the reefer truck.
Thank you in advance.
Leaving it running during loading/unloading is the preventative step taken to cover a few other problems, such as interruptions to the loading process.