19 replies to this topic

[riominicer]

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.

[Setanta]

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!

Edited by Setanta, 24 June 2025 - 11:29 AM.

[Scampi]

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

[jfrey123]

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.

[Lynx42]

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.

[G M]

Leaving it running during loading/unloading is the preventative step taken to cover a few other problems, such as interruptions to the loading process.

[riominicer]

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!



Im thinking of what is best to be allowed not to ON the truck while loading and unloading. It comes to my mind, the fumes from the exhause pipe, like what youve said.

You know, i leave in tropical country (PH). Possibly breakdown of unit will happened if its ON while loading/unloading (concern citizen). But in related to HACCP, fumes is hazard. 

Is it acceptable if I include in my HACCP Manual this hazzard?


Thank you so much for your help!

[Setanta]

Am I understanding that you have a possible HACCP concern about fumes from your truck engine affecting your packaged and frozen meat?  Personnel health and safety are not part of a HACCP plan.

 

I would not add it without a risk assessment. Check out some risk matrices to help you decide.

[jfrey123]

I can't see how fumes from a truck's exterior would affect sealed packages inside a well-maintained truck or trailer.  I can see food safety being affected by turning off a freezer unit for loading/unloading while the back doors are wide open, especially in a tropical country.

[GMO]

If you're talking about the refrigeration unit (I've never heard of a reefer?) then unless you have a vastly different design to other countries, you don't need the engine running to run the unit, it's independent.

[Setanta]

If you're talking about the refrigeration unit (I've never heard of a reefer?) then unless you have a vastly different design to other countries, you don't need the engine running to run the unit, it's independent.

 

Reefer is a common nickname for refrigerated trucks in the US.

[GMO]

Reefer is a common nickname for refrigerated trucks in the US.

 

Never heard of that.  In slang terms, it means something VERY different in the UK.

[Setanta]

Never heard of that.  In slang terms, it means something VERY different in the UK.

 

Oh it means THAT, here, too.  

[riominicer]

Am I understanding that you have a possible HACCP concern about fumes from your truck engine affecting your packaged and frozen meat?  Personnel health and safety are not part of a HACCP plan.

 

I would not add it without a risk assessment. Check out some risk matrices to help you decide

Hmmm... Doesn't the truck emit smoke from the exhaust when it's running? I think it would still be a hazard but there is a control measure. Which is the control measure, is turning off the truck's engine? 

 

Is this acceptable?

[riominicer]

I can't see how fumes from a truck's exterior would affect sealed packages inside a well-maintained truck or trailer.  I can see food safety being affected by turning off a freezer unit for loading/unloading while the back doors are wide open, especially in a tropical country.

hello. There are also gaps between the leveler and the side curtain. I believe that smoke will still enter the bay even if they are properly docked. This is a sample of the gaps.

 

[riominicer]

Leaving it running during loading/unloading is the preventative step taken to cover a few other problems, such as interruptions to the loading process.

hmmm. our loading/unloading time for small truck is about 30 mins. while container vans around 1 hour to 1.5 hour maximum. our loading bay temperature is +12 to +15. There is pre-cooling before loading the truck.

Is it really necessary to have the engine on? Is that really the standard? Do you have any references that can say that it is really required to have the engine on while loading/unloading?

By the way my country is Philippines. 

 

Thank you.

[riominicer]

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

Wow nice! The process same here in the Philippines. But the truck once docked, the engine is turned off.

[Tony-C]

Hi riominicer,

 

Good distribution practice is that reefers (trailers for some of us) are pre-cooled for temperature-sensitive products prior to loading to maintain correct temperatures so why would anyone turn the cooling off during loading?

 

Right I’m off for a quick smoke        

 

Kind regards,

 

Tony

Edited by Tony-C, Yesterday, 04:42 AM.

[GMO]

hello. There are also gaps between the leveler and the side curtain. I believe that smoke will still enter the bay even if they are properly docked. This is a sample of the gaps.

 

 

Genuinely, have you checked with your logistics team members whether the refrigeration unit can run without the engine running?  In the UK, the engine is from the cab, the refrigeration unit is from the box.  But you can mix and match box trailers and cabs.  Some of them are still run on diesel but that's becoming increasingly rare and also even the diesel ones have a separate generator which wouldn't vent from the back of the trailer and many of those have electric back up which works for a while when the generator is off.  Many also have fully electric refrigerators now.

 

The only way that it's run by the engine here is on the odd refrigerated van.

 

So I'd genuinely check if you're sure the engine needs to be on?  I doubt it does?  But yes the refrigeration must be on.

[jfrey123]

Maybe it's different in the Philippines, but reefer units here are normally on the nose of a trailer or top front of a box truck.  Those reefer units run on their own little motor, and exhaust pipes up and away.  The risk of the fumes entering a plant would not even register as a concern in my mind.

 

If Philippines box trucks somehow run the reefers off the normal engine, sure the exhaust from those trucks normally exits under to the side but that's normally forward of the rear axle.  The risk of fumes entering would still not be something I normally consider.

 

You could monitor the air quality during loading/unloading operations to see if the fumes are truly a concern.  While there's probably not a specific regulation to run the reefer unit, there is a requirement to maintain the temperature of your pre-cooled trailer.  Simply stuffing cold stuff in a pre-cooled box isn't best practice here, but if you really feel it's necessary then you can study whether your product temps rise during this period where the reefer is not running.

 

Last thought:  that's an unsatisfactory gap between the truck and dock from the perspective of pest control, especially when you indicate loading could take place over 1.5 hours in some cases.