When you are moving perishable cargo for your business, you have a lot to think about. It doesn’t matter whether you are moving liquids, produce, meat, plants or even pharmaceuticals – you need to have a refrigerated truck to help. Refrigerated trucks are important about safety and government compliance, and temperature control is a primary concern in refrigerator chucking.
The good news is that with the right preparation, you can operate your refrigerated trucks to ensure that they give you the most out of them. The things that you are carrying will have a safe and efficient journey when you ensure that your refrigerated trucks are well maintained. Prolonging the life of your refrigerated trucks should be a concern for you, so we put together the six refrigerated truck maintenance tips to ensure that your fleet is kept in one piece.
Monitor the temperature
One of the best ways to maintain your refrigerated trucks is to ensure that you are regularly monitoring the temperatures on the inside. If you’re transporting perishable goods or pharmaceuticals, temperature control is one of the most important things to consider. As a carrier, you have to be vigilant in maintaining the proper trailer temperatures and not allowing them to go above or below a certain point. By having a plan as agreed upon by the carrier, the loader and the receiver, you can ensure that everybody is aware of the safe temperatures to avoid products into unsafe conditions at any time. The plan should also specify any temperature ranges rather than just saying something should be chilled or frozen. Unsafe conditions are the result if this is not monitored.
Another thing that can be done here is monitoring temperature zones. There are some refrigerated trucks that have multiple temperature zones within them. By catering fees, you can ensure that all refrigerated freight gets to the right place with the right temperature. Carriers who engage in LTL trucking often carry various goods that may require different temperatures and conditions. Knowing what these conditions are and what temperature should be before embarking on the journey is very important.
Engage in proper sanitation. A well maintained refrigerated truck is only maintained when it’s clean. Keeping the truck completely clean and sanitised is so important for the safe transport of goods. You have to be compliant, and when you are hauling meat, dairy and pharmaceuticals, this is the only way to do that. Cleaning goes beyond just wiping out the interiors and spraying it down with antibacterial bleach. Cleaning means using a pressure washer on the inside and outside of the truck, especially if any type of liquid or blood from meat has leaked in transport.
Your shippers should have written procedures for keeping your refrigerator tracks clean, and the government usually requires that shippers create written procedures for proper cleaning of the equipment. Using the correct cleaning equipment and bleaches will also help to ensure the sanitation of the vehicle, and you will also be able to remain compliant which is so important if you want your business to be the one to beat. Having refrigerated trucks moving from place to place means having excellent cleaners on hand.
Conduct regular maintenance. One of the worst things like that can happen with the refrigerated truck is a breakdown. Transporting these particular kids means that you need to ensure they get to the right place in a timely manner and a breakdown just won’t do. Conducting maintenance at regular intervals to ensure that your equipment and back of the boat by the local and national regulations is important for the overall health of the fleet.
Truck refrigeration is one area that carriers have to be constantly mindful of and that’s why creating a fleet asset management plan can help. By ensuring that you have regular maintenance that covers things like inspections of the refrigeration units – measuring the calibrating – compressors, checking for any fluid leaks, checking that hoses and belts aren’t damaged or broken, checking tyre pressure and more have to be done to ensure that the trucks are not failing.
They have to be in line with guidelines and it helps to know which vehicles are working and which vehicles are not. When you know the repairs are unnecessary for which area of the truck, you can keep on top of your refrigeration trucks and no issues will occur.
Check airflow. There are specific loading and unloading guidelines that have to be followed for the safe movement of a refrigerated truck. Ensuring that the trucks maximum height and weight limits are correct before loading and making sure that cargo and pallets are stacked with the correct airflow space, you can ensure that your refrigeration trucks get from start to finish without any breakdowns or issues. You are responsible for monitoring the loading and unloading processes, which means that you have to make sure the goods are safely parked and moved and maintain proper temperatures. Without the correct air flow, the correct temperatures cannot be maintained and the goods in the truck can spoil on route.
Record all shipments and procedures. Maintaining records is one of the best maintenance tips for your refrigerated trucks because without these records you cannot tell when the last maintenance checks work. The time for keeping all records that includes agreements and training depends on what’s contained within them but generally doesn’t exceed over a year. You want to stay compliant, so keep accurate records of shipments and procedures, and plan all trailer maintenance to ensure that your trucks are ready to go. It’s also a good idea to keep records of certifications of all of your drivers so that carriers are aware of any violations that could affect the transport of refrigerated freight.
Fill the tanks. If you want your refrigerated trucks to remain maintained that means fueling the tanks and ensuring they have the right diesel. Fuel should always be replenished so that it’s not running on fumes and some loading docks may even require refrigerated trucks to be popped up with a full tank.