Who looking to breath carcinogenic smoke all day long? Do a google image search on smokers lungs and U might see Y it's not wise to smoke cigarettes :idea:

 

If you are pulling a reefer for a company, you probably won't see much more handling of freight than a dry van driver. Most company drivers that I see at grocery warehouses are hiring lumpers paid by the company. You may, on occasion, roll into a warehouse that doesn't offer lumpers however, and you will have to break down the freight yourself.

O/O's pulling a reefer can be a different story. They are usually the ones that I see raising hell about paying 150 bucks to a lumper to pull off and break down 6 pallets so they do it themselves. Still for most grocery warehouses getting in and out in 3-4 hours is a good day. My experience has been that when I haul dry freight I get loaded and unloaded faster, others may have a different experience.

Grocery warehouses are bad because of JIT delivery. They don't want to store refrigerated products any more than they have to and will pick up the phone and order a load of strawberries and two loads of potatoes spur of the moment. That increases they likelihood of having trucks sitting around waiting for a door and is much more likely to happen with perishables than it is with toilet paper or newspaper ads. If you've had your load of melons scheduled for days and a guy rolls in with a hot load of strawberries that they need right away, your appointment just went out the window and he will be put in front of you every time.

As others have stated pulling a reefer allows you to haul dry or ref. freight. I agree with that. After you've sat at a grocery warehouse for 8 hours, you look forward to picking up that load of magazines.

I have never noticed more fumes in the sleeper when the reefer was running or not running. I highly doubt this is a real problem unless you're leaving your windows open. I usually don't hesitate to park next to a reefer, but when I see an Idlebuster APU I find another spot. Those things are louder than most reefers that I've ever seen.

 

I have heard allot of people complain about the grocery warehouses on this board. What don’t you like about grocery warehouses?

 

I pull a reefer. You will do a lot of sitting at grocery warehouses. I have set for 1.5 hrs up to 7.5 hrs. I get paid detention at 60 a hour after 2 hrs. My company does 100% lumper so I never touch freight. Check in then back to my truck. Detention can really add up after three or four trips a week. As for exhaust fumes the reefer unit exhaust are the same as the tractor in being sent out the top. Cycle Sentry will do just what others said. It only cycles the temp within a range of the temp it is set at. You will buy fuel for the trailer and most have a 50 gallon fuel tank