Remote control Reefer ...?

Have looked at some systems. Maybe for those that hire drivers that you can't depend on setting/watching the temp.

 

We use Orbcomm.
Can control everything on the unit from the office short of refueling it.

It comes in handy when the company does drop & hooks.. or like the aforementioned driver not paying attention or away from the truck.

 

And they fail all the time and have to be fixed just like every other electronic gadget they come out with.Too bad they cant get the satellite to repair the thing as well.

 

I just installed Orbcomm because my primary customer (95% of my revenue) put terms in the new contract requiring satellite temperature monitoring. After I saw the costs, it seems like it will be well worth it just for the peace of mind knowing that it will send a notification via text or email if the reefer goes out of any temperature range I specify. I've had the reefer quit 2 times while sleeping. Fortunately I woke up and fixed the problem before the product was out of temperature range too long. I will say, I have only had it installed 2 weeks, and the unit quit recording temp data (until I noticed it 26 hours later and simply turned the reefer off and then on to correct), saying the microprocessor was turned off. However, It still recorded that the diesel engine was running. So that in and of itself proved the micro was actually on, because the satellite system gets that data from the micro. I wonder if having one installed would have helped the guy who posted about a rejected load (of lettuce I think). If the temp of his return air was recorded to be 30 degrees-and not 29 like the shipper's data recorder said-and he had the correct fresh protect settings, with the supply temp being recorded at 30, then he might have been able to send this info to the broker withholding past payments (until he submitted this rejected load as a claim to his insurance company), showing that any problems with the load that was rejected was not his fault. This is good evidence in court, if he wanted to go to small claims, particularly if the broker was granted access to monitor the load, or he sent that info over immediately, thereby negating any accusation of manipulating the data records.

 

For those who are curious, I quickly uploaded this file for a 1 hour period last Sunday to show you all the data that is recorded by a satellite temp monitoring system. I can't figure out if it can be uploaded for viewing, so you are going to have to download it to view it. Any of that information (in any column) can be omitted, if you don't want your customer to see it. For example, you might not want him to see that you had the reefer set on stop/start instead of continuous. You can pick any time period to upload in a file. And you can grant access to a customer so that they can get online and monitor their freight. If the equipment/ system is reliable, then it is money well spent to install one of these systems, in my view. I wish I had looked into before I was compelled to by my customer.

 

Most often is is something in the harness.. like a corroded connection or broken ground and a occasional antenna ( rt unit ) drop out.
Then again, if the person installing it is a turd, it will have these gremlins more often.