Priest:
While appreciate the helpful discussion above i have been probably not quite clear as many of you are missing my point. This was a theoretical question, so forget about the actual figures, they are just an example.
I will try to reword:
What is the actual temperature of the blown in air in comparison to the setpoint?
Fair point…
No one has directly answered that.
If you set +4 it’ll blow +4. It won’t make allowances or give tolerances because it has only one instruction…+4.
What that temperature of blown air does to your cargo depends on many different factors. In most UK chilled operations which are short trips, set what your boss tells you and load it.
Priest:
While appreciate the helpful discussion above i have been probably not quite clear as many of you are missing my point. This was a theoretical question, so forget about the actual figures, they are just an example.
I will try to reword:
What is the actual temperature of the blown in air in comparison to the setpoint?
Fair point…
No one has directly answered that.
If you set +4 it’ll blow +4. It won’t make allowances or give tolerances because it has only one instruction…+4.
Wrong answer again!!! Stop trying to give out advice that is factually wrong.
UKtramp:
Thank you for that Maoster, yes I forgot I shared that with you, actually that video is at the docks in hull which was the biggest cold storage facility in Europe, If there is anything that I know that nobody can argue with me , it’s refrigeration.
Which is about as…
Useful as ■■■■ on a bull when it comes to working out exactly what you need to do with frozen burger buns from Pfungstadt to Lisbon in a Chereau trailer in the middle of summer.
Or strawberries from Huelva to the UK at the start of the season
You’d shag both loads cos it’s different to 2000 pallets of Aunt Bessies Yorkshire puddings left on a rack in the darkness for 3 months.
the maoster:
I’m with Trampy on this tbh, he certainly talks the talk and I’m not confident enough on a subject I know little about to argue with him, I’ve actually watched his YouTube vids so can appreciate his expertise. I only pull a reefer, I know little of the gubbins that go on inside it.
Thank you for that Maoster, yes I forgot I shared that with you, actually that video is at the docks in hull which was the biggest cold storage facility in Europe, If there is anything that I know that nobody can argue with me , it’s refrigeration. I offered at one stage on here to do a refrigeration series to help drivers expand their knowledge, try to get any refrigeration courses for free anywhere else, they are expensive for a reason. However once again this was soon scoffed by a certain few on here so why would I bother. I will still contribute to any refrigeration topic on here and answer any questions regardless, members who know better will listen and learn, those who are the know it all types will always fail to learn or hold the incorrect knowledge because they think that they already know it all. When I read some of the comments on here, it really makes me smile and realise why the refrigeration industry is a closed door to only the select few. You would be shocked at how few of us there are who deal in industrial refrigeration and how highly regarded we as British engineers are throughout the world. Refrigeration was developed and pioneered in Scotland and we have remained the leading engineers ever since. Our expertise is something to be proud of, yet very few people even think about refrigeration. My father was one of the all time greats and his published papers are still amongst the most authoritative today. Believe it or not but I am a god in the refrigeration world and that is a fact.
Awww now chap don’t be so down on yourself. I’m sure you’re a decent engineer really
I do love the regularly trotted out drivers go to fridge story about ‘ice cream running out the back doors’ Now I’ve done lots of ice cream and I dunno about you but they tend not to be loaded as big lumps on pallets, they tend to be in containers or wrappers and melting ice cream doesn’tmagically dissolve the packaging so can’t see how any melted ice cream has been running out the back doors unless a pallet has gone over and damaged the containers
switchlogic:
I do love the regularly trotted out drivers go to fridge story about ‘ice cream running out the back doors’ Now I’ve done lots of ice cream and I dunno about you but they tend not to be loaded as big lumps on pallets, they tend to be in containers or wrappers and melting ice cream doesn’tmagically dissolve the packaging so can’t see how any melted ice cream has been running out the back doors unless a pallet has gone over and damaged the containers
manalishi:
Painful memories of my euro fridge days coming back to haunt me here.
My earlier little story was from my Euro fridge days when my boss pulled ‘general’ for Laros, but I also did a lot of direct work for another firm when we carried peaches from Italy . The carrying temp for those was the 4 deg C that UKT mentioned, but there were some who either didn’t know or didn’t care, so I saw plenty of iced peaches on the MAFF bay in Dover.
Other horrors from the MAFF bay include a time when my load of ambient Spanish onions in a tilt were required to be inspected. On that occasion, I got my first sight of frozen lettuces, which were instantly condemned by MAFF!!
manalishi:
There should be a qualification at some level for this work I always figured,obviously not ADR level grade but maybe a specialist component of the CPC farceathon.
I’ve always wondered about this too because we have the Food Hygene Act and SCOPA etc, so there are plenty of Regs governing the food industry. My guess is that the blue-chip companies have some sort of in-house arrangements.
I wasn’t on an in-house fleet, so the only training I got from bosses was… how to start/stop the engine. How to check oil and water in the engine. How to set the temperature and instructed to always carry at the temperature specified by the customer on the CMR. Oh, I nearly forgot what the boss said would happen if I ever ran the fridge out of diesel!
I’m not convinced that anybody could get a whole 7hr DCPC module out of ‘fridge driver essentials’ or some other wording for a course title, but a 3.5hr option as part of a modular offering might be workable.
The problem with ideas for training is that no matter how useful it might be, there’s the issue of provision costs Vs. uptake.
switchlogic:
I do love the regularly trotted out drivers go to fridge story about ‘ice cream running out the back doors’ Now I’ve done lots of ice cream and I dunno about you but they tend not to be loaded as big lumps on pallets, they tend to be in containers or wrappers and melting ice cream doesn’tmagically dissolve the packaging so can’t see how any melted ice cream has been running out the back doors unless a pallet has gone over and damaged the containers
Abso floggin lutely!!!
This^^^ plus another 1.
On the couple of occasions when I carried ice cream, it was already in the tubs that you’d see in a supermarket, so I’m also sceptical about the stories of ice cream leaks.
dieseldave:
On the couple of occasions when I carried ice cream, it was already in the tubs that you’d see in a supermarket, so I’m also sceptical about the stories of ice cream leaks.
That’s because it doesn’t happen… like a lot of the tall stories on here!!!
On the note of who regulates the food industry and audits the temps etc, it is DEFRA , just for the record they know me well as I consult for them too.
Simple answer to the question.
1, First and foremost THE product should always be at the required temperature prior to loading the trailer.
2, If loading fresh produce always try to cover the top 4/6 pallets with cardboard or something similar.
3, If a load needs to be transported at Minus settings. IT must be pre chilled to that temperature PRIOR to loading as a reefer is not designed to freeze loads But maintain the load at its Loaded Temperature.
4, Soft fruit ( Strawberries / Raspberries etc ) should be pre- chilled then transported at + 32F
Or try this for a tall tale,the day I delivered a consignment of frozen cows udders from somewhere near Bordeaux to the dog food facility at Crick,the fridge had an issue,or more likely my lack of knowledge conspired against me,upshot imagine handballing a full load of this defrosting eviscera in a sweltering August heatwave.Another glorious career high
manalishi:
Or try this for a tall tale,the day I delivered a consignment of frozen cows udders from somewhere near Bordeaux to the dog food facility at Crick,the fridge had an issue,or more likely my lack of knowledge conspired against me,upshot imagine handballing a full load of this defrosting eviscera in a sweltering August heatwave.Another glorious career high
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
i would have to say that your story is well up there with uktramps constant tall tales,so all i can say is…pull the udder one…
dieseldave:
On the couple of occasions when I carried ice cream, it was already in the tubs that you’d see in a supermarket, so I’m also sceptical about the stories of ice cream leaks.
Supermarkets also sell it in “slicing blocks” - in effect a slab of frozen ice cream in a card wrapper. If they thaw there’s nothing much to contain the liquid…
UKtramp:
On the note of who regulates the food industry and audits the temps etc, it is DEFRA , just for the record they know me well as I consult for them too.
That’ll be the new name for MAFF then!
Back when I was doing the fridge job around Europe (in the 80s,) M.A.F.F. stood for Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
dieseldave:
On the couple of occasions when I carried ice cream, it was already in the tubs that you’d see in a supermarket, so I’m also sceptical about the stories of ice cream leaks.
Supermarkets also sell it in “slicing blocks” - in effect a slab of frozen ice cream in a card wrapper. If they thaw there’s nothing much to contain the liquid…
Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk
Thanks for that Roymundo, now that you’ve mentioned it… I can remember my Mum giving us slices of ice cream from a cardboard encased slicing block when I was a kid back in the early 60s.
I’ve only carried ice cream a couple of times, but I can’t remember seeing any slicing blocks on the fridge job 20ish years later.
Don’t know about ice cream running out the back but do know of an incident where someone took a part load of eggs down the A75 and didn’t secure it properly if he’d set the fridge to plus 30 he could have held the record for the worlds biggest omelette
Or the owner driver who tipped a -20 load in Holland reloaded with flowers forgot to change the temp and arrived in the UK with a fully frozen load of mixed flowers end of his spell as an owner driver.
dieseldave:
On the couple of occasions when I carried ice cream, it was already in the tubs that you’d see in a supermarket, so I’m also sceptical about the stories of ice cream leaks.
Supermarkets also sell it in “slicing blocks” - in effect a slab of frozen ice cream in a card wrapper. If they thaw there’s nothing much to contain the liquid…
Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk
Thanks for that Roymundo, now that you’ve mentioned it… I can remember my Mum giving us slices of ice cream from a cardboard encased slicing block when I was a kid back in the early 60s.
I’ve only carried ice cream a couple of times, but I can’t remember seeing any slicing blocks on the fridge job 20ish years later.
They still sell 'em - so someone must be transporting them!
Now I’ve done lots of ice cream and I dunno about you but they tend not to be loaded as big lumps on pallets, they tend to be in containers or wrappers and melting ice cream doesn’tmagically dissolve the packaging so can’t see how any melted ice cream has been running out the back doors unless a pallet has gone over and damaged the containers
