hi all,i’m jools from worthing in sussex.i’m a part time agency driver and french polisher.i passed my class 1 in may last year in the hope that i would get some regular class 1 work,but it hasn’t happened.long story short,i’ve got a test drive with philson haulage and need advice on fridges if anyone can help.
great site with lots of good advice.
jools
The short answer with fridges is that you need to know about ‘split coupling’ and ‘cranked coupling’ and how the shunt valve works and when to use it.
Just make sure your email addy is correctly set in your profile and I’ll send you a some information on the first two. Use the search facility for the third.
Operationally, just ensure that the temperature/temperatures are correctly set, some have split compartments and I’ve known occasions when the load plan has been different to the way in which it has been loaded. Check within the first hour of a journey that the fridge is still running and holding temperature. I say the first hour because it is then not too far away to come back and tranship to another trailer.
If you stop anywhere, and go out of sight of the vehicle, on returning, check the fridge setting, as it is not unknown for someone to have changed it. 
Before arriving at premises, again check the temperature. Once you go through the gate, if it is wrong, it’s too late. At least outside the premises, regardless of how close, there is the opportunity of getting a fitter out to you.
Whilst there are a variety of fridge variations, they generally operate in a similar manner. Somewhere on her are a list of ‘fault codes’. Something that you might wish to print off but not always necessary.
With experience, you tend to develop a ‘third ear’ as to whether a fridge is running correctly or not. On one trip I found that every time that I negotiated a turn the fridge stopped. It was due to lack of oil in the sump. It just meant that I had to make frequent stops to get it restarted. 
In hot/warm weather, with meat, fish, etc, once on a bay, ensure that the staff inflate the bellows to prevent warmer air coming into contact with the product.
Etiquette. When stopping on service areas at night or close to another vehicle where the driver may be trying to sleep, switch the fridge off. On the other hand, if empty, when finding caravanners sitting around using up valuable truck spaces, park as close as you can, and then switch the fridge ON. 
I do fridge work and yes its best to part couple before fully putting your unit under the fridge as it gets pretty close once its fully coupled to your unit when your attaching your suzi ect. Always remember to check your 5th wheel height once your part way under as you dont want the fridge coming into the back of your cab i’ve seen it done up to now i aint done it myself but i had a good trainer. As for temps and using controls ect your trainer should go through them with you. From what i’ve came across there’s 2 main fridge units carrier and thermoking carrier in my opion carrier being the easier of the 2 to learn how to operate.
Also when you stop anywhere always have a quick look make sure your fridge is running. I forgot to the other day and some [zb] had turned mine off only realised when i didnt hear the fridge motor kick in after an hour or so. Most places go to ask me to turn the fridge off before unloading commences so i just do it as a habit everywhere i go now it also means that i know the fridge was running when i left the last place i was at. Dunno if any of this helps you but if you need to know anything just ask and i’ll help as best i can.
If it needs stars - it goes. K
thanks for the tips guy’s (especially about the caravanners).ill put it all into practice on friday and see what happens
drive safe.
and don’t forget to check the diesel tank on the trailer is full before you leave the yard, like I always do 
Big Roy:
and don’t forget to check the diesel tank on the trailer is full before you leave the yard, like I always do
Which is why I always carry a 10mm open ended spanner. 
On some of the Carrier models there is a ‘thumb nut’ bleed but on the only occasion that I tried to use one, although it opened, it was so full of muck that it wouldn’t bleed the system. I ended up having to ‘crack’ an alternative joint to get the fuel through.
After you’ve done it once or twice, it only takes a couple of minutes.