With all the trucking experience replying to this post, I am surprised no one has mentioned that J.B. Hunt is actively pursuing a plan to place a large amount of their freight behind small fleets. these crriers must have their own operating authority(DOT numbers) and own insurance. This is not the same as owner operaters, as the small fleet pays all of their own costs. These fleets do pull J.B. Hunt trailers. The 10 truck fleet here in town was activley pursued to take this work. The rate per mile was decent (higher than he averages on his own with broker freight), but personality clashes with Hunt kept it from happening. But if you watch long enough, especially midwest to east, you will see a lot of J.B. Hunt trailers behind non J. B. Hunt tractors.I am not sure how this will mesh with refrigerated/frozen freight, but I believe that Hunt is trying to be more of a forwarder/broker than a truking company.
You just described my role. That's what I do for JBHT currently. At this time, there are no plans to put intermodal, referigerated or other trailing equipment on these carriers. We're operating 600+ trucks and really cranking out numbers.
JBHT will always be a trucking company. We're still #11 for asset based companies and have no plans on changing this. However, we go where the money is. We have a strong 3PL program but no NVOCC at this time.
Diversity.
Good post Soilredneck.
edbentonThere is ALot of V ery Expensive Epquipment in the nose of a Reefer Trailer. You have a Reefer Unit that can cost well over 50K. There is a Condesor Engine and alot of Haz Mat in the unit like Antifreeze Oil and Refrigarants. Not to mention a Battery and Fuel for the engine trying to keep a load cool how would you like to be the Yardmaster that has to call the Customer Relations department and let them know that we just took out 500K in food products because we slammed 2 unit s together. Also Reefers do not always haul food. More than one time I hauled some less than savory stuff that liked to go BOOM or others that would EAT MY TRAILER if it was to warm. Those are the Final frontier in reefer.
There is ALot of V ery Expensive Epquipment in the nose of a Reefer Trailer. You have a Reefer Unit that can cost well over 50K. There is a Condesor Engine and alot of Haz Mat in the unit like Antifreeze Oil and Refrigarants. Not to mention a Battery and Fuel for the engine trying to keep a load cool how would you like to be the Yardmaster that has to call the Customer Relations department and let them know that we just took out 500K in food products because we slammed 2 unit s together. Also Reefers do not always haul food. More than one time I hauled some less than savory stuff that liked to go BOOM or others that would EAT MY TRAILER if it was to warm. Those are the Final frontier in reefer.
Newer units use better refrigerants(I forget the type) that are not a hazard to the enviroment. The coolant is the extended life(red) stuff. usually about 2-5 gal(the engine is smaller than a truck engine) and very conventially 10w40 oil. The worst stuff is the machine oil that is used in the compressor. It is a really lite machine oil that is a pain to clean when it leaks(usually a high pressure spray).
Also unless you are shipping cavier or something else in the gourmet high value category I've rarely seen a food load worth more than $20K retail If it has a high value it generally goes by truck to have someone to watch over it.
Rgds IGN
I hauled loads that were in the 500K or MORE range all the time. 45K lbs of Prime grade American Kobe Beef Ribeyes that WHOLESALES for over 20 a LB. That right there is 900K in cash if it got ruined. I hauled loads of Chemicals that were in the 1.5 Million dollar range. Wine loads of 2million or MORE. Medical Supplies namely High End Antiboitics in liquid form that would make your head swim. Vancomiacin that stuff that treats MRSA try having 4K of that on board. I had to call in with were and when and how long I was going to stop at. Load was valued at 22 Million bucks and had to be Maintained at 44 Degrees at all times. Best loads however were the Tobaco loads. Hauled enough Skoal out of Chicago to Seatlle that I could have paved I-90 with it. Normal load there was over 5 million bucks. I hauled the HIGH END crap all the time and loved it.
soilredneckWith all the trucking experience replying to this post, I am surprised no one has mentioned that J.B. Hunt is actively pursuing a plan to place a large amount of their freight behind small fleets. these crriers must have their own operating authority(DOT numbers) and own insurance. This is not the same as owner operaters, as the small fleet pays all of their own costs. These fleets do pull J.B. Hunt trailers. The 10 truck fleet here in town was activley pursued to take this work. The rate per mile was decent (higher than he averages on his own with broker freight), but personality clashes with Hunt kept it from happening. But if you watch long enough, especially midwest to east, you will see a lot of J.B. Hunt trailers behind non J. B. Hunt tractors.I am not sure how this will mesh with refrigerated/frozen freight, but I believe that Hunt is trying to be more of a forwarder/broker than a truking company.
If someone else owns the equipment they have to make the truck payments also.
edbentonI hauled loads that were in the 500K or MORE range all the time. 45K lbs of Prime grade American Kobe Beef Ribeyes that WHOLESALES for over 20 a LB. That right there is 900K in cash if it got ruined. I hauled loads of Chemicals that were in the 1.5 Million dollar range. Wine loads of 2million or MORE. Medical Supplies namely High End Antiboitics in liquid form that would make your head swim. Vancomiacin that stuff that treats MRSA try having 4K of that on board. I had to call in with were and when and how long I was going to stop at. Load was valued at 22 Million bucks and had to be Maintained at 44 Degrees at all times. Best loads however were the Tobaco loads. Hauled enough Skoal out of Chicago to Seatlle that I could have paved I-90 with it. Normal load there was over 5 million bucks. I hauled the HIGH END crap all the time and loved it.
Medical supplies, well did you know that some of the real high end stuff gets armored transport?(Yes an 18 wheel armored truck)
Tobacco, that has gotten to be such a hassle that my company just decided it was not worth the trouble. Yes it paid well but not worth the trouble.
But the day to day stuff like food. Cheap.
I'm going to try to keep this thread alive. So my next 2cents worth.
This morning I was delivering a load to a major retailer's DC in Or. What surprised me was this, As usual there where a lot of domestic containers. But I saw several of the receivers yard trucks pulling containers (domestic) in from the rail yard that was less than a mile away .
I wonder if anyone here is aware of the technology being used to track the performance of these containers ( the reefer ones)?
Some years abck the Qualcom company was advertising a number of features for monitoring trucks enroute and their cargo trailers.
Back then there was a feature that tracked when doors were open and for how long?
Another feature could relay to the dispatcher's computer the amount of cube occupying a trailer.
Another could report rough handling ( ie cornering, curbing the trailer, and hard stops.
All could be available to the company with a location and time stamp ( to facilitate OS&D tracking and to train a driver in how to handle loaded equipment).
There were also available features in their pipeline that would track cargo temps( in several locations within the trailer/container). Tell at what point the reefer unit was in its cycle time, of course, if doors were opened. As well as the amount of fuel in the units fuel tank.
Just curious if any of this technology is being used on the reefer containers,currently?
samfp1943I wonder if anyone here is aware of the technology being used to track the performance of these containers ( the reefer ones)? Some years abck the Qualcom company was advertising a number of features for monitoring trucks enroute and their cargo trailers. Back then there was a feature that tracked when doors were open and for how long? Another feature could relay to the dispatcher's computer the amount of cube occupying a trailer. Another could report rough handling ( ie cornering, curbing the trailer, and hard stops. All could be available to the company with a location and time stamp ( to facilitate OS&D tracking and to train a driver in how to handle loaded equipment). There were also available features in their pipeline that would track cargo temps( in several locations within the trailer/container). Tell at what point the reefer unit was in its cycle time, of course, if doors were opened. As well as the amount of fuel in the units fuel tank. Just curious if any of this technology is being used on the reefer containers,currently?
Currently my company is back in the Intermodal business with trailers. The main thing that is new is that the refridgeration units are smarter and send out a message when they encounter a problem. Generally most refridgerated trailers today only track return air temperature. I believe some of the newer ocean containers do track temps at both ends of the container.(at some of the ones I've seen)
The satelite transmitter/receivers(antennas) have gotten considerable smaller as well. From the 12" donut you will see on the back of most OTR trucks for large companies to a 3" Wick.
Much of the maintainence items you mentioned are handled thru a system called sensor tracs I believe. Sensor tracs has the ability to download data from a trucks or trailers ABS system and also can be configured for a variety of sensors depending on the customer needs.
From Qualcomm/ SensorTRACS Performance Reporting System's ''FleetVisor Services'' webpage at -
http://www.qualcomm.eu/Services/TransportLogistics/Mobile%20Platform/Add-ons.aspx
Real-time visibility of Trucks, Trailers and Drivers
- Paul North.
Really, the only limit on what information can be monitored and transmitted is what the customer is willing to pay for.
Air return temperature, door open status, temperature of the load at various locations, fuel level in the reefer unit, battery status, oil pressure and level, etc., etc., etc. No problem, just have to pay for what you get.
It can even go both ways. I wish I could remember who I was talking to, but they were operating rail reefer units off the west coast with remote monitoring. They had a load with the temperature set incorrectly. They were able to remotly adjust the setting though the communication system installed on their equipment. (The person I was talking to, whoever he was, was convinced that the temperature setting had been changed as a deliberate act of sabotage. They fixed it with a click of the mouse.)
This is going to save a lot of arguments. You'll have a complete record at the time of acceptance from the shipper, at the time of turn over to the railroad from the origin trucker, at the time turn over from the railroad to the destination trucker, and at the time of delivery to the consignee.
If'n I was JB Hunt, I'd go Cadillac on the first containers. Then I'd figure out what I didn't need as I evaluated further puchases of reefer equipment. Less stress that way.
One thing. From reading how JB is planning to use the equipment heavy monitoring would be needed. One of the big selling points on having a driver with a refridgerated load is having someone keep an eye on things(you also need that person to be accountable for what happens).
If you have someone monitoring the unit remotely all they can do is respond to what the unit tells them. And that will depend on how you have the trailer set up. It is the old adage of garbage in garbage out if you do not. When my company was doing this back in the 80's & 90's there was always someone keeping an eye on loads. on rails.
Regretably there were times when things would go bad and all that person could do was watch it go bad. One of the things I heard about was a load of supposedly frozen strawberries that did not get properly frozen at the plant. The unit burned thru 150 gallons of fuel by the time it got to Chicago and was detrained. The shipper seeing it would go by rail sealed the vent door and was loaded at a drop customer. When I got to the load the unit had run out of fuel and I had to scramble. By good fortune I was able to talk the yardmaster into having the trailer unloaded first(the alarm lite was flashing). The receiver complained some but when the temp recorder was pulled and compared to the unit data recorder we were essentially blameless. After that the customer switched to sending the loads by truck all the way. They are now using BNSF again but with carload shipments not TOFC.
Yes. One of the recurring problems has always been that the shipper wouldn't have the load at the proper temperature before shipment. The refrigeration unit on the vehicle (trailer/container/rail car) is designed to hold a load at a certain temperature. It does not have the capacity to reduce the temperature of the load.
Remote monitoring with wireless thermometers in the load could go a long way to fixing that. "Hey my computer says this load is too hot. We won't accept it for shipment. Take it back and cool it down some or find another carrier."
greyhoundsYes. One of the recurring problems has always been that the shipper wouldn't have the load at the proper temperature before shipment. The refrigeration unit on the vehicle (trailer/container/rail car) is designed to hold a load at a certain temperature. It does not have the capacity to reduce the temperature of the load. Remote monitoring with wireless thermometers in the load could go a long way to fixing that. "Hey my computer says this load is too hot. We won't accept it for shipment. Take it back and cool it down some or find another carrier."
Funny story bout temps and describing something as "warm" . Had a load of packaged salads many years ago. Due to a combination of a really hot day and the fact that customer was really pressed on the production line(the lettuce came from the coolers to warm). Had to get our rep at the plant to check on it, and he'd told me to run with it.
That nite as I was sending up my check calls, dispatch noticed the "warm" temps and shot me a message on it. I told him product was loaded warm and he had a heart attack over the term "warm" . Part of the prob was he(dispatch) was new and most of a country away from the loading point. Our rep on the dock was still at shipper and I had him call the nite dispatcher to calm the guy down.
When I asked later about it after my check call a whole bunch of other trucks sent up temps with the "warm" readings.
My load was less than 1/8th of the trailer & after talking it over we were just going to let the unit do the cooling for the load. Regretably we (the rep at shpr & I) did not tell nite dispatch about this. When I delivered the cargo the temps were where they needed to be.
Same question, Can I breath new life into this thread?
Thx IGN
I asked a few buddies of mine that Haul for JB both in Chicago and on the West Coast what they have heard on the Refrig Cans. They have heard that the Customers HATE them the Drivers in the Intermodal pool hate them with a Huge Passion and they can never get them Legal in CA for the Bridge law there. See CA has a 40 fot Pin setting from the middle of the Kingpin of the 5th wheel to the Center of the Tandems on any trailer longer than 48 feet. CHP see one and they know it is an easy 50 dollar ticket against the Drivers. Pretty soon JB is going to have a Muinty on their hands from their Contractors and Intermodal Drivers and they will refuse to haul these cans AT ALL.
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