Door Alarm

ATeam · May 8, 2011

Just curious. If you have had a rear door sensor installed when your new data logger was installed (TVAL trucks), have you had any alarms? We had our first one yesterday.

"WARNING THE REAR DOORS HAVE BEEN OPENED! PLEASE DETERMINE THE CAUSE AND NOTIFY DISPATCH."

Our response:

While we have had no formal training in this matter, nearly eight years of experience on the road have taught us that it is easier to load freight onto the truck when the door is open than when it is closed. Accordingly, we opened the door to load the truck.

At the delivery, we will again open the door. When that happens, please remain calm. Do not proceed to the evacuation point. Remain at your desk and continue working. Everything is under control.

FJK1954 · May 13, 2011

Wow- i needed that!!! Roflmao....frank

layoutshooter · May 13, 2011

Ours has NOT alarmed when loading or unloading. It HAS alarmed as we were going down the road. FOR NO REASON! Doors were shut. Temps were perfect. The doors were sealed and locked. I just assumed that the system has been drinking. There is much about there new "toys" we have that are just not up to snuff.

teamjdw · May 14, 2011

We are one of four trucks in our fleet.Two of the trucks get this message two have not. Check your plate on the wall,it's probably comming loose.I opened my roll up door one day only too find the wall plate had detached,and was just dangling.That's when i discovered the plate was just screwed to the wall.No wall anchors? I had too use tape around the screws in order for them to stay in the wall!

layoutshooter · May 14, 2011

teamjdw said:
We are one of four trucks in our fleet.Two of the trucks get this message two have not. Check your plate on the wall,it's probably comming loose.I opened my roll up door one day only too find the wall plate had detached,and was just dangling.That's when i discovered the plate was just screwed to the wall.No wall anchors? I had too use tape around the screws in order for them to stay in the wall!

I checked. It is up there nice and tight. Thanks for the idea. I get reefer out of temp range alarms every time I start my truck too. It is such a wonderful system. Pay more, get less and more problems. Gotta love it!

ATeam · May 14, 2011

layoutshooter said:
I checked. It is up there nice and tight. Thanks for the idea. I get reefer out of temp range alarms every time I start my truck too. It is such a wonderful system. Pay more, get less and more problems. Gotta love it!

I hear that.

Having now used the new Qualcomm for a while there is one thing that I like over the old system. That is the ability to send and receive messages under trees, fuel island canopies and other sheltered areas.

But given the additional problems the new systems bring us and the additional costs, I would happily relinquish the canopy advantage to get the old system back.

fatboy1 · May 15, 2011

we were told by a tval dept person they are fixing to try out some new things with the rear door switches/alarms, could be that or like pre. post switch or plate may be loose and check wiring maybe pinched.

layoutshooter · May 15, 2011

ATeam said:
I hear that.

Having now used the new Qualcomm for a while there is one thing that I like over the old system. That is the ability to send and receive messages under trees, fuel island canopies and other sheltered areas.

But given the additional problems the new systems bring us and the additional costs, I would happily relinquish the canopy advantage to get the old system back.

I agree, these new toys are NOT worth the additional cost. Who ever has the problems, FDCC or Qualcomm needs to get their act together. There are far too many problems. We need to insure that our standards as a company continue to remain HIGHER than that of our competition. We are starting to slide on that. That is NEVER a good sign.

ATeam · May 15, 2011

layoutshooter said:
We need to insure that our standards as a company continue to remain HIGHER than that of our competition. We are starting to slide on that. That is NEVER a good sign.

How do you mean exactly? Where do you see a slide?

layoutshooter · May 15, 2011

ATeam said:
How do you mean exactly? Where do you see a slide?

When we were responsible for our own TVAL calibrations we were required to do that job twice a year. That, in my opinion, was just one of the things that set us apart from our competition. FDCC could point out that our fleet was more accurate and checked more closely than the others. A good selling point for that "special" high end freight.

Now FDCC has taken the calibrations over. It is now only done once a year. That is, in my opinion, a lowering of operational standards.

It always scares me when I see things like this start. I have worked in many places over my lifetime. Every time I saw things like this bad things ended up happening.

teamjdw · May 15, 2011

On Tuesday we will be stopping by Thermo King to see why the alarms on our data logger turn themselves off.We constantly half to check to see if the alarm icon is still on.We also have trouble printing out journey tickets,some times we half to print out historical tickets,in place of the journey ticket.The old data loggers were so much easier to use and program!I was also under the impresion that once everyone had the new data logger we would be live.FedEx would not need us to send in our tapes via e-mail,or fax.Also i would like to know why dispatch has to send a message asking what our current temp. is,when in fact if you go out of range by 1/2 a degree they send an out of range message.How is it you know i'm out of range,but not what my current temp.is?

ATeam · May 15, 2011

It did not go without notice that calibrations changed to annual from semi-annual when FDCC started paying for the calibrations.

layoutshooter · May 15, 2011

teamjdw said:
On Tuesday we will be stopping by Thermo King to see why the alarms on our data logger turn themselves off.We constantly half to check to see if the alarm icon is still on.We also have trouble printing out journey tickets,some times we half to print out historical tickets,in place of the journey ticket.The old data loggers were so much easier to use and program!I was also under the impresion that once everyone had the new data logger we would be live.FedEx would not need us to send in our tapes via e-mail,or fax.Also i would like to know why dispatch has to send a message asking what our current temp. is,when in fact if you go out of range by 1/2 a degree they send an out of range message.How is it you know i'm out of range,but not what my current temp.is?

I have FINALLY figured out how to insure that my data tapes print right. It works perfect as long as I remember to do it right in the first place. It is a pain in the tush to say the least. I too liked the old ones better.

I love the one when I have a reefer load and I get a "temp out of range" message 4 hours before pick up time and I am only 5 degrees off temp. I get a kick out of them NOT knowing what my temp is. I had far FEWER questions on what my temp was with TrailerTracks than I do with this new stuff.

layoutshooter · May 15, 2011

ATeam said:
It did not go without notice that calibrations changed to annual from semi-annual when FDCC started paying for the calibrations.

The more we become like our competition the less freight we will have and the lower our rates will go. Higher standards cost more in the SHORT TERM. Lower standards ALWAYS cost more LONG TERM.

Sooner our later some upstart carrier is going to start to advertise a fleet of HIGHER standard trucks. Then our business will really start to drop off.

It always happens when a company gets too big for it's britches and/or the "bean counters" take over operations. Either way, it is not good for OUR business.

ATeam · May 15, 2011

teamjdw said:
On Tuesday we will be stopping by Thermo King to see why the alarms on our data logger turn themselves off.We constantly half to check to see if the alarm icon is still on.We also have trouble printing out journey tickets,some times we half to print out historical tickets,in place of the journey ticket.The old data loggers were so much easier to use and program!I was also under the impresion that once everyone had the new data logger we would be live.FedEx would not need us to send in our tapes via e-mail,or fax.Also i would like to know why dispatch has to send a message asking what our current temp. is,when in fact if you go out of range by 1/2 a degree they send an out of range message.How is it you know i'm out of range,but not what my current temp.is?

I spoke last week with an embittered (embittered!) fleet owner who was furious that we are being made to pay $16 a week for these data loggers when few if any of the promised beneifts come our way. We are doing everything now that we did before.

He was also furious that his trucks were being made to run ordinary reefer freight (non-TVAL) on continuious run when the specified temperature range could be easily maintained in auto-start mode. He was told the customer requested it but when he asked to be paid more to compensate for a continuious run setting he was told that can't happen because the customer is not being charged.

Too many contractors are getting pinched in too many ways. This mandatory equipment and new policy changes have burned up much of the goodwill our carrier once enjoyed among contractors.

mcbride · May 17, 2011

My personal favorite alarm is the box is out of TEMP!!!!! OMG!!!!
CAll Dispatch NOW!!! Yes, it surely is because it is 4 hours before we need to turn it on........