Carrier Is Back

zorry · Jul 7, 2014

Today's fleet bulletin confirmed the rumor that Carriers will be allowed to be added to the fleet.
Present Carriers are OK. New ones must be Supra 60s with maint free fans.

1) have any former Carrier owners become TK converts ? Would you now order a TK by choice ?
2) would the make of unit on a truck influence your buying decision, or would you buy a truck regardless of unit ?
3) Do you feel this is happening just as TK is getting our segment figured out ?

Well, it's good to have choices.

Daffyduck528 · Jul 7, 2014

I saw that and am torn on this. I was ok going with tk, but ended up with a carrier supra 850. I like that I turn it on, set the scale then temp and it works. I've talked with a few tk people and they say all the tks digital interface and need for updates tends to make them sometimes unreliable. Anybody running tk feel this way or is it better? Are the new supra 860's more like the basic 850 or is it more computer interfaced and do they have the updates like the tk unit?

ICEBERG · Jul 10, 2014

The Supra 860 has a few changes over the 850, but still has the same temp control to pass your T-VAL testing

New Enhancements: ** Maintenance Free Evap Fans
** Extended Life Service Interval
** Enhanced 12 volt Electrical System & Control Box
** Improved clutch Performance

zorry · Jul 10, 2014

After two years, never even my first "alarm" I wouldn't be looking to upgrade to improve performance.
How do you improve on 100% perfect ?
Maintenance free fans ? My brushes are at 75%. So, will I pull out 1/2 worn brushes every four years?

Extended maint ? We pm every 6 months. I wouldn't care to go longer than that even if I could.

Iceberg, please expound on each item.
How did they improve or enhance the electronics package ?

I spoke to a guy that, enroute to the pad test, stopped by TK for a routine PM. The kept the unit 4 days to be sure he passed.
He flunked. Then 2 weeks in TK only to flunk again.
He will ride out his career in a non-TVal truck.
I don't know anybody personally that is happy owning a TK. ( there must be some, but neither one has spoken up on the issue.)
I don't know a large abundance of reefer people. I do know 5 TKs in the fleet that are non TVal because they couldn't pass and people just gave up.
Since people don't care to talk about this I guess I'll take the clue and just shut up.
At least on this topic.

ATeam · Jul 12, 2014

Another stroke of genius reversed in a corporate office. What seemed like a good idea at the time was reversed. To drivers harmed by such meritless decisions, tough luck.

Daffyduck528 · Jul 12, 2014

ATeam said:
Another stroke of genius reversed in a corporate office. What seemed like a good idea at the time was reversed. To drivers harmed by such meritless decisions, tough luck.

My blood boiled when I was at FDCC headquarters a month ago and talked to them about all this. Really really made me upset and sad.

bubblehead · Jul 12, 2014

Daffyduck528 said:
My blood boiled when I was at FDCC headquarters a month ago and talked to them about all this. Really really made me upset and sad.

Careful Daffy, too much "blood boiling" and you will become Duck Soup!

So last month what was their position? We have been preparing to purchase another unit and this fiasco has caused us to just pause for now. We have learned early on that FEDEX CC makes no apologies when they clearly mismanage something that causes harm to the contractors.

Daffyduck528 · Jul 12, 2014

bubblehead said:
Careful Daffy, too much "blood boiling" and you will become Duck Soup!

So last month what was their position? We have been preparing to purchase another unit and this fiasco has caused us to just pause for now. We have learned early on that FEDEX CC makes no apologies when they clearly mismanage something that causes harm to the contractors.

Haha... Thanks for the laugh.

They asked no carrier tcu's back in May and have held that position up to a few days ago when they came out and said you may use only the *60 series carrier units. So no more supra 750's and 850's which are wildly popular in the expedite market. We are also starting the process to acquire another truck now. I am a bit nervous because I'm afraid to spec out a truck knowing in 6-8 months when it's ready FDCC may have made something on the truck not allowed and make me replace it.

bubblehead · Jul 13, 2014

Daffyduck528 said:
Haha... Thanks for the laugh.

They asked no carrier tcu's back in May and have held that position up to a few days ago when they came out and said you may use only the *60 series carrier units. So no more supra 750's and 850's which are wildly popular in the expedite market. We are also starting the process to acquire another truck now. I am a bit nervous because I'm afraid to spec out a truck knowing in 6-8 months when it's ready FDCC may have made something on the truck not allowed and make me replace it.

Same problem here. I was spec'ing with a Carrier and was then told TK only, no more belly units, no set back boxes. Talked to Jeff @ Hercules, he said he just took a build order for set back boxes for a fleet owner and another box with a belly unit... then I checked with Don @ TK got all information for a build with a supreme box, called FEDEX and was told Carrier 60 series was allowed. Still not sure on the belly units or set back boxes.

...$200,000.00+ investment!

Daffyduck528 · Jul 13, 2014

bubblehead said:
Same problem here. I was spec'ing with a Carrier and was then told TK only, no more belly units, no set back boxes. Talked to Jeff @ Hercules, he said he just took a build order for set back boxes for a fleet owner and another box with a belly unit... then I checked with Don @ TK got all information for a build with a supreme box, called FEDEX and was told Carrier 60 series was allowed. Still not sure on the belly units or set back boxes. ...$200,000.00+ investment!

Set back box is the one with the notch in it for the refer unit? If so that's what I have and will never buy again. It screws with the airflow and keeping a temp even front to back is very difficult. Also, they said nothing about my box when we brought it on.

ICEBERG · Jul 14, 2014

Improvements offered by the 60-series include:
•New high-performance, maintenance-free integrated fan/motor assemblies with expected 10,000-plus hour motor life.
•A maintenance-saving Extended Service Interval (ESI) oil system with a 1,500-hour service period.
•Various drive system enhancements for better performance and reliability.
•Improvements to the electrical system, such as use of sonic welds and elimination of splice points for fewer connections and increased reliability.
Engines are certified to the EPA Tier 4 standard for non-road engines of less than 25 horsepower, which for 2013 adds a not-to-exceed (NTE) requirement. The NTE standard requires that engines not exceed maximum allowable emissions regardless of how they operate, including factors such as altitude and ambient temperature.