A reefer is a refrigerated container with its own temperature-control machinery, powered by terminal or vessel electrical points and by generator sets on land legs. It keeps perishables, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals within a set temperature range, recorded continuously for compliance.
A reefer is an active machine: setpoint, ventilation, humidity, and sometimes controlled atmosphere are configured per cargo, verified by a pre-trip inspection (PTI) before release. Aboard and in the yard it must occupy powered slots; between plugs it relies on clip-on gensets.
The operational stakes are absolute: an unpowered or malfunctioning reefer is cargo loss on a clock. That is why reefers get dedicated yard rows, monitoring rounds, and priority handling, and why their free time is typically shorter and pricier than dry boxes.
Reefer tracking adds a condition layer to the location layer: plug-in and plug-off events, setpoint and temperature data where carriers expose them. In TrackingMCP the location milestones flag the risk windows, discharge to plug-in, gate-out to delivery, where a reefer runs on genset or grace time; port pages like Rotterdam give context at major reefer gateways.
A reefer is a refrigerated container with its own temperature-control machinery, powered by terminal or vessel electrical points and by generator sets on land legs. It keeps perishables, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals within a set temperature range, recorded continuously for compliance.
The pre-trip inspection: a functional test of the refrigeration unit before the container is released for a booking, checking cooling performance, sensors, and settings against the intended carriage.
The cargo starts drifting toward ambient temperature; tolerance depends on commodity and insulation. Terminals monitor plugs, but land legs and handovers are the classic risk windows, which is why plug events matter in tracking.
Track reefer milestones →
Reefer gateway context →
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