Free Reefer Temperature Log

Frequently enough that a gap in the record isn't longer than the time an undetected fault could cause real product loss — many operations check every few hours, and continuous data-logging units record far more often than that automatically. Confirm what your customer's contract or the applicable regulation requires rather than setting an interval from habit.

Not on its own — a defrost briefly warms the return-air reading by design, which is why it needs its own event line rather than being logged as a plain temperature reading. An excursion logged without noting a concurrent defrost looks like a fault when it may just be normal operation; the label is what makes the record defensible later.

Note the reading and time immediately, check the obvious causes — door seal, unit fault, fuel level on a diesel-powered unit — and report to dispatch rather than waiting until delivery. What matters to a later claim is less the excursion itself and more whether it was caught, acted on, and documented at the time.

For infrequent cold-chain loads, a diligently kept manual log can be sufficient; for regular reefer operations, a continuous electronic data logger is far more defensible in a claim or audit because it can't have a gap between hand-recorded readings. Many operations run both — the logger as the record of truth, this log as the driver's real-time awareness and action trail.