# Handle a temperature excursion on a refrigerated load

A step-by-step response to a reefer temperature problem: protecting product, preserving evidence, notifying the customer, and preventing repeats.

- Topic: Projects & Operations
- Framework: Few-Shot
- Level: Advanced
- Tags: Communication, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/handle-a-temperature-excursion-on-a-refrigerated-load

## Prompt

```text
Help me respond to a temperature excursion on a refrigerated load.

**Load:** [LOAD NUMBER, CUSTOMER, COMMODITY, SET POINT AND ALLOWED RANGE, CONTINUOUS OR CYCLE MODE]
**What happened:** [e.g. "reefer alarmed at 2:10am, box temp rose to 48F for 3 hours"]
**Where the load is now:** [in transit, at receiver, rejected, at a repair shop]
**Data available:** [reefer download, telematics temperature log, pulp temperatures taken, seal number, pre-cool record]
**Cause if known:** [unit failure, fuel ran out, wrong set point, doors opened, shipper loaded warm product]
**Customer requirements:** [contract or food safety program terms, who decides product disposition]
**Regulations in scope:** [e.g. "US sanitary transportation of food rule", pharma GDP, or [CONFIRM]]

Give me:
1. Immediate actions in order: protect the product, get the unit repaired or the load transferred, take pulp temperatures, keep the seal intact unless told otherwise.
2. Evidence to preserve and how: reefer download, photos, driver statement, temperature logs, bill of lading set point.
3. Who to notify and what to tell them: shipper, receiver, broker, insurer.
4. A factual first notice message to the customer.
5. Points that affect liability: set point on the BOL versus the unit, pre-cool, product temperature at loading, how the alarm was handled.
6. Prevention: pre-trip reefer checks, fuel level rules, alarm response procedures, driver training.

Return a timeline template, the customer message, and a corrective action list.

Do not decide whether product is safe to sell; that is the product owner's call with their quality team. Mark unknown facts [CONFIRM] and do not speculate on fault in customer communications.
```

## What to fill in

- in transit, at receiver, rejected, at a repair shop
- CONFIRM

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