Brutal heat wave to hit Western US (with forecast video)

The National Weather Service (NWS) began issuing additional excessive heat watches and warnings yesterday.

An excessive heat warning means that a period of very hot temperatures, even by local standards, will occur. Warning areas include Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma, El Centro, Death Valley, Sacramento, Bakersfield, Fresno and Las Vegas, in addition to most of the Los Angeles and San Diego metropolitan areas. Watch areas stretch from Stockton, California to Medford, Oregon.

According to the latest FreightWaves data, the extreme heat will hit three of the busiest trucking markets of Reefer Outbound Tender Volumes (ROTRI): Ontario, Fresno and Stockton.

The map directly below shows these markets in dark blue, indicating high levels of reefer loads being offered by shippers. This indicates that many drivers could be heading to these areas to pick up temperature-sensitive reefer freight, like liquids and produce.

Drivers should be extra careful about setting their trailers at the proper internal temperatures. Also, because the extreme heat can put extra stress on their bodies and their trucks, drivers heading into the heat wave should spend as little time outside their trucks as possible, and make sure their trucks are in tip-top shape so their air conditioning doesn’t break down.

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