What is reefer?
Also called refrigerated trailer
A reefer is a temperature-controlled trailer with its own refrigeration unit, used for food, pharmaceuticals and anything else that must stay within a temperature range in transit.
The unit runs on its own fuel and holds a set temperature for the whole trip. Many loads require a continuous temperature record that the receiver can inspect on arrival.
Reefer freight tends to pay more than dry van and carries more ways to go wrong, since a temperature excursion can reject an entire load.
What it means on a dispatch desk
The margin on reefer is real but so is the claim exposure, and the difference between carriers who profit and carriers who get wiped out by one load is entirely procedural: pre-cooling the trailer, confirming the set point against the rate confirmation rather than against what the shipper says at the dock, and keeping the download. A desk that treats reefer as dry van with a colder box eventually meets a rejected trailer of produce.
Related terms
- Dry vanA dry van is an enclosed trailer with no temperature control, used for freight that needs protection from weather and theft but not refrigeration. It is the most common trailer type on the road.
- FlatbedA flatbed is an open trailer with no sides or roof, used for freight that cannot be loaded through the rear doors of an enclosed trailer, such as steel, lumber, machinery and building materials.
- DetentionDetention is money owed to a carrier when a shipper or receiver holds the truck beyond the free time agreed for loading or unloading, usually two hours. It is billed by the hour after that window closes.
- Bill of ladingA bill of lading is the document issued at pickup that lists what is being shipped, who is shipping it and where it is going. It is simultaneously a receipt for the freight, a contract of carriage and a record of the goods' condition.
Put reefer in context when researching carrier leads by state, including Texas, California and Illinois.
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