Getting into refer trucking

That freight leaving out there is not paying good money some of the cheapest freight in the country. Too much capacity not enough volume. Kind of like going fishing in an overfish lake. The difference of freight, is almost a dollar a mile lower there in that area than in the Prairie states.

 

Wrong. It's seasonal like every other part of the country. Are you basing that from the DAT maps that show regional averages? Or have you been booking it down here daily for several years? I wouldn't expect you to know where to find anything good down here you don't live here.

 

TN has low reefer rates compared to Midwest and prairie. Couple years ago when freight was paying really good there were some good hauls out of there. Its outbound reefer freight is typically lower than its inbound and does NOT have a shortage of available reefers. It’s a fact. Look at outbound rates leaving Iowa, Minnesota, eastern, South Dakota, eastern, Nebraska, West, Michigan, Missouri, or Wisconsin. Rates are incredibly higher than Tennessee. This is not a recent phenomenon, Tennessee just does not feed the nation. some states do feed the nation. They have a seasonal harvest, and then ship the rest of the year their products from cold storage or produce large amounts of protein throughout the year they output is so much higher that it dwarfs Tennessee. Iowa is one of them. right side of Iowa are pretty darn nice. There is a higher demand for Reefer there than there is in Tennessee. Not very hard to grasp. It is very easy to make a killing in Reefer, if you were set up a state that has large amounts of outbound food production throughout the year. If you’re set up an estate that doesn’t have very large amounts of food production, it’s going to be much harder to get a direct customer as well as there’s lots of competition. There’s just not a lot of room to grow. Setting up shop, doing Reefer in state that already has low outbound rates is going to withhold some income, sure you can get some better rates going to even further cheaper areas. Now if you originate your business in the area that is in an under capacity, it’s a win, especially if you operate in an area that is consistently in an under capacity. This is how I was able to afford a brand new decked out 389, throw in another 25 grand to make it prettier, buy a brand new Reefer spend $10,000 decking that thing out, and then last year while everybody was complaining about cheap freight buying another brand new reefer and spending another $10,000 to make that trailer look really pretty. Math does not lie, and if it doesn’t make sense, don’t do it. There’s really no reason to operate a Reefer in Tennessee when you could do better in another state. I currently operate in a good reefer market but plan to relocate to a even better one where I have had opportunities with direct freight. Only makes sense.

 

I used to run midwest and the southeast. Spot outbound rates up there were seasonal just like everywhere else. I can think of 2 dozen different cold storage places around me that ship year round and pay good rates, if you play the game and book at the right time (like you also have to do in the midwest). You're crazy if you think there are people down here who can't afford new equipment or even entire reefer fleets started up and based down here.

 

Advice?

Don't do it.

Worst time ever to become an o/o

 

Given the above info -- here's an alternate suggestion: try the reefer world out, BEFORE you buy all-in.

Spend some time pulling loads for a carrier like Dot Transportation, or maybe Tyson Foods (with your previous experience -- you should be pretty much a shoe-in):

Terminals - DTI

-- L

 

Congrats on taking steps toward your goal! Did you find a truck?

 

you’ll never find anything off the load board…

 

best securement is turning it all sideways, stacking it to the chute, and loading it to the doors…

 

Seems i read on a reefer thread that NC. Had good reefer action , but may be seasonal , idk really . Good luck .