Box vs Refer

welcome

more opportunities with refer just a cold box so you can do both dry and refer.

refers need more cleaning out work. ice and other product waste blood ect depending on load. also more things to go wrong. need to keep that loud refer running and if quits out on you you could lose the load. that will suck a lot. refer should pay a little more but not always lol.

this is what i know. still a student myselfe.

 

I've hauled both in my time.

Box

Pro:
Many accounts are drop and hook
Many loads are light (30K and below)
No reefer noise
Loads don't have to be babysat due to temperature

Cons
Empty vans can take you for a ride with high winds
The wooden floors can develop major holes
The doors can be hard to shut and seal, especially on uneven ground

Reefer
Pros:
Trailers are a bit more sturdy when empty
Doors are easier to shut and seal
Reefer loads tend to pay better (if you take a percentage)

Cons:
Reefer warehouses tend to make you wait
Frozen loads can keep the reefer unit noisy
Reefer loads tend to be on the heavy side

 

It may be a bit easier to find backhauls with a reefer, since you can put dry freight in a reefer.

And the noise isn't that bad. No worse than the guy next to you idling his truck all night when it's 70 degrees out.

 

I don't understand idling in mild temps. I love mid 60s nights with a slight breeze to where I can slip my breezeway screens in and open my sleeper vents and windows. I sleep like a baby!

 

I look at it this way, with a refer, you will more than likely haul food products, and no matter what happens in the economy, people will have to eat.

I have pulled refer, van, and flat, and made more money with refer freight.

 

More food is hauled in a dry van than reefer !!!!

But that phrase does sound good !!!

 

With refer, you also get the pleasure (note sarcasm) of going to all those meat patches and the lovely smell that goes with it. Plus the sitting and waiting.

 

Yea I prefer dry van. Refer IMO has too many crazy delivery times, waiting at very smelly slaughter houses for hours/days on end waiting for a load, time wasted looking for a washout almost every load, and the noise will be annoying at best.

-+

 

ahhh...the joy of showing up 1 hour early to pick up meat and have people mad because you are early. The further joy of being informed 2 hours after you arrive that they do not have your order ready yet because they can only cut it the day of for your consignee. Just to fill up your joy meter, arriving at the scale 6 hours later with a quarter tank of fuel to find that you have exactly 200lbs to spare.