48ft-53ft?

Light frozen loads will go all the way to the back of a 53 footer. Heavy loads will only go to the 48 foot mark or you will have weight issues. I have also pulled light produce loads that went all the way back and didn't have issues with weight. Better the extra room, then not enough room.

 

I have hauled very few loads on my 53' that wouldn't have fit on a 48'. A few frozen loads and a few berry loads. Alot of people ask for a 53 but really don't need one.

 

A 48 foot spread reefer is my preference.

 

Although I've said 4 years I rarely load anything I couldn't fit in my old 45'--the unfortunate truth today is many/most of the larger shippers REQUIRE a 53'--even though they rarely if ever need it or have a clue how to load it--they almost all load it like a48--so u usually have to slide the wheels way up and let it beat u 2 death--U can beat this by being very proactive when upload but it isn't always possible--I think most of the big carriers have beaten bridge laws to death w/both their drivers and shippers--since almost everytime I tell someone how to load my wagon(which thankfully with our accts isn't very often)I get all kinds of grief followed by ok but don't come back if u can't scale it LOL
so just some things to consider--but basically with a very few produce exceptions--u ain't ever gonna use all of it

 

I see 53' reefers with 30 pallets of produce at times. If it's "fluff" like romaine, red leaf, green leaf, butter lettuce, no problem. When you haul potatoes, you're looking at a single, double, single, and if you have a light truck you'll scale 16 full pallets and a partial.

Our O/O with 53' are getting 26 chimney stacked with no issues and 48' 24 with no issues. I have one guy that puts 25 on his 48' and unloads it himself with a pallet jack.

If you're in tight spaces (old LA market) I believe they use 40'

Jeff G

 

I run a 53 foot, and i agree , i would rather have the extra room then not enough. *two cents*

 

53 is the best I run a 2013 reefer and I've done a full load front to rear w/ just a few inches to spare to barely fit the load locks floor to roof 60 pallets weight was 79,900

 

Areas in nj, md, ma, etc that should not have anything longer than a 40' box allowed.

 

Totally depends what you're hauling. I haul my own products, and a 53 makes zero sense at all considering the weight. 48 is plenty of room considering 20 pallet spots puts the trucks at 80,000.