Reefer verses Van

When I ran reefer,(mostly SE to Id and back to Ga) I would normally get back a day before my delivery, stopped by the house(it was en route), got up the next morning and made delivery. May have helped that I'm an O/O and didn't have to ask permission to do things. Just as spyder said, it's probably safer in my driveway than at a truck stop. But as far as reefer versus van, some of the real light-weight loads need 100" or so inside. But for the most part, never had an issue finding a fair paying dry load if needed.

 

The busiest time of the year for our farm is from October to April. We operate year round, as do a lot of other farmers. I don't know what you're smoking, but produce doesn't just take a vacation because its cold. Only bad farmers and people in the northern latitudes do....like New York...that place sucks...

 

I have only ever driven for myself. The only dispatcher or driver manager I deal with is the guy that looks at me in the mirror. As far as shippers go, they want the product secure and kept fresh. How you do that is the trucking companies business. The liability is the same no matter where the trailer is, its your responsibility. As far as the reefer breaking, that can happen anywhere, and I always dealt with it the same way. I get my wrenches out and repair it. A truck stop mechanic can't competently grease a truck, let alone repair a refrigeration unit.

 

Farmers may have a growing season, but cold storage facilities don't...reefer freight is more than produce.

I just left dry van to pull a reefer. Pulled one 12 years ago. One of my previous employers had both divisions, usually drivers pulled the type of freight for the division they were hired on with, but every now and then, they would have a driver swap trailers with the other division 'to help out'. If you were a dry van driver and pulled a reefer, you were still dispatched by the dry van dispatchers...and they would send you on a dry freight run after you delivered your 'helping out' load. You always had to check with them to see if they would load reefer trailers because they hauled a lot of loads from customers that required plate van trailers or roll paper loads that paper mills didn't want to load on a reefer trailer. Plus some warehouses that handle dry freight don't like reefers because it is one more piece of equipment their half-tard forklift drivers might damage. It's cheaper to repair the front of a dry van, but costs a lot to repair the inside components of a reefer.

 

You can't nail braces to a reefer floor either

 

Flat floor reefers are only good for grocery delivering imho

 

There's lots of beef out of Kansas

 

Farmers Almanac, will give you an idea about produce & growing Seasons. Talk with your County Agriculture Office. See if they can give you an idea about the produce already being grown in your County. Also, whom are the biggest growers. Walk up to the Farmer and ask him how he gets his produce to Market...but, this will be short haul freight...you'll probably be home most nights of the week. Curious, have you defined what your minimum daily earnings needs to be?

 

Almost every farmer sells to a produce broker, who then sells to to the grocery chains and markets. Those produce brokers usually hire the trucks, unless it's walmart, Wal-Mart almost always gets their own truck. Most farmers are good people, if you asked them who they sold to, I bet they give you some contacts.