Differences between Dry van and Reefer?

Do not do reefer as a company driver

 

The two do seem more similar then they are. Now some will say that reefer offers longer runs, more pay and more constancy. That once was the case but it is no longer true.

Now days you just have more responsibility with a reefer and more of the bad aspects of trucking:
More hard appointments, fewer drop and hooks.
More lumper loads.
More trailer clean out.
More trailer repair.
More grocery, sit and wait loads.
More run all night, unload in morning loads.
More unpaid detention.
More overweight loads.
More load reworks.

 

More trailer repair.
Nope work for a company with decent equipment.

More run all night, unload in morning loads.
Nope

More unpaid detention.
Maybe

More overweight loads.
Nope

More load reworks.
Nope

 

Decent or not, like for like, reefer has more stuff to break down and it does.
Never had to work on or service a cooling unit on a dry van.
Never had to pulp a dry van.
Never had to repair fiberglass or fiberboard walls on a van.
Never had to replace thermal barriers or cooling chute on a van.

Where are all these mythical grocers that unload mid. day and are not time critical.

YUP

Congradulations on working for the first reefer company that does not load hot and heavy.

Most reefer loads run to the heavy side and are unloaded on a strict schedule. You have something different going on, well good for you. That is not the case with most reefer work and that is introspective the OP is asking for.

 

You can haul a dry load in a reefer trailer, but you can't haul a reefer load in a van....unless it's across ND in January during an arctic blast.

 

I prefer reefer freight over dry. Length of haul is generally longer, reefer trailers ride better (at least the air ride trailers do), and people always need food, which means less of a drastic change between the busy and slow seasons.