How common is it for a shipper / broker with a dry van load to refuse to load a reefer?

3000 pounds on average

 

Honestly, it really depends on what you are hauling. If it's something that shouldn't be exposed to moisture then they will. Or if it's something like oil or the likes they may ask if you are sure if you want to haul it in the reefer because you can't just pick up anreefer load right after hauling stuff like that.

 

It depends on a whole lot of variables. Newer reefer trailers are coming out at around 13,000 if you have aluminum wheels and the smaller fuel tanks. A dry van with a wooden floor can weight that much or more. Most places are going all aluminum these days because of fuel economy, but there are still some holdouts for the wood floors which are quite a bit heavier.

 

I can scale 45,000 lbs in the reefer I pull and 47,000 lbs in the van. Both are Great Danes. Some reefers have e-tracks. Some even have logistics posts but that would be unusual. Mine doesn't have e-tracks but I have hauled plenty of temp control loads of palletized 55 gallon drums of liquid or even totes that were easily secured using ordinary load locks. I like having both options available. Actually three options for me as power only availability also. I would really like to also have a 48 spread axle flat to take advantage of late winter early spring open deck rates.

 

Explain please. a clean trailer is a clean trailer. As long as it was swept out or washed out...no fumes/odors/debris, then your last load has absolutely no bearing on you next load.

I don’t get your point, unless you mean if there was a spill??? If so, that would be a major issue van or reffer. Just wait untill epa gets a hold of you.

 

I hauled a load of onions last year. Did a wash out and it still stunk a month later.

 

Yes it does happen but not very often. It happens also because a reefer is a few thousand pounds heavier than a dry van.

 

Amen!
I'll add recycled plastic to that list ... What a tough odor to get rid of !!

 

There is no such thing as a totally versatile piece of equipment. Don't even try. Pick the area you want to service, match the equipment for that service. Ask the guys with flatbeds. Sometimes they miss out because they have a stepdeck, sometimes they make a killing. Same goes for reefer/van. it all comes out in the averages.
Don't even think about getting into tankers....

 

I skipped a few good paying back haul loads of beverages back in January, afraid that low temps could be an issue, even though the brokers said that they would use blankets but somehow it did not convince me, reefer would have helped but then they would have not loaded the reefer with my outbound freight such as store shelving or paper rolls. With paper rolls it is up to the shipper, some load it on a reefer some don't.. A while back, as a company driver, we used to load paper rolls on reefers every week to take them to the West Coast...old beat up reefers, sometimes smelling onions but now I see on loadboards "van(no reefer)" when you go to paper mills and such.