pros and cons of - dry van, reefer, and tanker for a newbie driver

i prefer reefer to dry van..... i'll go back to tanker in a couple years though.
Really as a new driver what kind of trl you haul does not matter much, where you start is not always where you end up.....

 

Tanker : much more money annually for much less work.

Reefer & dry van : much less money annually for much more work.

 

experience is what you really need, but your future is very important.I wouldnt leave flabed out of the pic tho,lots of opportunities there also. flatbed and tanker will pay the best.

 

i worked harder for less money with milk than i do hauling produce.

 

Dry van is probably the easiest, slam the doors shut and forget it. Reefer had the added work of monitoring and setting the correct temps. and I truly don't know how people sleep with those noisy things right next your bed. I've also heard that detention times with refer are outrageous. Tanker I'd imagine is the hardest to pull with the liquids sloshing around behind you.

This is just my opinion and it doesn't come from experience. I only pull dry van and wouldn't want the added hassle of other types of trailers. For a company driver it should be a better pay to pull anything other than the van.

 

I agree, from my own experience.
Tanker first choice & flatbed second choice.

 

Reefer isn't so bad; I got $12.00 hour detention pay plus stop pay for pickup or delivery plus made from $200.00 - $500.00 weekly cash for lumping my own loads; not every week, but most weeks. Switched to tanker/hazmat though for excellent healthcare and retirement benefits; like it or not, time keeps moving on and we all get older barring unforseen circumstances.

 

On the reefer... I can tell you from being on the receiving side...you will deal with rejected product that you willl have to tend to until it gets back to the shipper for credit. Possibly a problem for your next load or backhaul.

 

or worse yet sitting on that rejected load until they find salvage company that will pay decent for it.