Reefer converted to dry van.

Friend of mine bought one similar to that. Bought it at a farm auction. It was being used a storage trailer beside the barn. Covered in mildew and tires dry rotted. He scrubbed the trailer himself and the paint looked really good afterward. Put 8 used tires on it and hit the road. I don't know how long he kept the trailer; may still have it. It's a dry van.
You can do the same with an old reefer trailer. Scrap the reefer unit and cover the hole. Make it look good and professional. The trailer will be heavier than a stock dry van, but you can make it work out for you if you watch the weights of the loads you haul.
I worked for a reefer company one time, which also hauled dry van loads. The company had a couple of reefer trailers that were older, so they removed the reefer units and used them as dry vans. Ran coast-to-coast & border-to-border.
Sometimes we do what we have to do to survive.

 

Some union reefer warehouses will actually check the age of a trailer before loading it. I guess those union warehouse workers are miserable and want everyone else to also be miserable.

 

Many places are starting to check the age of trailers. Ran into it several places during my P&D time with R&L. Part of the rationale is they don’t want their forklifts going through the floor. It seems to be more of an issue since the frp plate trailers started to become more popular as the trend to lighter and lighter has made dryvan trailers less and less structurally rigid.

 

honestly surprised the thing isn’t still hauling freight in Jersey, probably was a 15k road worthy trailer in the Covid days

Honestly as much as i hated my utility, that fcker did take 60k+ loads in the wagon week in and week out and I would still put another one in there without worrying about falling through the floor but I’ve also plated the hell out of it

never had the manufacture date checked but I don’t usually do run of the mill brokered truck load

 

I’m a fake o/o leased to a carrier. I’m not a good example.

 

I have both utility and dane. The suspension are both Hendrickson. I prefer the door seals and handles on the Great Dane. Prefer the interior walls of the Utility over the microban puncture guard dane. Pretty much everything else is per spec and can be the same on both. Which brand will I go after next? Leaning ever so slightly with utility but may try wabash or Hyundai.

 

I’d disagree. Do t cut yourself short. Your customer is Tralo. -And you’re doing better than most.

 

Not anymore. I switched companies at the end of the year so I can be home more.

 

I do too, my 10 utility was replaced by a 16 GD but I’m rebuilding my utility to keep as a spare. dane is definitely better on the doors and seals,I have to use my bulkhead on the utility or all the air just goes right out the back. The floor seems stronger in the Dane but time will tell, it’s still virgin, my utility had to be plated when it was 11 years old, which still an old trailer, but I feel every time you see a 90s or older reefer rolling around it’s a GD with a super 2 on the front of it

I had a vanguard rental for a few weeks that I was actually impressed by for a price trailer, I would probably buy one of those Over a utility, I’ve yet to hear a single good thing about a Hyundai though

 

Same thing can be said for some Boise paper locations. The one closest to me will not load OR unload a trailer more than 10 years old. And yes the guards come out and check.