Why I hate reefer

One of the great things about being an o/o is you can be very picky and selective about what you haul. It's not a 100% sure fire way to eliminate craziness but it will weed out an awful lot of it. And if you find yourself in the middle of something that's turning real bad real slow.... ....you can always close the doors and leave that #### on the dock for someone else to jump thru hoops for.

 

What I was trying to say in that other thread is you have a lot of useful knowledge about reefer freight and lanes. You know what to haul and what to avoid it's just a matter of asking questions and getting a rate that makes you happy.

I promise you that you are trading those big headaches of a forced dispatch reefer company driver for a whole set of new ones I can guarantee are more stressful. Namely the constant fight to get a decent rate on your van. Always fighting that battle. If you're not you're getting used up for nothing. For half the year it seems like nothing anywhere is paying squat yet all those trucks continue to roll on.

Granted, if you're depending on an old worn out reefer and worried every load they put on if it's gonna make it this trip - yeah I can see the appeal of anything other than reefer. I know you said you don't care if any reefer load is paying $6 a mile but again when you get dry van weary you'll see the error in that. I'm not going to say getting rates with a reefer is a cakewalk, because it's not and there's a lot of cheap reefer freight, but it's a #### sight easier than a van. They'll actually take you serious if you quote $3, $4 or even $5 or more a mile on some longer runs. You'll score more of those with a reefer more consistently than you will a van for sure.

I'm just saying. You're the captain and do what you gotta do. Ultimately it always comes down to money though. I used to think like you about reefer. Until things went bad out here the past couple of years and I got hungry. Reality bites.

 

^^^^ See, tho? That's what drove me crazy the week I filled in pulling the friginator. I couldn't get fuel for the ThermoKing where I was , and had to plan EXTRA time/routes to fill that byatch. LoL.

But, I sure did like you, man. Uber didn't exist in my OTR days, and taxi cabs were outrageously expensive. I had a collapsible bike, and met some people online, or just sucked up to the wife's Italian/Hispanic family (they are everywhere, LoL) to pick me up and do fun stuff.

I hit more museums and parks OTR than I did in my first 8 years with the wife. She got a little salty about it, but..... she got pix. On a disposable camera for her to develop, but still.

Best to ya, man. Wasn't for me, but I'm sure it's a bit improved since 15 years ago, LoL!~

 

i love reefer after all people got to eat its job security during slow times

 

What kind of ####### would do this?

 

Had one in Jersey inside shopping center, nested and sleeping the night away. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!! HEY! YOUSE MOVE THIS THING... wife in distance in window of second floor house hollaring at her man to kick my ### out.

An examination of the tactical situation alerted me to the problem. The Reefer exhaust was coming straight up until 20 feet and it hit a inversion layer common for that area in prior to sunrise. The wind at that level blew it directly into the open bedroom window of that second floor, gassing the whole house. The engine exhaust at 1200 idle was not helping any.

I moved. He gave me a 50 for my trouble.

That was around 1988, my first winter.

I started developing a tactic to sleep on a mountain 50 miles minimum from any city or town. No one is gonna bother me there.