Rates are what you can negotiate. All there is to it. You'll get better rates the better you learn to negotiate. Learning the lanes and seasons will be really helpful too. Season is leaving Florida now and moving north or to the left coast. Soon it'll be NW and upper plains. MN will likely be late due to the unusually cold weather we've been having. Idaho/Oregon I am apprehensive about due to the lack of moisture this winter for them. I need to go look at current crop reports though too.
Flat vs ducted floor? If it's pallet loaded, flat floor is fine. Ducted floor is more for floor loaded commodities that need circulation. Produce chute takes the cold air to the back, it's sucked back on the floor and sides. At least that's the intent. Good luck getting dock jockeies to not place the product right on the walls.
Running the reefer continuous I use about 10 gal of fuel a day. I have to pay attention to keep it off high speed when I do. Otherwise you can burn yourself into the poor house with the fuel you'd use. Start/stop or cycle saves a lot of fuel. Produce and frozen both can kill your fuel budget if you don't pay attention to how the reefer is running. I've had watermelon use as much fuel on me as ice cream.
If I were specing my own trailer.
Great Dane tandem, meritor tire inflation all aluminum rims LP22.5 with continental or Goodyear eco trailer tires.
5 lights top and bottom, SST bumper, front and doors. Produce vents, flat floor, 3 lights, produce chute and a carrier x4-2500.
Otherwise I'd try to find a repo trailer from like GE assets and save myself a lot of depreciation.
Last edited by mndriver; 06-15-2014 at 07:37 PM.
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