lets talk reefers
 

when i first started i did reefer work. but a lot has changed i guess. what do i look for in a trailer? there is one that i pull for a customer that has built in logistics posts which is really nice. with out a doubt i want something quiet i also want something that can go below 0. i know i want the duct floors and the produce shoot. where i'm lost is the trialer/unit. any help or pointers would be great.

Probably in a general direction. Do you really want all that headache? Is it really worth it? Sorry, i know that i'm not helping any, but i hate reefers from the buttom of my heart!

honestly, I do as well but I have a great opportunity.

I'm leased to a mid-sized company (large company in Canada) and pull company trailers. I don't know anything about the cost of buying or maintaining them, but if I was buying my own it would be a ThermoKing. I hate Carrier reefers. In my experience, the Carriers break down way more, are far more noisy, and have more trouble keeping the really low temperatures. Just take a walk through a truck stop and listen to the different reefers running, you'll see for yourself.

Produce shoot? What's that? All our reefer trlr's have aluminum ribbed floors. I notice all our new ones have cloth sleeves that run from the reefer along the roof to the back of the trlr so the reefer air comes out near the back.

I was thinking the same with the noise from the carriers. the cloth sleeves when I was running reefers was known as the produce shoot.

I liked the spread axle reefers, with the lift axle, but I've always preferred the tandems best, and one with an air slide.
If you are going to be hauling a lot of different loads, the tandem is better, but if you have a lot of partial loads, you can load the spreads tail heavy.

You want that produce shoot, and watch when you have tall double stack pallets, that they don't snag and tear the shoot.
Lots of reefer loads are stacked high, and you have to break them down, when you unload.

I always liked the ThermoKing best and Great Dane trailers. You need one that can hold -10, even in the summer or you won't get to haul ice cream, pies, etc.

I've never had to use logistic posts on a reefer load. The palletized product is wrapped in shrink wrap, and you stack your pallets 2 wide, alternating each pair to the wall opposite the last pair.
Then you use load locks. I like to use 2 even on short stacks.

The floor is ribbed aluminum, and also the side panels up a foot or so, and if you haul any meat, you have to power wash the trailer out, after every load.
When I'd haul produce that got the floor messy, sometimes I'd throw the reefer on freeze. It would make sweeping the spills out easier.
When I'd get the gook caught at the tail of the trailer, I'd use a Flying J or a Pilot rewards card to scrape the crap out. :)