Reefer carries a premium over dry van for reasons that are easy to state and expensive to ignore: the trailer costs far more to buy and run, and the driver takes on real liability the moment a temperature record matters. Nothing swings this number harder than produce season.
A single "rate per mile" hides four different things. Brokers and shippers argue about the wrong one all the time, so here is the whole stack, using the live numbers above.
| Component | Per mile | Who it belongs to |
|---|---|---|
| Line haul | — | The truck’s core revenue — driver pay, tractor, trailer, maintenance, insurance. |
| Fuel surcharge | — | Moves with the DOE average. Quoted separately in contract freight, buried inside the number in spot freight. How fuel surcharge works → |
| Carrier total | — | What actually lands on the carrier’s rate confirmation. |
| Broker margin | — | Covers coverage work, credit risk, claims exposure and the brokerage’s own cost of doing business. |
| Shipper pays | — | The all-in number, before any accessorial actually incurred on the load. |
The line haul and fuel split shown is an industry-typical approximation — roughly 78/22 at current diesel levels. On a real load it moves with the lane and the week, which is exactly why fuel is normally quoted as its own line.
Most failed bookings are not arguments about money — they are a load that physically does not fit the trailer that showed up. These are the numbers to put in a posting.
| Trailer length | 53 ft standard; 48 ft still common in regional food distribution |
| Inside dimensions | ~50⁄6 long × 97″ wide × 100″ tall — insulation costs you space |
| Standard pallets | 24–26 pallets; less than a van because of wall thickness |
| Max payload | 42,000–44,000 lb — the reefer unit itself weighs |
| Temperature range | −20°F to +70°F typical; continuous or cycle-sentry operation |
Commonly shipped on reefer: Fresh and frozen food, produce, dairy, meat and poultry, seafood, pharmaceuticals and vaccines, flowers and nursery stock, cosmetics, some chemicals and adhesives.
Benchmark rate per mile multiplied by real lane distance. Useful as a starting point for a conversation, not as a quote — direction, season and appointment requirements all move the true number.
| Lane | Distance | Carrier gets | Shipper pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresno, CA → Chicago, IL | 2,110 mi | — | — |
| McAllen, TX → Atlanta, GA | 1,200 mi | — | — |
| Grand Rapids, MI → Dallas, TX | 1,180 mi | — | — |
Distances are practical truck miles and will differ slightly from a car routing. Work out your own cost per mile →
| Period | What happens |
|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | Soft, with a Florida and Mexico produce floor underneath it. |
| Apr–Jul | Produce season. California, Arizona, Florida and the Southeast pull reefers out of everything else — rates in and out of those markets can run 40–60% above the annual average. |
| Aug–Sep | Cooling off as the harvest tapers, but still above the winter baseline. |
| Oct–Dec | Holiday food volume gives a second, smaller lift through Thanksgiving and Christmas. |
A dry van cannot protect freight from heat or freeze. But the reverse is worth knowing too: in winter, shippers of freeze-sensitive but non-refrigerated freight book reefers and run them on heat — paying reefer money for protection rather than cooling.
Reefer claims are the expensive ones, and they trace back to a temperature spec that was verbal far more often than to actual equipment failure. Put the set point, continuous-or-cycle, and the pre-cool requirement in writing on every reefer load. It costs nothing and it is the whole difference between a claim you win with a download and one you simply eat.
The cheapest reefer quote is very often the one that has not read your temperature spec. Before you compare numbers, confirm the carrier knows the set point and whether you require continuous run — and confirm it is written on the rate confirmation, not agreed on a call.
Line haul is the number everyone negotiates. Accessorials are the number that decides whether the lane was actually profitable. LoadBoot publishes its terms rather than renegotiating them load by load, so both sides know before the truck moves.
| Accessorial | LoadBoot standard | When it bites |
|---|---|---|
| Detention | $60/hr after 2 free hours | Four hours at a dock can exceed the whole margin on a short lane. |
| Layover | $250/day | A missed appointment that pushes delivery to the next day. |
| TONU | $250 | Truck ordered, then the load is not there or does not fit. |
| Lumper | Reimbursed with receipt | Grocery and food distribution, almost every time. |
Worth knowing whichever side of the load you are on. A broker who understands the carrier’s floor covers freight faster; a shipper who understands it stops wondering why the cheapest quote keeps falling through. Against a typical all-in operating cost of $1.90 per mile for a small carrier, the current reefer benchmark leaves:
$1.90 is a working average for a one-truck operation. Fleets with newer equipment and better fuel programmes run below it; an older truck with high maintenance can sit well above. Calculate your actual number →
Rate is rarely the reason a reefer load sits. It sits because a carrier cannot tell from the posting whether the load is legal on his trailer, how long he will wait, or what he gets paid if it goes wrong. Five things fix most of that.
| Put the set point in writing, with continuous or cycle | Verbal temperature specs are the root of most reefer claims. A number on the rate confirmation and a download from the trailer settles almost any dispute. |
| Say whether pre-cool is required, and to what temperature | Pre-cooling is unpaid time unless somebody priced it. Carriers who discover it at the dock either charge for it or leave. |
| Declare fresh or frozen | A 34°F fresh load and a −10°F frozen load are different jobs with different risk profiles and different rates. |
| List every stop | Multi-stop food distribution is normal, but each stop is time and each door opening is a temperature event. Three stops posted as one is how a load falls apart. |
| Confirm lumper expectations up front | Grocery and food distribution almost always means a lumper. Say who pays and how it gets reimbursed before the truck is at the gate. |
A national benchmark is an average of very different markets. Direction matters as much as distance — the same lane run the other way can price completely differently.
| Versus national | Markets |
|---|---|
| Above national | Out of the growing regions during harvest — California’s Central Valley, Yuma, South Texas and Florida from spring through midsummer. |
| Around national | Midwest food-processing corridors: Wisconsin dairy, Iowa and Nebraska protein, Michigan produce. |
| Below national | Inbound to the growing regions during harvest, because every reefer in the country is heading there anyway and will take cheap freight to get positioned. |
Refrigerated trailers cost far more to buy and operate, burn fuel to hold temperature, and carry much higher cargo liability. Reefer typically runs 10–20% above dry van on the same lane, and far more during produce season.
Roughly May through July, when fresh produce volume out of California, Arizona, Florida and the Southeast pulls refrigerated capacity out of general freight. Rates in and out of those markets can run 40–60% above the annual average.
It depends almost entirely on whether the requirement was documented before pickup. A set point on the rate confirmation plus a download from the trailer usually settles it. A verbal instruction usually does not.
Continuous runs the reefer unit constantly, holding a tighter temperature band and burning more fuel. Cycle-sentry runs it only as needed to hold the set point. Sensitive freight — most pharmaceuticals, many fresh products — requires continuous.
Typically 24–26, slightly fewer than a dry van because the insulated walls take up interior width.
If you are loading fresh or frozen product, yes. Loading into a warm trailer puts the product outside its band before the doors close, and the temperature download will show it.
Yes, and carriers do it to avoid deadheading. Expect to pay closer to reefer money for the privilege, and confirm the trailer is clean and odour-free if your freight is food-grade.
Posting is free for brokers and shippers — no subscription and no per-post fee. Every carrier who can accept your load has had authority, insurance and safety checked first, every load carries live GPS, and the accessorial terms above are written down before the truck moves rather than argued about after.