Reefer dispatch
Reefer pays better than dry van for a reason: more can go wrong, and when it does, the claim lands on you.
National spot average, week ending 14 August 2026
- Linehaul
- $2.75
- With fuel surcharge
- $3.38
- Surcharge we never bill
- $0.63
Source: DAT Freight & Analytics. Cited with attribution. We are not affiliated with DAT.
Reefer, honestly
What this market is actually like to run.
The premium over dry van is real, but a chunk of it is not profit — it is reefer fuel, washouts between commodities, and the unpaid hours produce shippers are famous for. A reefer week priced like a dry van week with a better rate per mile is a reefer week that loses money.
Produce season moves the whole market. When Salinas, Nogales, and the Rio Grande Valley are running, capacity gets pulled south and west and rates out of those markets spike while rates into them collapse. Knowing that calendar is most of reefer dispatch. Booking into the Valley in April at a dry van rate because the number looked fine is how carriers end up sitting for three days.
The risk that matters is rejection. A load rejected on temperature at the receiver becomes a cargo claim against your insurance, and the paperwork trail decides whether you pay for it. Continuous versus cycle-sentry, pre-cool requirements, and pulp temperature at loading are not details — they are the difference between a $9,000 claim and a $9,000 claim that is not yours.
What we do on this equipment
Specific to this trailer, not a generic dispatch checklist.
- Get the temperature, the run mode, and the pre-cool requirement written on the rate confirmation before you accept.
- Book against the produce calendar rather than the load board's mood, so you are not paying to reposition into a market that is about to flood.
- Price reefer fuel into the negotiation as a separate line of reasoning, not an afterthought.
- Insist on pulp temps being taken and recorded at loading, and tell you when a shipper refuses — that refusal is information.
- Handle the claim paperwork if a load is rejected, including the download from the temperature recorder.
Where the money leaks
The charges and disputes specific to this trailer type.
- Run mode disputes
- Continuous run and cycle sentry are different products. If the confirmation says only a temperature and the receiver expects continuous, you are arguing after the fact with a rejected load on the dock.
- Washout costs
- Switching between meat, produce, and anything scented usually means a washout at $50 to $150. If the lane requires it, it belongs in the rate before you accept, not in your expenses after.
- Unpaid loading time
- Produce shippers routinely load for four to six hours. Some of that is unavoidable. None of it should be free. Detention terms on reefer are worth more than an extra nickel of linehaul.
On rates for this equipment
Reefer linehaul runs meaningfully above dry van nationally, and the spread widens through the summer produce peak. The published national average is a floor to argue up from, not a target.
Related
Where to read more.
Rate negotiation
Brokers open low because opening low works. We negotiate against market data, in writing, on every load.
Paperwork and compliance
Rate confirmations read properly, documents filed where you can find them, and deadlines that do not arrive as a surprise.
What rate per mile actually means, and why the number you quote is probably wrong
Linehaul, fuel surcharge and all-in are three different numbers. Mixing them up means negotiating badly and comparing dispatchers badly.
Load boards or direct shippers: an honest comparison
Direct freight is the goal everyone talks about and few carriers reach. What each channel gives you, what it costs, and how to move between them.