Reefer vs dry van: pay, costs, freight and which one fits your operation

Reefer vs dry van at a glance

The rate rows are DAT national averages for one week. They move every week, so treat them as a snapshot, and see our reefer rates guide for the latest.

Costs, including reefer fuel

The rate gap only matters after costs. Three costs separate a reefer operation from a dry van one.

The trailer. A reefer is a dry van plus insulation, a liner, a duct floor and a refrigeration unit. The unit alone is a serious piece of equipment: Thermo King lists its Precedent S-610DE at 1,919 lb. Expect a higher purchase price or lease payment and higher insurance on the trailer.

Reefer fuel. The unit burns diesel by the hour, from its own tank. EPRI describes diesel trailer units as burning up to about a gallon an hour, and frozen loads in summer push the high end. On a two-day load that can be several dozen gallons the rate con never mentions. Our guide to reefer fuel covers the dyed-diesel tax rules.

Unit maintenance. The refrigeration unit has its own engine, compressor and belts, with its own service intervals and repair bills.

Here's how that plays out on one load. These are example numbers, not market averages:

On these numbers the reefer comes out ahead, but change the deadhead, the season or the trailer payment and the gap shrinks. Put your own numbers into the reefer rate per mile calculator.

Pay, rates and freight

Reefer rates run above dry van for two reasons: the equipment and fuel cost more, and fewer carriers want the work. DAT's load-to-truck ratios for the same October week show the second point: 15.8 reefer loads posted for each reefer truck posted, against 9.7 for vans. More loads per truck means more room to say no to bad ones.

Reefer freight also has its own calendar. Produce season pulls trucks into California, Florida, Arizona, Texas and the Southeast at different times of year, and rates in a short region can jump quickly. Frozen and dairy freight is steadier. Dry van freight follows retail and manufacturing, with peaks before holidays.

Reefer vs dry van pay for owner-operators

For an owner-operator, "pay" is what's left after costs. A reefer at a higher rate that sits waiting at a produce shed for six hours, or runs 200 miles empty to the next load, can net less than a van running steady loads. The carriers who do best with reefers keep the trailer loaded and their deadhead down. That's the core of what reefer loads booked by a dispatcher are meant to fix.

Inside space and weight

A reefer's insulation takes space. Hyundai Translead lists its ThermoTech reefer at 52 ft 2 in long, 97.4 in wide and 105.5 in high inside. Hale Trailer puts typical 53 ft dry van interiors at roughly 99-100 in wide and 108-110 in high. A reefer also weighs more empty, so on heavy loads it hits the legal gross weight sooner. The full numbers and pallet counts are in reefer trailer dimensions.

Where flatbed fits: dry van vs reefer vs flatbed

Flatbed is a different trade: open-deck freight like steel, lumber and machinery, with tarping and securement as the core skills, and rates driven by construction and industrial demand. If you're choosing between all three, the question is which kind of work you want. Flatbed means securement and weather. Dry van means simple freight and more competition. Reefer means managing temperature and paperwork for better-paying, year-round food freight. We only dispatch reefers, so the rest of this guide sticks to reefer and dry van.

Which fits you

Reefer tends to fit if you're comfortable with more paperwork, can finance or already own a reefer trailer, want freight that moves all year, and will run the unit by the book.

Dry van tends to fit if you want the lowest equipment cost and the simplest loads, run lanes with steady van freight, or aren't ready to take on temperature claims.

Either way, don't compare gross rates. Compare what each pays after the costs that come with it. If you're new to the equipment, read what a reefer truck is and how it works first.