A reefer trailer or refrigerated trailer is a trailer that can be temperature controlled using a kind of portable HVAC system. Reefers often haul several LTL shipments in one load to more than one location. Anything perishable or that requires a certain stable temperature can be hauled in a reefer.
Reefers are for hauling perishables that need to be at a certain protected temperature during transport. They, unlike dry van or flatbed trailers, need to be kept at a certain temperature to keep their products refrigerated. Some of their cargo can be frozen goods, perishables, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.
There is a high demand for reefer trailers and they have great security. They’re expensive too. You also have to clean out the inside of the trailer between trips, so that will add some loading time.
There are less than a quarter the number of reefers on the road in the United States compared to dry vans, specifically, 400,00 reefers and 1.7 million dry vans.
The US cold storage warehouse space is currently in second place, after India. According to industry sources, the average occupancy rate across the US cold storage warehouse industry is 85%, which is driven by the increased meat supplies and trade disputes. In 2017, more than 2.5 billion pounds of meat was stockpiled in American refrigerated warehouses across the country.
Agriculture is one of the major end-users of the refrigerated trucking industry in the United States. The growth in agriculture products and increasing trade have led to the agriculture industry's growing dependence on this industry.
The Reefer Trucking market has an estimate of a 2-3% increase from 2018-2024. In the 2nd Quarter of 2018, there was a trucker shortage of 296,311.
There are federal rules and regulations regarding the warehousing, shipment, and distribution of pharmaceuticals. These rules are set by the Food and Drug Administration to meet the increasing safety standards.
Most of the technology providers are innovating new systems for the safe handling of temperature-sensitive biological products, and a significant number of patents have been registered in the US patent and trademark office. The pharmaceutical industry had a growth rate of 10% from 2005-2015.
Technological innovations in these fields have led to the creation of more products that need temperature-controlled environments to maintain their integrity and effectiveness.
These increases have only gone up with time, so the need for truckers for those industries has as well.
Are you interested in an alternative to the conventional trucking business model? If so, take a look at how Relaymile is reimagining trucking to provide drivers with a healthier, more consistent standard of work.
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