Reefer Dispatch Services for Owner-Operators and Small Fleets
Refrigerated freight pays better than dry van because fewer carriers can do it and the consequences of getting it wrong are expensive. Produce seasons, protein, and frozen goods all run on schedules that reward carriers who plan around them.
- Indicative rate
- $3.00 - $4.00
- Per mile, national average
- Typical use
- Temp-controlled and produce
- Dispatch fee
- 5%
- Of gross linehaul
- Coverage
- 48 states
- 24/7 dispatch desk
What moves on reefer
- Produce and fresh fruit
- Meat and protein
- Dairy
- Frozen foods
- Pharmaceuticals and temperature-sensitive goods
- Beverages
Common lanes
- California Central Valley to the Midwest and East Coast during harvest
- Nogales, Arizona and the Rio Grande Valley north with Mexican produce
- Midwest protein out of Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas to the coasts
- Pacific Northwest apples and potatoes eastbound in autumn
Where it pays
- Consistently higher rates per mile than dry van
- Less competition because equipment cost and expertise are barriers to entry
- Food freight is more recession-resistant than discretionary retail
- Reefer trailers can also haul dry freight when it pays
What to watch
- Higher equipment cost, plus reefer unit fuel and maintenance
- Rejected loads if temperature is not maintained and documented
- Longer wait times at produce sheds and packing houses
- Washouts required between many load types
How our dispatchers work reefer
The habits that separate carriers who do well in this segment from carriers who grind.
Document temperature continuously
A download or a photographed setpoint at pickup, mid-transit, and delivery is your defence against a rejected load claim. Reefer claims are large, and the paperwork is what decides them.
Follow the harvest calendar
Reefer rates are seasonal by nature. Being positioned in the Central Valley in summer, the Pacific Northwest in autumn, or Florida and South Texas in winter is worth more than negotiating hard in a soft market.
Price the wait, not just the miles
Produce sheds routinely run long. Build detention terms into the rate confirmation and treat a load with a five-hour loading window as a shorter-paying load than the rate per mile suggests.
Where reefer freight is this quarter
Reefer pays on positioning. Central Valley produce from late spring through autumn, Pacific Northwest apples and potatoes in autumn, Nogales and the Rio Grande Valley through winter, Florida produce from December to April, and Midwest protein year-round. Your dispatcher plans the season, not the week, so you arrive ahead of the market rather than with it.
Rolling in 24 hours, not 24 days
Onboarding is deliberately boring. Four steps, one phone call, and a short document list.
Onboarding call
A 15-minute call to map your equipment, home base, preferred lanes, and the rate floor you refuse to go below.
Paperwork setup
We collect your MC authority, W-9, certificate of insurance, and factoring notice, then set you up across our broker and shipper network.
First load booked
Most carriers are rolling within 24 hours. Nothing gets booked without your approval on the rate. Ever.
Keep rolling
Your dispatcher pre-plans the next load, files the paperwork, and invoices the broker while you are still on the road.
Reefer questions
Generally yes, on a rate-per-mile basis, because there are fewer reefer carriers and the freight is time and temperature critical. The gap narrows once you account for reefer fuel, higher maintenance, and longer loading times, so compare on net rather than headline rate.
Yes, and many carriers do when reefer rates soften. Some shippers will not load dry freight into a reefer trailer without a washout, and the trailer's extra weight slightly reduces your payload, but it is a useful flexibility to have.
Drivers who stopped hunting loads
Names and companies used with permission. Ask us for a reference in your lane and we will connect you.
Put your reefer to work
Send your MC number and your lanes. We will pull real rates and tell you honestly whether we can beat what you are getting now.