Rate per mile gets all the attention, but a refrigerated load has costs a dry van never sees. Follow one example run and the gap between a "good rate" and a good load becomes clear. The numbers below are an illustration built from typical ranges, not a quote; plug in your own.
The shipper wants the trailer at 34°F when the doors open. That means running the unit for 30 to 60 minutes before you back in. The reefer burns its own diesel the whole time, usually somewhere between half a gallon and a gallon an hour depending on the unit and the outside temperature.
Appointment at 8, loaded at 10:40. The unit runs the entire wait. If the rate confirmation has no detention terms, those hours are free labor plus fuel. Get the detention rate and the free time written into the rate con before you accept.
| Item (example) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Linehaul, 820 loaded miles | $2,460 |
| Tractor fuel at 6.5 mpg | −$530 |
| Reefer fuel, about 18 unit hours | −$65 |
| Deadhead to pickup, 70 miles | −$45 |
| Washout at delivery | −$40 |
| Left before fixed costs | $1,780 |
Reefer fuel is often billed separately from tractor fuel and doesn't count toward IFTA miles in the same way, so keep the receipts apart.
The receiver checks pulp temperature. A download of the unit's temperature log is your proof if anything is rejected, so learn how to pull it from your unit before you need it.
Those four questions are most of the job when we plan refrigerated weeks for owner-operators. If you want to see how our team keeps cold trailers paid for, it's laid out on the TruckLeap site.