Find Reefer Carriers
For Temperature-Controlled Freight

Most reefer claims are not arguments about whether the unit failed. They are arguments about what the load was supposed to run at, who said so, and whether anybody wrote it down.

Federal food rules answer that in a way that surprises a lot of shippers: the number the carrier is held to is the number you gave them, and giving it is your obligation rather than a courtesy. So this page starts there, before it gets to where the trucks are.

Where do I find reefer carriers?

On a load board, and earlier than you would for a dry van. Reefer capacity is tighter, it follows produce seasons around the country, and a reefer operator carries costs a dry van does not — the unit burns its own diesel whether the truck is moving or not. A posting that is complete and goes up with notice is what gets answered.

Posting here is free and uncapped, and every carrier is MC/DOT verified before they can bid. What a reefer operator sees when your load reaches them, and the costs they are pricing against, is on the reefer loads page.

What must a shipper specify for a refrigerated load?

An operating temperature, in writing, to the carrier — and to the loader where one is involved. Under 21 CFR 1.908(b)(2) the shipper "must specify in writing to the carrier … an operating temperature for the transportation operation including, if necessary, the pre-cooling phase". One notice covers repeat shipments, but if anything changes the operating temperature the shipper has to tell the carrier in writing before that shipment.

That one sentence is the hinge of the whole arrangement. Everything the carrier then owes is measured against the number you wrote, which means a vague instruction is not a smaller obligation — it is the same obligation, discharged badly, and it is the shipper who is holding the pen.

Who is responsible if the temperature fails?

It depends on what was specified and what the agreements say, which is exactly why the written temperature matters. The rule also sets a stop: under 1.908(a)(6), if any shipper, loader, receiver or carrier becomes aware of "an indication of a possible material failure of temperature control", the food must not be sold or distributed unless a qualified individual determines it was not rendered unsafe. That duty lands on whoever notices, not only on the carrier.

The practical consequence for a shipper is that the evidence is worth more than the argument. A carrier who can produce time and temperature data for the trip has answered the question; one who cannot is relying on being believed. Ask for the download as a matter of course rather than only when something has gone wrong, because a carrier who knows it will be asked keeps the unit in a condition where the answer is comfortable.

Who ultimately pays for damaged freight is a Carmack question rather than a food-safety one, and where liability actually sits covers that separately, including the deadlines that decide most claims before anybody argues about the cause.

What should a reefer load posting say?

The temperature and whether the unit runs continuous or start-stop, the commodity, whether the trailer must be pre-cooled and to what, the appointment windows at both ends, and whether a temperature download is expected on delivery. A reefer carrier prices all five. Leaving them out does not get a lower rate, it gets fewer bids and a slower cover.

1. Temperature, and continuous or cycle. Continuous burns more fuel and the carrier prices it. Saying which removes the question.
2. The commodity. Produce, frozen, pharmaceutical and brewed goods are different risks, and some carriers will not take some of them.
3. Pre-cool, and to what. This is the part the rule names explicitly. Put the figure in the posting rather than in a phone call.
4. Appointment windows at both ends. Reefer receivers are strict about them, and a missed window on temperature-controlled freight is not a reschedule.
5. Whether you want the download on delivery. Say so up front. It is a normal request and it is far easier agreed before the load than after a claim.

What do I check on a reefer carrier before tendering?

The standard authority and insurance checks, plus two that only matter on refrigerated freight: whether their cargo cover actually responds to a reefer breakdown, and whether they can produce time and temperature data for the trip. Both are ordinary questions and the answers are quick, and both are the ones nobody asks until there is a claim.

• Reefer breakdown, specifically. Cargo policies can treat loss from a refrigeration failure differently from loss by collision. Confirm it is covered rather than assuming the limit answers it.
• Whether they can give you the data. The rule contemplates the carrier demonstrating it maintained conditions on request. A carrier who cannot download the unit cannot do that.
• A written agreement on sanitary conditions. Much of what 1.908 puts on the carrier applies where the written agreement says it does. Silence is not a safe default for either side.
• Everything in the standard check. How to vet a carrier is the full list, and it applies to reefer exactly as it does to anything else.

How long does it take to cover a reefer load?

Longer than a dry van load on the same lane, and seasonally much longer. Reefer capacity migrates with produce, so a lane that covers in an hour in February can sit in June because the trucks are working a harvest two states away. Notice is worth more here than on any other equipment type: it lets a carrier fit your load to a trip rather than build one around it.

The bottom lineWrite the temperature down, including the pre-cool, and send it before the truck is loaded. It is a federal obligation on the shipper rather than a favour to the carrier, and it is the document every other question about the load gets measured against.

Posting is free for brokers and shippers, with no listing fee and no commission on the freight. The other side of this page, what a reefer carrier sees and how they judge a posting, is on the reefer loads page.