Dry van vs reefer vs flatbed

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This page is general information, not legal or insurance advice. It covers federal rules for interstate carriers. States, shippers and brokers can add their own requirements. It gives no freight rates and no cost figures, because those change by lane, season and week.

What each trailer hauls

• Dry van: anything that only needs to stay dry and out of sight: retail goods, paper, packaged food that doesn't need cooling, household goods, auto parts. Most loads go dock to dock. Some are floor-loaded and take longer to load and unload.
• Reefer: freight that has to stay at a set temperature: fresh produce, meat, dairy, frozen food, some medicines and some chemicals. A reefer can also haul dry freight when it's not running cold, which gives you more choices on the way back.
• Flatbed: freight that's too tall, wide, heavy or awkward to load through a back door: lumber, steel, pipe, building materials, machinery. It's loaded by forklift or crane from the side or top. Oversize loads need state permits; see oversize and overweight permits.

Step decks, conestogas and other open-deck trailers are covered on the step deck and conestoga pages.

CDL and endorsements

• A tractor-trailer combination with a gross combination weight rating of 26,001 lb or more, towing a trailer rated over 10,000 lb, is a Group A vehicle and needs a Class A CDL (49 CFR 383.91). That covers all three trailers.
• Endorsements are required only for double/triple trailers, passenger vehicles, tank vehicles, hazardous materials and school buses (49 CFR 383.93). Dry van, reefer and flatbed need no endorsement by themselves.
• You'd need the hazmat (H) endorsement only to haul placarded hazmat, in any trailer. See the hazmat endorsement guide.

Cargo securement: biggest on flatbed

The securement rules in 49 CFR 393 subpart I apply to trucks, tractors and trailers of every type (393.100). Cargo must not leak, spill, blow or fall off, and must not shift enough to affect handling.

• Dry van and reefer: cargo can be held by "structures of adequate strength", such as the trailer walls, plus load bars, straps or dunnage bags (393.106(b)). Partial loads and tall pallets are where shifting happens.
• Flatbed: the tiedowns carry the load. Their combined working load limit must be at least half the weight of the cargo (393.106(d)). If an article isn't blocked from moving forward, it needs at least 1 tiedown if it's 5 ft or shorter and 1,100 lb or lighter, 2 if it's 5 ft or shorter and heavier, or between 5 and 10 ft long, and 1 more for each extra 10 ft or part of it beyond the first 10 ft (393.110). Some commodities, like metal coils, lumber and machinery, have their own extra rules.
• Checks on the road (392.9): inspect cargo and securement within the first 50 miles, then again at each change of duty status, or after 3 hours or 150 miles of driving, whichever comes first. This doesn't apply to a sealed load you've been told not to open, or one loaded so you can't inspect it. That's why most van and reefer loads go sealed while flatbed drivers re-check straps all day.

For the full flatbed rules see flatbed cargo securement.

Reefer: temperature and sanitary records

FDA's sanitary transportation rule (21 CFR 1.900 to 1.934) covers shippers, loaders, carriers and receivers moving human and animal food by truck or rail. What it means for a reefer carrier:

• The shipper sets the operating temperature in writing, including pre-cooling if needed (1.908(b)(2)).
• When your written agreement makes you responsible for sanitary conditions, you must pre-cool the trailer as the shipper specified before offering it, and if the shipper or receiver asks, show you held the temperature. That can be ambient readings at loading and unloading or time and temperature data from the trip (1.908(e)).
• You need written procedures for cleaning and inspecting the trailer and for temperature control (1.908(e)(6)), and you keep them for 12 months after you stop using them (1.912(b)).
• If the contract makes you responsible, you must train your drivers on sanitary transportation when hired and keep training records for 12 months after each person stops doing that work (1.910, 1.912(c)).
• If anyone sees a possible temperature failure, the food can't be sold until a qualified person decides it's still safe (1.908(a)(6)).
• Businesses with average annual revenue under $500,000 (adjusted for inflation, 3-year rolling average) aren't covered (1.904). Shippers can still demand the same records in their contracts.

Keep the reefer unit's download, your pre-cool record and the temperature written on the bill of lading. More in reefer trucking basics.

Size and weight: the same for all three

• Weight: on the Interstate System, 80,000 lb gross, 20,000 lb on a single axle and 34,000 lb on a tandem, or less where the bridge formula says so (23 CFR 658.17).
• Width: states must allow 102 inches on the National Network (23 CFR 658.15). Flatbed freight wider than that needs an oversize permit.
• Length: states can't limit a semitrailer in a tractor-semitrailer combination to less than 48 ft (23 CFR 658.13). Longer trailers depend on state law.
• Height: there's no federal limit. FHWA says state limits range from 13.6 to 14.6 ft. This matters most on flatbed, where the load sets the height.

The trailer's own empty weight counts toward 80,000 lb, and a reefer unit adds weight. Know your truck and trailer's empty weight and check the scale ticket, not just the paperwork.

What drives startup and running costs

We don't publish dollar figures, because prices change. These are the cost items that differ, so you can ask for real quotes:

• Dry van: usually the simplest trailer to buy or lease and maintain. Main extras are load bars, straps and keeping the floor and walls in shape.
• Reefer: the trailer plus a refrigeration unit with its own engine, fuel, service schedule and repairs. Ask your insurance agent about coverage for spoiled loads after a unit breakdown, since cargo policies differ. Washouts between loads can also cost you.
• Flatbed: the trailer itself is simple, but you buy and replace straps, chains, binders, tarps and edge protectors. Tarping takes time and physical work.
• All three: insurance, fuel, tires, permits and the empty miles to reach freight. Track them with the cost per mile calculator.

Which freight is seasonal

• Reefer: fresh produce follows harvests, which move by crop and region through the year. Our city pages list local harvest months from state agriculture sources.
• Flatbed: building and road construction slow down in winter in cold states, and some northern states, such as Minnesota, set lower spring load limits on some roads during the thaw. Check the state DOT before you book.
• Dry van: retail and consumer goods move all year, so dry van freight is the least tied to one season.

A reefer that can also take dry loads is the easiest to keep moving when one market slows down.

How dispatch differs

• Dry van: the most loads and the most competition. Dispatch is about appointment times, detention and lumper terms, and planning the reload. See getting paid for detention.
• Reefer: the rate confirmation must show the set temperature, continuous or cycle mode, and pulp-temp rules.
• Flatbed: the dispatcher confirms exact dimensions and weight, whether tarps are needed and what size, how the load comes on and off, and any permits. Tarp pay should be on the rate confirmation.

Fleetorica dispatches all three for a percentage of the load's gross, and your first load is free. See dry van, reefer and flatbed dispatch. Fleetorica is a dispatch service, not a broker or a carrier. You keep your own authority and choose your loads.

Questions carriers ask