There’s Not Just A Truck, There’s A Trailer, Too!

Different trailers mean differnt types of products to haul.  Personally, I have pulled three types of trailers:  refrigerated (reefer), dry box, and flatbed.  They all have their advantages and disadvantages.  Most trucking companies will specialize in one type of product and therefore, only use one kind of trailer.  Some companies use trailers which haul a variety of products.

In my 10 years on the road, I was lucky enough to experience a diverse number of products which required different trailers.  I wouldn’t have had my time on the road any other way.  I feel that I would have become bored with hauling only one type of product with one type of trailer for an entire decade.

Refrigerated Trailers

When I first began driving team with my husband, we had a refrigerated trailer.  Produce, frozen, and refrigerated goods are always in high demand and this is what we hauled the most.  The biggest advantage to hauling goods that needed to be refrigerated was the demand.  Who purchases produce, frozen and refrigerated items?  Everybody who buys groceries, that’s who!  And how many people do that?  Everyone! So this is an area that will always be in need.

Another advantage to using a refrigerated trailer is that you can also haul dry goods.  All you have to do is turn off the refrigeration unit.  This opens up opportunities to haul a wide variety of products with just one trailer and, in most cases, have a better chance of getting a load and going down the road as opposed to having to wait for a load.

The disadvantages of a reefer trailer are refrigeration unit failure and driver error, as you may read of in my blog Bad Directions.  Also, as a newbies to hauling produce need to note, if produce is ripe when it’s loaded on a trailer going from one coast to another, it will be over-ripe and rejected when you get to delivery.  Produce has to be underripe or just beginning to ripen when it reaches its destination.  If it is too ripe, spoilage begins and nobody buys spoiled produce, especially the market you’re delivering to.

Dry Boxes

Hubby and I also hauled a few “dry boxes”.  These are plain trailers with no refrigeration units.  These are great in that you don’t have to worry about the unit keeping the proper temperature or breaking down.  The only drawback is that you can’t load a refrigerated load and must wait for a dry load.  So if dry freight isn’t moving as often as refrigerated freight, then you could be stuck waiting instead of making the miles.

“Covered Wagon” Flatbed

For a while, we also pulled a flatbed with a covered wagon kit.  The covered wagon kit consists of straight poles that fit into pockets along the sides of the trailer and arched poles that connect each pair of straight poles.  Then a tarp or cover is pulled over the arched poles to create a “covered wagon” effect.

The advantages to using one of these trialers is that you could haul a load of lumber to the east coast, then pick up a load of racing engines using the covered wagon kit.  The thing that irritated me the most about having one of these trailers was that it seemed that every other load needed the cover, so we were constantly changing from flatbed to covered wagon to flatbed to covered wagon.  Several loads with one or the other would have been nice, but it just wasn’t keeping us rolling down the highway.  I didn’t find it much fun putting up the wagon kit, and it took a lot of time.

There are lots of different trailers to pull (I’ve only mentioned three of probably dozens) made for lots of different loads and they all have their own “goods” and “bads” associated with each one.  As I mentioned in the beginning of this blog, the type of trailer you pull as a truck driver usually depends on the company that you driver for.  When applying to drive for a company, be sure to ask what type of product you’ll be hauling and what type of trailers they use to ship that product.  This will give you a better idea of what to expect when you’re looking for that new career “on-the-road”.

For more information about the different types of truck driving jobs, you can also see these articles:

Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part VII: Tankers and Flatbeds
Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part VI: Dry Van and Refrigerated Companies

About Author Tumbleweed

Hello, to all of you! I'm glad to see that you took some time out of truckin', or hopin' to be truckin' or even done with truckin', to stop in. I've done my truckin'. I had several years "on the CB" before I even got to truckin', and that dad-blasted radio is the reason I've paid my dues. Me and my big mouth, that's what I get. I used to work about an hour from a very big city and I was always chattin' with the drivers and helpin' them get to places in town that they were trying to get to. I could get them around all the construction and any events that might be taking place at the fairgrounds or the convention center. Every now and then I'd stop and have coffee with one of the drivers. The last time I did that, we ended up talking for four hours! Two weeks later I was on the road with my future hubby. Hubby had been driving big trucks for about seventeen years, by then. He's had the opportunity to drive the "double-stick" shift, he's hauled swingin' meat, gasoline, produce, dry goods, lumber, car engines, you-name-it. Then, I got to do it, too. Of course, I did know how to drive a straight stick and I think that helped some. I actually tried driving the big truck like it was a really, really big 5-speed. Took a little while to get used to double-clutchin', but once I got the hang of it, then I wanted to do it in the 5-speed, too. Geez. I've been in Kenworths (KWs), Peterbilts (Petes), Western Stars (Star Cars), International Harvesters (IH's), and I think I even drove a Volvo once. My favorite truck as far as looks go…Western Star, hands down. But as far as driving and comfort, I go for the Petes. Those of you who are or have been truckin' will understand what I give up in this blog. Those of you who haven't yet will get a little bit more education, maybe a laugh or two, and hopefully a little insight as to what you're in for. And if I know anything about truckers, it's that they love to talk about their experiences out on the road...the good, the bad AND the ugly. Come on in and let us hear from you. You don't have to start blogging, just add your own experiences for everyone to share. I've been off the road now for nine years and for the most part, I don't miss it. However, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world. Truckin' is a life unto itself. Now, I'm livin' in the southwest with my hubby and takin' things one day at a time. I like it like that.

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