Differences Between Dry Van And Reefer

I spent a long while on the phone yesterday with Lisa Wilson from Wilson Logistics yesterday. Between her 5 year old and my dogs, it was quite a circus lol But to make a long story short, I am very interested in this company. It may even beat Pride at this point...but she is really pushing me to drive Western Regional hauling dry van. Most of the research I have been doing was for reefer. I know there is a pay differential, but after training they pay 46 cpm for dry van , so it sounds to me like the pay is similar.

The pros for this company for me is training in Missoula (I used to live there, I know my way around lol), home on the average of every 2 weeks (driving regional), I could take 2 of my pets after being solo for 60 days (no size limit), reasonable training period for someone who doesn't know squat about trucking (3ish months), APUs and inverters already on the trucks, driving mostly in parts of the country I have traveled extensively in a 4 wheeler, in house CDL school with a 1 year contract. If you don't make the year, you pay them $3500. If you make it 6 months you pay half of that. Private school here runs from 5k to 8k depending on which school you go to.

The cons are they are traveling mostly in parts of the country I've been to. (I have been in 28 states and would like to hit the others before I die, but most are in the NE and not sure I ever want to drive a truck there lol) They do have an OTR fleet that runs reefers, but she just kept saying I think you'd be happier doing regional, but you could change after you are hired...so there's that. She also said that if I transferred over to OTR that getting back to regional would probably not be an issue if I wanted to be home more. The other thing was when I asked about unloading she said that 90% of their freight was "no touch". Does that mean I'd need to unload (or pay lumpers) for 1 out of every ten trips on average? Do the receivers or trucking companies supply pallet jacks then? I honestly don't know what that means lol

So from a driver's perspective, what are the differences between dry van and reefer? And what does 90% no touch mean?

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

• Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
• Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
• Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
• Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.

Regional:

Regional Route

Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.

OTR:

Over The Road

OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.

Dry Van:

A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.

CPM:

Cents Per Mile

Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.

Reefer:

A refrigerated trailer.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APUs:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

She's telling you about being happy doing regional because she is trying to fill some voids (empty seats) for regional.

She's telling you about being happy doing regional because she is trying to fill some voids (empty seats) for regional.

yeah I figured that. And it does have it's positives. And it's negatives like everything else. This may sound bad, but I wish I was desperate for a job, or had a spotty work history or something that would limit my choices...it would make it much simpler lol

Don't worry about the starting pay, or the CPM right now. The more efficient you are, the more you will make. I would not overthink this. Drivers switch fleets within companies all the time. From what I've seen and experienced, it's not difficult. Drivers want to see the country? OTR. Get tired of that want to be home weekly? REGIONAL. Need to be home nightly? LOCAL.

Lumpers generally unload the freight for many grocery-store loads. The company always pays for this; never the driver.

I think you should stick with your Pride Pick. Either way, both companies are solid.

Don't worry about the starting pay, or the CPM right now. The more efficient you are, the more you will make. I would not overthink this. Drivers switch fleets within companies all the time. From what I've seen and experienced, it's not difficult. Drivers want to see the country? OTR. Get tired of that want to be home weekly? REGIONAL. Need to be home nightly? LOCAL.

Lumpers generally unload the freight for many grocery-store loads. The company always pays for this; never the driver.

I think you should stick with your Pride Pick. Either way, both companies are solid.

Thanks Packrat. The only REAL plus for Wilson is the savings on the schooling. After putting down the pros and cons of both, I think Pride probably still wins.

When I did dry van , it was mostly daytime and Mon - Sat morning loading/unloading. Reefer seems to only be 1800 - 0400 7 days a week. I'm a night person, so that doesn't bother me.

Due to the size of the companies I drive/drove for, my loads are live load/unload. The only drop and hook I ever did was running cans (containers) to the Port of Oakland. I have never touched freight...in fact, most shippers and receivers don't want you in the warehouse (pre Chinese Virus even).

Don't get hung up on any one company....something may come up and they won't take you...then you would be disappointed.

Laura

The closest I've been to "touching freight" has been actually unloading three large filing cabinets with a pallet jack (I was paid an accessory pay of $25 each). Another example I recall involved hooking a chain to individual frame containers to pull these to the rear of the trailer with a forklift at a consignee. So, just under "100% No-Touch Freight."

The biggest labor that occurs occasionally is installing cargo straps, sweeping a trailer clean (I use a battery operated blower), or pulling nails from the floor decking. I have never had to wash out the inside of a trailer before or after a shipment as many refer trailer loads require.

About 60% of my trips are pre-loaded trailers at the shipper , then drop these at the reciever. Maybe 10% are what is called a "live load or live unload" on both ends. Many of my loads do not have a specific appointment time window. Sometimes my window can be as much as 48 hours. The longest I've ever been at a customer was 15 hours in the dock getting loaded. Most companies will pay the driver some detention hourly pay for delays. It's not as much as driving for an hour, but it's better than nothing.

For me refer sucked pharmaceuticals are different then food though. Lots of sitting to load/unload loging temps as you are driving which I feel is dangerous. Lots of paperwork to be done. I'm really happy to be back on dryvan.

Hey Vicki, Are you talking about the Western 11 or is there another Region called Western ? Just curious because I am currently considering Wilson and my recruiter is guiding me towards Western 11 with school in Montana.

Hey Vicki, Are you talking about the Western 11 or is there another Region called Western ? Just curious because I am currently considering Wilson and my recruiter is guiding me towards Western 11 with school in Montana.

The Western 11. The "Western" is the I5 corridor and is only available to folks who live in WA, OR and I think CA. If I go with them, I'd be doing the Western 11. Talked to Lisa again today, talked about loading and unloading trucks (no touch to them does NOT mean anything about unloading lol You might have to count some boxes or stuff like that. I am fine as long as I don't have to unload EVERY time. I kinda figured that is what it meant, I am sure the warehouses/receivers don't want you hurting yourself on their property or anything. After spending hours scrolling through their FB page, I have discovered that almost ALL of the students from them go regional first. After you get a little time you can go OTR. If you don't get your CDL through their company school, you have to have 6 mos experience for regional and 1 year for OT. They seem to be growing quickly and recently, so that's a good sign to me that they have business...They sent me a letter of employment (or whatever it's called, conditional on my background checks etc...so we will see where it goes.