-10°Refrigerated straight trucks
Reefer box truck dispatch for cold freight
Dispatch for the refrigerated box truck: food and temperature-controlled partials, booked with brokers that check your reefer unit, your box and your temperature records before they tender. We find the loads, negotiate the rate and handle the paperwork. You approve every load.
01The freight
What reefer box truck freight pays for, and who ships it
A box truck reefer earns its keep on loads too small for a refrigerated trailer: 2 to 12 pallets of food going to stores, restaurants, distributors and kitchens. Brokers usually pay more than dry freight on the same lane because fewer trucks qualify. The catch is the work: pre-cooling, appointment windows, and a receiver who checks the temperature before the door is fully open.
Food distributors
Partials and multi-stop runs to grocery and foodservice customers.
Restaurant supply
Chilled and frozen deliveries, often early morning, often liftgate.
Specialty and meal kits
Small, high-value chilled loads on tight schedules.
Floral and heat-sensitive goods
Cool, steady temperatures, short transit.
02Setpoints
Pick a commodity, see what the broker checks
Typical ranges, shown as EXAMPLES. The temperature on the shipper's bill of lading always rules.
Frozen loads
Frozen food distributors, ice cream, frozen meat and seafood
- Unit can pull down to and hold 0°F or colder
- Box pre-cooled before the dock door opens
- Temperature download available at delivery
FDA guidance keeps freezers at 0°F; the shipper's setpoint on the bill of lading is what you must hold.
Chilled loads
Dairy, fresh meat and poultry, prepared foods, meal kits
- Holds the BOL setpoint, often in the mid-30s
- Clean, odor-free, food-grade box
- Continuous mode, not start-stop, if the shipper asks
FDA guidance keeps refrigerated food at 40°F or below. Shippers often set chilled loads a few degrees lower.
Produce loads
Produce wholesalers, grocery distribution, farm-to-store runs
- Setpoint varies by item, so read the BOL every time
- Airflow: do not block the return air
- No mixed loads that cross-contaminate or off-gas
Some produce ships near freezing and some, like bananas and tomatoes, ships much warmer. The shipper decides.
Heat-sensitive loads
Chocolate and candy, cosmetics, some health and beauty products
- Unit can hold a cool setpoint in summer heat
- Protect from freezing in winter too
- Recorder data for the whole trip
Not food-safety cold, but the product melts or separates if the box gets hot. Treat it like any reefer load.
03Equipment
What brokers ask for before they tender
A refrigerated box truck gets more questions than a dry one. Have these answers ready and you get booked faster. Not sure your box length suits reefer freight? Compare it in the box truck sizes chart.
- Reefer unit
- Make, model and whether it can hold the setpoint, including frozen if you take frozen. Units with heat mode help in winter.
- Temperature recorder
- A recorder or unit download that shows temperature over the trip, sent to the broker on request.
- Food-grade box
- Clean, dry, odor-free, no damage to walls or floor. Washed out between loads.
- Pre-cool
- The box is at the shipper's temperature before loading starts, not after.
- Cargo insurance
- Brokers often ask whether your cargo policy covers reefer breakdown and spoilage. Ask your agent.
- Load locks and pallet jack
- Keeps pallets off the walls so air can move. Many receivers expect a jack on liftgate stops.
04Food safety
The FSMA sanitary transport rule, in plain words
Updated October 2026
FDA's Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food rule (21 CFR Part 1, Subpart O) covers shippers, loaders, receivers and carriers who move food by motor vehicle. For a carrier, the duties kick in when a written agreement with the shipper makes you responsible for sanitary conditions, which is what most broker and shipper contracts do.
- Your truck and equipment must meet the shipper's specifications and keep the food safe.
- Pre-cool each refrigerated compartment as the shipper specifies before you offer the truck.
- If the shipper or receiver asks, show that you held the operating temperature, for example with recorder data.
- Have written procedures for cleaning and inspecting the box and for meeting temperature requirements.
- Train your drivers in basic sanitary transport and keep training records, dated and named, for 12 months after the person stops doing that work.
Businesses with under $500,000 in average annual revenue (adjusted for inflation) are "non-covered businesses" under the rule. Shippers and brokers can still require the same practices in their contracts, so most small carriers follow them anyway.
Sources: 21 CFR Part 1 Subpart O (sections 1.904, 1.908(e), 1.910, 1.912), and FDA refrigerator and freezer guidance, checked October 2026.
General information, not legal advice. Read the rule and your contracts, or ask a compliance professional.
Rate confirmation
#EX-0420
- Linehaul
- $1,150.00
- Gross load pay
- $1,150.00
- Dispatch 7%
- -$80.50
- Stays with you
- $1,069.50
05Fee and onboarding
Same flat fee for reefer box trucks
7% of gross load pay, 6% for 2+ trucks (limited-time). No extra charge for reefer, no setup fee, month-to-month with 30 days notice. See the full pricing and how onboarding works.
On the setup call we add your reefer details to your profile: unit model, lowest temperature you will run, whether you take frozen, and your recorder. New to the business? Read how to start a box truck business and what life looks like as a box truck owner-operator. Check your numbers with the box truck business profit calculator.
Refrigerated truck questions
What is a reefer box truck?
A box truck with an insulated cargo box and a refrigeration unit, usually mounted on the front of the box above the cab, that cools (and on many units heats) the box to a set temperature. It hauls food and other freight that must stay in a temperature range.
Where can I find a refrigerated box truck?
Truck dealers, refrigerated body upfitters, lease companies and used truck listings all sell or lease them. Check the reefer unit's hours and service history as carefully as the truck, confirm it can reach the temperatures you plan to haul, and look at the GVWR so you know if you need a CDL.
Do I need a CDL to drive a refrigerated box truck?
The same federal rule applies as for a dry box truck: a single truck with a GVWR of 26,001 lb or more needs a Class B CDL. The reefer unit and insulation add weight, so check the door-jamb sticker and your payload.
Do reefer box truck loads pay more than dry loads?
Usually, on the same lane, because fewer trucks can take them and the carrier carries more risk. But reefer trucks cost more to buy, fuel and maintain, so price every load from your own cost per mile.
Start with your truck
Running a dry box too? Our box truck dispatch covers dry and liftgate 26 ft boxes too.
Keep your reefer loaded
7% of gross for one truck, 6% for 2+ trucks (limited-time). No setup fee, month-to-month, 30 days notice to cancel. If you don't haul, you don't pay.
Or start with your truck