What Does a Reefer Driver Actually Do?
If you’re looking at CDL-A jobs, you’ve probably seen “reefer” everywhere. It’s short for refrigerated. A reefer driver hauls freight in a trailer with its own cooling unit, keeping the load at a set temperature from pickup to delivery.
Driving is the same. What’s different is you’re responsible for the temperature the whole way there.
What you’d haul with us
At Navajo Express, it’s mostly protein: meat that starts on farms in the Midwest and ends up in grocery stores across the country. Our trailers can hold anywhere from -10°F to 60°F, depending on what’s on board.
Sometimes we’ll haul dry freight in a reefer with the unit off, too. But most days, you’re keeping something cold.
What’s different about running reefer
A few things get added to your day that a dry van driver doesn’t think about:
Pre-cooling. Before pickup, you get the trailer down to the right temperature so the load goes into a cold box.
Checking the set point. You make sure the temp on the unit matches what’s on the bill of lading. If they don’t match, you call before you roll.
Fueling the reefer. The unit has its own fuel tank, so you’re watching two tanks, not one.
Keeping an eye on temps. You check the reefer throughout the trip. Our trailers are GPS tracked, so you’re not the only one watching.
Washouts. Food loads need a clean trailer, so you’ll get it washed out between some loads.
What it looks like at Navajo
Our OTR reefer loads start out of Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa and go to all lower 48 states. Then we work on finding you a load back to those four states, so you’re not sitting somewhere far from home waiting.
Our home terminal is in Denver, with a second one in Pottsville, Arkansas. And the average truck in our fleet is about two years old.
Want to know how home time works for OTR? We broke it down in How Often Do OTR Truck Drivers Get Home?
Is reefer for you?
Reefer is a good fit if you like steady freight. People eat every day, so refrigerated loads don’t really slow down. It’s also a good fit if you don’t mind paying a little more attention to your trailer.
If that sounds like you, take a look at our open driving jobs.