What is a Reefer Trailer?

As I continue in my transportation internship at Tyson Foods, I want to focus on a specific topic pertaining to transportation. This topic is refrigerated trailers, or more commonly known as reefer trailers. So, before I go into more detail about these trailers, let me answer the question:

What is a reefer trailer?

Simply put, reefer trailers are trailers that can be cooled to a specific temperature.?However, the temperature that the reefer should be set at varies depending on the product in the trailer. The most common temperatures that I’ve seen so far at Tyson are -10 degrees F, 0 degrees F, 28 degrees F, and 34 degrees F. So, here’s a follow up question:

What do these different temperatures of reefer trailers mean?

Like I mentioned earlier, the temperature of the reefer trailer will depend on the product that is being delivered in that trailer. More so, the temperature of the reefer trailer will determine the importance and priority of the product being delivered. For example, if Tyson is delivering a frozen load, the reefer trailer temperature will be set at 0 degrees F or less. Typically, these loads are being delivered to other Tyson plants, and there isn’t as huge of a priority or time constraint on these loads. If Tyson is delivering a fresh meat load, the reefer trailer temperature will be set at 28 degrees F or 34 degrees F. When these loads are being delivered there is a much higher priority for these loads to get delivered on time. These loads are usually going to a customer who is needing the product by a certain time. At first glance, looking at the temperature of a reefer trailer might not seem to be very important, but it shows a lot of different information and determines the importance of the load that is in the trailer.?

What happens when fresh meat loads are in jeopardy?

Since fresh meat loads have much higher importance, what happens when a driver calls in and informs us that they won’t have enough drive time to deliver these loads on time, or if the driver experiences a problem while trying to deliver this load? Immediately the dispatchers confirm the problem with the driver and begin to look for any drivers in the area that could potentially help with this load. This could turn into a relay load. What this means is the current driver would need to drop this load at the nearest Tyson plant if possible so that another driver can finish the rest of that load and deliver it on time. Sometimes, the same load must be relayed multiple times if necessary. This goes back to what I said in my previous article about efficient communication being essential and how transportation never stops. There are always solutions being formed because there are always problems arising in this industry.?

I continue to learn more and more each day that I show up to the office. It is so cool to be “behind the scenes” of the process of a product getting to its final customer. It is so interesting to see all the different areas of a product’s journey. And there’s still areas of that journey that I don’t even get to see, which just shows me even more how much goes into getting a product from its starting point to its final customer. There is still so much for me to learn in the transportation industry, as well as the supply chain industry, and I look forward to growing in my knowledge of these industries as I move forward in my career in the years to come.?