Dry van, reefer, and flatbed basics

Most freight on US load boards moves on one of three trailers: dry van, reefer, or flatbed. The trailer type sets the fuel bill, the physical work at the dock, the risk you carry, and the rate a load has to pay before it makes sense.

The short version: dry van is the baseline, reefer adds fuel burn and temperature risk, and flatbed adds labor and securement. This guide puts numbers on those differences so you can compare loads across equipment instead of guessing.

Dry van: the baseline everything is measured against

A dry van is an enclosed trailer, usually 53 feet, hauling palletized freight that needs no temperature control. It has the biggest pool of freight and the biggest pool of trucks, so posted rates on van lanes generally run the lowest of the three types.

Van work is often the simplest at the dock, too. Drop-and-hook is common at large shippers, which can save hours over a live load. The trade-off is competition: when the market softens, van rates usually feel it first.

Reefer: you get paid to manage temperature

A reefer hauls perishables at a set temperature, and the unit burns its own diesel on top of what the truck burns. With EIA's weekly survey putting on-highway diesel at $4.57 a gallon on July 6, 2026, every hour the unit runs is real money.

Reefer also means more waiting. ATRI's detention research, released in September 2024, found refrigerated trailers were detained on 56.2% of stops in 2023, the highest share of any trailer type. Before you book one, read what to watch on reefer loads.

Flatbed: you get paid for the physical work

Flatbed carries what won't fit in a box: lumber, steel, machinery, building materials. Many loads need chains, straps, and tarps, and tarping a load in the wind or rain is hard labor that deserves its own line on the rate con.

Securement falls under FMCSA cargo securement rules, and a securement violation lands on the carrier, not the shipper. Ask for tarp pay in writing and count securement time as work time. Treat this section as education, not legal advice.

Same lane, three different rates

The three trailer types post different rates on the same lane because the costs differ. ATRI's 2026 update put the average cost of operating a truck at a record $2.34 per mile in 2025, and that average skews toward larger fleets. Your number moves with your trailer.

Here is one posted rate worked three ways. The reefer burn rate and tarp hours are example figures; swap in your own.

Same posted rate, three different outcomes. A reefer gives back part of the rate as unit fuel and washouts; a flatbed gives back time, and time is the other thing you sell.

Run any load through the free rate calculator with your own numbers, then check the lane against the index-adjusted reference ranges on the benchmarks page for your trailer type before you commit.