what is the best reefer trailer and why?

I have 2, a Great Dane and Utility, I will tell ya those are your best two. But if i had to pick one i would go great dane all the way. It all depends on what you wanna do with it, if frozen then go for the super seal. I pulled tandems and ive had my spread for quite a few years now and i will tell ya never again will i pull a tandem. The rest to me are junk, wabash falls apart to fast, and built cheap, they always have problems with their doors and rear of the floor. Also if i were you id go for a flat floor, way less problems.

 

I have a Utility 3000R with a TK SB-210 reefer

 

1) But I do know I want four of those closers on the back doors.

2) I'd also like to know if the reefer was ok without getting up in the middle of the night to look out the rearview mirror. I don't know if there is a way to do this like a remote green/red light display for the sleeper.

3) I also want a lock on that on/off switch so I can leave ice cream for a couple hours in a Walmart parking lot without fearing some punk kid flipping the switch off.

Hope I have given logical ideas.

BRI

 

I like the great danes. or utilities second. I also prefer a spread axle and thermo king units but then again that may have changed since I pulled a reefer. I see allot more carrier units these days but thermo kings have always been the first choice of owner ops.

My last reefer trailer was a Polar. Try finding one of them, lol. it was a GREAT trailer made by the polar company that builds insulated tankers. They only made them for a few years for some reason but I really thought it was a great trailer

 

Great Dane with a TK reefer unit. Hands down the best combo.
Haven't pulled a spread yet so can't offer any info there.

Does the 48' spread haul as much weight as a 53' tandem? I know in our 53 footers, if you are going to load over 40k, you have to watch how far to the rear you load it. Is this a problem with the spreads as well?

 

No you want to load the spread heavier on the back and as light as you can on nose vs a 53' tandem. I pull a 48' spread, reason why i love the spread so much is even if you are a little heavy but your steer and drive axles are fine, the dot man wont get ya. You can put 40k lbs on the back of a 10 foot spread, i never had more than 37k on mine, i try to keep it under 36k because then it rides worse and when making turns it takes a beating, even with dump valves.

 

Prime....the company I pull for, has Great Dane and Wabash 53's....and with the same reefer units....the Wabash can load 1500 lbs. more! Also, the new Carriers will cool down a trailer in a hurry! They make some noise, but they work VERY good. And with the Intellisets (Computerized Reefer Settings) your fuel consumption drops considerably. I hauled a load that was set for 34deg....had the load for 2.5 days and only used 3.5 gals. I think a lot of the benefits come with the extra insulation they have installed in the roof. That really helps. I think with the extra loading capacity.....and the additional fuel savings...I'd seriously look at the Wabash/Carrier combination.

 

I have a Utility 300R with a TK SB310. Just did a load on the trailer at -10 for 56 hours (20 of the hours was sitting outside New Orleans with a outside temp in the low 90's) and it used 21 gallons. Not too bad in my books. I also have a belly box full of stuff and a spare tire and I can haul 43500 with 150 on board. No complaints here.