America is a society that relies on consumers, and the recent pandemic has interrupted that fact in many ways. From the local grocery store shelves that are still sometimes absent of many products to the increased need for trailer resources to help meet the demand, we are a consumer society that is struggling. Interestingly enough, however, when the need for certain products reaches is height, it is often a combination of production and transportation that limits the acquisition of these goods.
In fact, if you had never considered before the question what is a reefer trailer, you many now find yourself recognizing these trucks when they pull into the parking lot of your local grocery store. Hopeful that this particular shipment might include the special kind of butter that you use for all of your favorite baking, you may have even found yourself wondering the aisles of your favorite store hoping for a quick unpacking and shelf restocking.
What Is a Reefer Trailer Used For?
From new and used Thermo King refrigeration units that make daily deliveries to local grocery stores to the newest and latest models that are in use for medical and pharmaceutical shipments, we are in a time when the economy and health of the entire nation appears dependent on logistics. And while there a many times when new reefer trailer sales may not have been a common point of conversation, the fact of the matter is today everyone is concerned about the timely deliver of many kinds of products.
First and foremost, it would seem that knowing what is a reefer trailer is important to the food chain. As consumers in many parts of the country faced near empty shelves many of those fist weeks in March and April, it is important to note that even today the inventory that is available at any grocery store is dependent on the number of trucks that are available. Secondly, of course, it is important to know what is a reefer trailer if you are, like many Americans, increasingly concerned about the needed progress from the pharmaceutical industry. And while it may have always been easy to know in the past that scientists and doctors were important to the health of the nation, now there are more and more people who are also aware of the importance of the trucking industry.
Consider some of these facts and figures about a specific sector fo the logistics world that many people may not have considered in the past, but now realize its importance:
- As many as 40,000 refrigerated trailers were ordered in the U.S. in January 2018 alone, according to FTR Transportation Intelligence. There are some predictions that indicate that these numbers may be even higher as the nation awaits more Covid-19 testing options and future vaccination possibilities.
- Although there are many kinds of trucks used for very specific purposes, the average size of a reefer trailer is between 28 and 53 feet in length and no more than 13.5 feet in height.
- The maximum weight a reefer trailer can carry is 44,000 pounds, but given that at any one time there are as many as 500,000 reefer trailers are in operation in the U.S., it is easy to see how these kinds of trucks effect the interstates and highways across the country.
- Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York/New Jersey, Seattle/Tacoma, and Savannah are the top five U.S. ports in the country, but these ports are just the starting point for a network that crosses the country.
- With a need to be carefully monitored, the temperature range of a refrigerated trailer is -20 degrees to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Depending on the kind of cargo that is being carried, of course, these temperatures are set and watched during the entire delivery process.
- The number of refrigerated trailer orders increased by 250% between January 2017 and January 2018.
- In 2015, just a half decade ago, the global refrigerated market was valued at just over $5 billion. By the year 2022, however, it is expected to increase by another $2 billion. This prediction, of course, was made before the pandemic swept the globe.