Equipment guide

Which trailer fits your freight?

Five equipment types cover most of what I move. The right one depends on how your freight loads, whether it needs temperature control, its weight and dimensions, and what the pickup and delivery sites can handle. Nothing here is a universal limit — capacity and configuration vary by carrier and by individual truck.

Explore all 20 trailer & truck types Compare my five main options

Compare the five at a glance

A starting orientation, not a specification sheet. Treat every figure as typical rather than guaranteed, and confirm the specifics for your shipment before you commit to a plan.

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Equipment comparison — typical characteristics, not universal limits.
Equipment	Typical freight	Loading access	Temperature	Ask about
Dry van	Palletized and boxed goods, non-perishable food, paper, plastics, retail replenishment	Rear doors, forklift at a dock; floor loading takes longer	None — weather-protected but unheated and uncooled	Dock availability at both ends, pallet stackability, appointment rules
Refrigerated / reefer	Produce, dairy, meat, frozen goods, floral, protect-from-freeze freight	Rear doors at a dock, usually with tighter appointment discipline	Holds a set temperature; does not chill warm product down	Set point and mode, pre-cooling, who records temperature, washout and seals
Flatbed	Steel, pipe, lumber, machinery, crated equipment, building materials	Side, overhead by crane, or rear; forklift or crane needed at each end	None — open to the weather unless tarped	Exact dimensions, securement, tarping, permits for over-dimensional loads
Box truck	A few pallets, fixtures, appliances, regional and no-dock deliveries	Rear roll door only; liftgate on many trucks but not all	Enclosed and dry; refrigerated versions are a separate request	Usable body length, door height, whether a liftgate and pallet jack are aboard
Cargo van	Expedited parts, one or two pallets, samples, production-down emergencies	Side and rear doors, usually hand-loaded; liftgates are rare	Enclosed, unheated and uncooled	Piece height and weight far more than floor area; no dock required

This comparison reflects Jay Rock's day-to-day brokerage experience, not a model-specific equipment specification. Confirm the actual truck, loading access, commodity, route and any special requirements before booking. For planning ranges and source references, see the 20-type equipment guide.

Not sure what you need?

Describe the freight and let me pick the equipment

Tell me what it is, roughly what it weighs, how it's packaged and how it loads at both ends. The quote form has a "Not sure" option, and it's a perfectly good answer.

Start with "Not sure" What details should I gather first? →

Priority equipment

Dry van

A fully enclosed trailer with swing or roll doors at the rear, loaded and unloaded at dock height. It's the workhorse of domestic truckload freight: if your product doesn't need temperature control and fits through a rear door, this is usually the starting point.

Quote a dry van shipment

Typical uses: Palletized consumer goods, packaged food and beverage, paper, plastics, machined parts, retail replenishment, non-perishable ingredients.
Loading and access: Normally forklift from a dock, rear only. Floor loading takes longer and often needs to be arranged. Rear-door-only access means long or side-loaded freight may not fit at all.
Weather and temperature: Protected from rain and road spray, but not heated or cooled. In winter a dry van can drop below freezing; freight that must not freeze belongs in a reefer running protect-from-freeze.
What I need to assess fit: Commodity, pallet count and pallet dimensions, whether pallets can stack, total weight, and dock availability at both ends.

Questions worth asking

Is there a dock at both ends, or does someone need a liftgate?
Can the pallets be double-stacked, and if so how high?
Does the receiver require an appointment, and how far out do they book?
Is there a load bar, air-ride or trailer-cleanliness requirement?

Full-color equipment illustration of a white tractor pulling an insulated refrigerated trailer with a front-mounted cooling unit. — Illustrative equipment image; actual vehicles and configurations vary.

Priority equipment

Refrigerated trailer (reefer)

An insulated trailer with a temperature-control unit on the nose. It maintains a set temperature — it is not a rapid chiller, so freight needs to arrive at the temperature you want it held at. Insulation and the unit itself take up space, so usable interior dimensions are slightly smaller than a dry van's.

Quote a refrigerated / reefer shipment Read the full reefer guide →

Typical uses: Produce, dairy, meat and seafood, frozen goods, bakery, floral, some pharmaceuticals and adhesives, and protect-from-freeze freight in winter.
Loading and access: Dock-loaded like a dry van, usually with tighter dock discipline: doors stay closed as long as possible, and cold-chain sites often have strict appointment windows.
Weather and temperature: Set point in Fahrenheit, continuous versus cycle-sentry operation, whether the trailer must be pre-cooled, and who reads and records the temperature at pickup and delivery.
What I need to assess fit: Commodity, required temperature and mode, pallet count and weight, pre-cool requirement, and any washout, seal or temperature-recorder requirement.

Questions worth asking

What temperature and mode will appear on the rate confirmation?
Is pre-cooling required, and how will it be verified?
Who is responsible if the receiver rejects on temperature?
Does the receiver require a temperature download, a seal number, or a washout certificate?
How should the pallets be built so air can circulate?

Priority equipment

Flatbed

An open deck with no walls or roof. It exists for freight that can't go through a rear door: loaded from the side by forklift, dropped on by crane, or simply too wide, long or awkward for an enclosed trailer. Securement and weather protection become part of the shipment, not an afterthought.

Quote a flatbed shipment

Typical uses: Building materials, steel and pipe, lumber, machinery, crated equipment, pre-cast concrete, and palletized freight going to sites with no dock.
Loading and access: Side, top or rear. Someone has to supply the forklift or crane at each end, and the driver secures the load with straps or chains once it's placed.
Weather and temperature: Nothing is protected unless it's tarped. Tarping is physical work that carriers charge for, and some freight needs specific tarp types. Say up front if the load must stay dry.
What I need to assess fit: Exact length, width and height of each piece, weight and how it's distributed, loading method at both ends, and whether tarps or specialty trailers are required.

Questions worth asking

Does any dimension exceed legal limits, making this an over-dimensional move?
Who provides the forklift or crane, and is it available in the pickup window?
Does the load need tarping, coil racks, or a step deck instead of a standard flatbed?
Are there lifting points, and can the freight take strap pressure without damage?

Smaller equipment

Box trucks and cargo vans are not interchangeable

Both handle freight too small for a full trailer, and that's where the similarity ends. Door opening, usable deck space, weight capacity and loading access differ enough that picking the wrong one usually means the freight doesn't fit, or the driver can't load it.

Full-color equipment illustration of a white straight truck with an enclosed box cargo body. — Illustrative equipment image; actual vehicles and configurations vary.

Smaller equipment

Box truck / straight truck

A single-unit truck with an enclosed body, usually loaded through a roll-up rear door. It reaches places a tractor-trailer can't — city streets, tight yards, small receiving doors — and many, though not all, carry a liftgate.

Quote a box truck shipment

Typical uses: Partial loads of a few pallets, store fixtures and displays, appliances and equipment, local and regional deliveries, sites with no dock.
Loading and access: Rear door only. Body length, door height and whether a liftgate and pallet jack are on board vary truck to truck — a pallet that fits one box truck may not clear the door of another. Confirm before booking, never assume.
Weather and temperature: Enclosed and weather-protected. Refrigerated box trucks exist but are a separate request, not a default.
What I need to assess fit: Piece count and the dimensions of the largest piece, total weight, whether it's palletized or loose, and whether either end has a dock, a forklift, or nothing at all.

Questions worth asking

What is the usable body length and the rear door height on the truck being sent?
Is a liftgate and pallet jack on board, and who operates them?
Can the truck physically reach the delivery — low bridges, tight turns, weight-restricted streets?
Is anyone available to help unload, or is the driver on their own?

Smaller equipment

Sprinter-style cargo van

A high-roof van with side and rear door access, driven by one or two drivers. This is the option for small shipments that need to move now — but it has the least room and the lowest weight capacity of anything here, and freight is usually hand-loaded.

Quote a cargo van shipment

Typical uses: Expedited and hot-shot parts, one or two pallets, samples and trade-show freight, production-down emergencies, time-critical direct runs.
Loading and access: Floor-loaded through the side or rear, usually by hand. Liftgates are rare. A standard pallet may fit, but height and weight are the constraint far more often than floor area — and no dock is needed at either end.
Weather and temperature: Enclosed, unheated and uncooled. Temperature-sensitive freight needs a different plan.
What I need to assess fit: Dimensions and weight of every piece, whether anything can be turned on its side, who loads at each end, and how firm the delivery deadline is.

Questions worth asking

What does each piece weigh, and what is the total?
Will the largest piece clear the side and rear door openings?
Can anything be laid down or turned, or must it stay upright?
Does the schedule require a team, and can it be met safely with appropriate driver rest?