The United States is home to not only a huge manufacturing sector and a large number of farms, but also a sizeable freight transport industry to ferry around raw and finished goods alike, including foodstuffs. Larger companies can offer trains and naval ships to make large deliveries, and jets can carry goods at high speed across any terrain. Most carrier companies are small and can’t afford jets or trains, but they can afford semi trucks, which are vital for transporting goods by land in limited quantities. These trucks’ trailers come in different models, from generic ones to tankers to carry liquid all the way to reefer trailers. But what is a reefer trailer, and how to choose a used reefer trailer? A truck company owner will need the answers to those questions, so they can find affordable wholesale reefer units and use them profitably during business hours. A used reefer trailers for sale can be a great investment in many cases, if the buyer knows what to look for and has a good credit scores.
About Reefer Trailers
A reefer trailer is simply a refrigerated truck trailer, like a freezer on wheels. Most often, they are used to carry cold-sensitive cargo such as dairy, meats, and frozen processed food for grocery stores, since goods like that would spoil in regular truck trailers. A reefer trailer features one or more air conditioner units that can generate a desired temperature inside, and the trailer’s insulated walls can help maintain that temperature even in warm weather. More specifically, reefers can maintain a temperature anywhere from -20 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit inside, and they range widely in size, too. These trailers may be 28 to 53 feet long and be up to 13.5 feet tall, and the largest of them can carry around 44,000 pounds of cargo.
Reefer trailers are a lucrative market item, and the demand for them (even used reefer trailers for sale) is still growing. As of now, around 500,000 of them are in operation across the United States, and more are being ordered all the time. From January 2017 to January 2018, for example, the number of reefer trailer orders grew 250% or so. The global refrigeration market was worth $5 or so in 2015, and by 2022, expert say it will hit a value of $7.65 billion, and experience a CAGR of 4.8% from 2016 to 2022. This means that a truck company owner who finds high-quality new and used reefer trailers for sale can cash in on this growth, and profitably make a lot of deliveries for clients.
Finding New and Used Reefer Trailers for Sale
A truck company owner can run the numbers and determine if reefer-based deliveries can be done profitably in their area, based on the number of appropriate clients (often grocery stores) and how much competition there is. If the numbers are promising, the business owner may then look online to find local new and used reefer trailers for sale, and check them out. A new reefer is more expensive, but these come with factory warranties and don’t have any wear and tear issues. Gently used reefers can be a good deal at a discounted price, though the buyer should check them carefully for issues in their wheels, axles, brake lights, and air conditioning units. Such reefer trailers might need a bit of repair work before they are ready to operate.
As for financing a reefer trailer, a buyer is unlikely to get a loan from a big bank, but they can turn to local truck lending firms, which are more comfortable with the associated risks. Such lenders have more lenient terms than big banks, though they will still check the borrower’s business and credit scores, and check their financial history for reg flags (previous bankruptcy, delinquent payments, etc). A borrower with a good credit score might get as much as 100% of the trailer’s value in a loan and at a good interest rate, and even a borrower with mediocre to poor credit might get a loan approved, though with less favorable terms. And in any case, the trailer itself will act as collateral for that loan, thus making it a secured loan and more attractive to the lender.