Climate Control

Climate Control services are required for an array of products. The most obvious tends to be edibles but sometimes customers require climate control service for varying needs. Some need their items kept frozen and some need their items protected from freezing. All in all the same trailers provide the desired function for either need. Climate Control trailers can be used to transport items just as safe, secure and efficiently as dry vans when the climate control unit is not required to operate. There really is not much difference so long as you pay attention to the height and width of your items with respect to the trailer sizes.

HOW DOES THE USE OF THESE TRAILERS AFFECT PRICE?

As is the case in any industry price is, in good part, a reflection of supply and demand. This same fundamental element plays a factor in buying transportation service. When you require a dry van trailer only, for shipping unit dimensional reasons (like the height is 107" or the width is greater than 98"), you are eliminating some of the aggregate supply of trailer capacity available to compete for your business. This exaggerates pricing even more when you are shipping your items to areas of the country that do not have a heavy industrialized manufacturing base and one that relies on agriculture and/or tourism as its economic engine. Examples of states like this are Florida, California, Idaho and much of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions of the US. If you have items to ship to areas like these and you require a dry van trailer because the height, or width of your items cannot be accommodated by a climate control trailer your rate could be higher. This is because the likely-hood of finding cargo that can be accommodated by a dry van in those regions mentioned may mean that after delivering your items to Orlando, FL the truck may have to drive back to Atlanta, GA empty before return cargo can be secured. Whereas, if you can use a climate control trailer to ship your dry goods to Orlando the prospects are much better for securing cargo to return from Orlando because agricultural products that require climate control trailers are more available in those areas of the country whose economy is driven by agriculture.

Climate Control Height -- Most have some dimensional differences compared to the dry van trailers that we covered earlier. The most notable difference is the inside height when compared, they are shorter. Most Climate Control trailers vary in height from 100" to 106" of inside height versus the 108" of the dry van. The most common inside height is 104" and it probably represents about 70% of the aggregate capacity of climate control trailers on US highways today. Until very recently have trailer manufacturers begun to produce climate control trailers that are 108" tall inside. Why is that? It has to do with several factors. Probably the most influential is weight. Most states in the US limit by law a combined tractor and trailer gross vehicle weight that is completely loaded (with goods in it) to 80,000 lbs. The effect this has on climate control trailers versus the dry van is climate control trailers historically have weighed more because they have insulted walls and ceilings, and a diesel motor powered air-conditioning unit mounted on the front of the trailer that adds to the weight of the trailer. So, in order to carry a comparable cargo payload without exceeding the weight restrictions, the trade off was less trailer in the form of height. Only recently have improvements in material composites in both insulation and aluminum allowed manufacturers to design larger climate control trailers without sacrificing payload capacity. For more details see the discussion on dry van trailer - height.

Climate Control Width - As is the case with the height of the trailers being shorter than dry vans it is often the case that the width is narrower for similar reasons, added thermal insulation to the walls adds to the thickness of the walls, usually making them range between 96" - 98" wide inside. You should keep this in mind when considering your shipping requirements as it refers to our previous discussion on how this can affect price. For more details see the discussion on dry van trailer - width.

Climate Control Length - The length of these trailers are the same as the dry van. They range between 48 feet and 53 feet with inside shipping platforms 1 foot shorter. For more detail see the discussion about inside shipping length for dry vans. For more detail see the discussion on dry van trailer - length.