Does your trucking fleet include a few reefers (also known as refrigerated trailers)? If so, you likely know that the temperature setting your freight requires directly affects the energy usage of the reefer’s cooling unit. This, in turn, directly affects your reefer shipping costs. And contrary to popular belief, these costs don’t always increase as a shipment’s temperature goes down.

Looking to learn more about reefer freight temperature settings? This guide will shed light on how they affect your shipping costs and what you can do to improve your bottom line!

Reefer Freight Temperature Categories

In general. reefer freight temperatures fall into these categories:

• Protect from heat/freeze (33°F or more)
• Refrigerated/fresh (32-35°F)
• Frozen (-15-0°F)

Each of these settings requires different levels of fuel use and energy expenditure. For instance, the “protect from heat/freeze” setting doesn’t require too much energy or fuel since reefer trailers already have excellent insulation. The cooling system will only engage once the temperature crosses a certain threshold.

The “refrigerated/fresh” setting can be tough to maintain. This setting is used for commodities such as eggs, meats, fresh vegetables and fruits, etc. These products are very sensitive to temperature adjustments, so you must maintain a steady 32-36°F temperature. This involves continuous running of the temperature unit, which burns through a lot of fuel and energy.

Finally, the “frozen” setting tends to use the least energy and fuel. A reefer trailer’s insulation makes low temperatures fairly easy to achieve through budget-friendly stop-start cooling.

External Temperatures and Seasonal Changes

Though the temperatures inside the trailer have the biggest impact on your shipping costs, don’t neglect the outside temperatures. The hotter it is outside, the harder it is to maintain the right temperature within the trailer. The same applies to frigid conditions. In both cases, your temperature control unit will have to work overtime to stay in the correct range.

Seasonal demand changes can also affect your shipping costs. During the holidays, for example, you’ll see a lot of perishables traveling to family tables and store shelves. This will usually affect reefer capacity, leading to an increase in shipping costs.

How to Save Money on Reefer Shipping

Despite some elements of a reefer shipment being non-negotiable (such as temperature requirements), you can still do a few things to manage your costs. These include:

• Practice freight pre-cooling. Almost all reefer companies pre-cool their trailers, but few shippers do the same with commodities. To minimize the use of the temperature control unit, always insist that the commodities are cooled prior to pickup.

• Check equipment age. Older reefers will often have a more difficult time maintaining temperatures effectively. Make sure you have solid trailer upkeep and maintenance practices, and replace your trailers when the time is right.

• Choose the right pricing model. Your monthly transaction volume has a big impact on which payment processing pricing model you should opt for. Higher volume may provide leverage for decent interchange-plus rates, whereas low volume might benefit from the predictability of flat-rate pricing. Consider your growth projections as well.

Managing reefer freight costs goes beyond fuel and equipment; it also requires a clear view of how operational decisions impact your bottom line. From temperature settings to seasonal demand, small adjustments can lead to meaningful savings. 

At MONA Payment Solutions, we help trucking businesses align their operations with smarter payment and pricing strategies that support growth and efficiency. If you’re looking for ways to better manage costs and improve cash flow across your fleet, connect with our team to explore solutions built for the trucking industry.