7 costly mistakes reefer drivers make during produce season (and how to avoid them)

Produce season brings high demand and good rates. But most reefer drivers leave money on the table because they repeat the same mistakes year after year.

Peak produce season runs from late February through early fall. Demand spikes. Rates climb. Yet drivers who don’t plan ahead end up with detention time, spoiled loads, and missed opportunities while others run consistent, profitable freight.

The difference between a profitable produce season and a frustrating one comes down to avoiding preventable mistakes. Know what to watch for, plan better, and use the right tools to find loads that pay what they should. This guide covers the seven biggest mistakes reefer drivers make during produce season.

1. Running without temperature logs or proper documentation

Temperature control failures cost you the load and your reputation. Receivers reject loads when temps drift outside spec. Your word means nothing without proof.

Produce shippers require continuous temperature monitoring throughout transport. Even small temperature swings spoil high-value crops like berries or lettuce. Without accurate logs, you eat the loss when a receiver claims damage.

Under the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Sanitary Transportation rule, carriers must maintain records that demonstrate proper temperature control during transit. This includes monitoring and documenting trailer temperatures at regular intervals (commonly every 15 minutes) to verify that cold-chain requirements were met. If you can’t produce those records, the load can be rejected and liability may fall on you.

Receivers have gotten stricter about this in recent years. They’ll turn away loads or force claims if your paperwork doesn’t match their requirements.

Truckstop Dry Van Load Board includes reefer loads, giving you more options without switching boards. Seeing load specs before you book helps you confirm compliance, avoid disputes, and protect your margin if a claim arises.

2. Accepting loads without checking detention policies upfront

Detention isn’t a rare inconvenience. It’s a routine drain on your margin.

According to ATRI’s 2024 research, drivers were detained at 39.3% of stops, with refrigerated loads experiencing the highest rates. Detention cost the industry more than 135 million hours of productivity and billions in lost revenue.

Time lost at a dock doesn’t just delay one load. It pushes back your next pickup, burns hours-of-service, and forces tighter delivery windows. That’s when small problems turn into missed appointments, rejected loads, or unpaid detention.

Reefer freight adds pressure. More than half of refrigerated stops include detention, increasing spoilage risk and fuel burn as your unit runs to maintain temperature.

You can’t eliminate detention, but you can plan for it.

• Build buffer time into produce lanes.
• Confirm appointment policies before you roll.
• Work with brokers who communicate delays early and honor detention agreements.

Understanding your rights and expectations around detention pay for carriers and freight brokers can also help you recover lost time and protect your revenue.

3. Ignoring fuel optimization on long produce hauls

Fuel eats the biggest chunk of your revenue on reefer loads. Running the reefer unit without planning fuel stops drains your profit. Poor routing adds deadhead miles you can’t afford.

Reefer units burn 0.4-1.1 gallons per hour depending on temp settings. That adds up fast over a multi-day haul. Drivers forget to calculate reefer fuel separately from tractor fuel when they bid on loads. Then they get to the pump and realize the math doesn’t work.

Plan your fuel stops before you roll. Don’t wait until you’re low to start looking. You’ll end up at expensive truck stops in remote areas where they know you don’t have options.

The Truckstop Fuel Card helps you control fuel costs with discounts at major truck stop chains and clear visibility into spending. If you’re comparing options or want to understand how fuel programs actually reduce costs, this guide to saving money at the pump with fuel cards breaks down what to look for and how to maximize savings.

Saving even a few cents per gallon adds up over long produce hauls and helps protect your margin throughout the season.

4. Taking the first load offer without checking rates

Produce rates fluctuate daily based on seasonal freight trends, crop timing and weather. Brokers low-ball drivers who don’t know current market rates. You can’t negotiate without data.

The same lane might pay $2.50 per mile one week and $1.80 the next. Harvest timing drives this. When California strawberries hit peak season, rates spike for a few weeks. Miss that window and you’re hauling at bottom rates while the next carrier captures the surge.

FreightWaves notes that reefer rates during produce season can swing 30 to 40 cents per mile higher as demand tightens. These shifts mirror broader reefer rates and market trends driven by seasonality, weather, and regional demand.

Drivers accept whatever brokers offer because they don’t have rate visibility. They’re guessing. The broker knows the market. You don’t. That’s how you leave $500 to $1,000 per load on the table.

Truckstop Load Board Pro provides real-time rate insights based on actual loads, not estimates. You can see what lanes are paying today, compare options side by side, and walk into negotiations knowing what the freight is worth.

5. Failing to pre-cool the trailer properly

Shippers reject trailers that aren’t at spec temp before loading. Pre-cooling takes time drivers don’t budget for. Getting turned away at pickup costs you hours and money.

Most produce requires trailers at 34-38°F before loading begins. Shippers won’t load a warm trailer. They’ll send you away. Some give you time to cool down. Others tell you to come back tomorrow. Either way, you lose.

Cooling an 80°F trailer to 34°F takes 2-4 hours depending on your unit and outside temp. That’s real time you need to plan for. Show up at the pickup appointment without pre-cooling and you’re already behind.

Drivers show up late or arrive at temperature and get sent away anyway because they didn’t confirm requirements ahead of time. One shipper wants 35°F. Another wants 38°F. Know what they want before you show up.

Plan your arrival time to include the pre-cool window. Give yourself space. Starting late puts you in a hole you won’t dig out of.

6. Booking backhauls without considering equipment needs

Empty miles kill profits but wrong backhauls do too. Produce outbound doesn’t always pair well with available return freight.

Drivers take whatever backhaul they find to avoid deadheading home. That makes sense in theory. But hauling low-rate frozen freight after a high-rate produce run drops your daily average.

Frozen freight often pays less per mile than fresh produce. The shipper knows you’re already committed to the region. They know you need to get home. They’ll offer bottom rates because they can.

Truckstop Backhaul Search and Multi-trip Search on the load board help you find profitable return loads. Plan your lane pairs before taking the outbound load. Know where you’ll land and what freight moves out of that area.

Some drivers run Florida produce season trucking on the outbound and find good backhauls heading to the Northeast. Others run California produce season trucking and pair it with return freight to Texas or the Midwest. Know your state-by-state produce season peaks and plan the whole trip, not just the first leg.

7. Working with unverified brokers during peak season

Fraud spikes during produce season when demand is high. Fake brokers post hot lanes knowing drivers will jump fast. Non-payment or delayed payment wrecks your cash flow when you need it most.

Produce season attracts scammers. They post loads they don’t have. They copy real broker information and change one number. Drivers chase high rates without checking broker authority or payment history. Trends outlined in the 2025 Freight Fraud Report show how fraudsters exploit peak demand periods when carriers feel pressure to book quickly.

Truckstop vets every broker on the load board and provides ratings based on days-to-pay and complaint history, giving you visibility into a broker’s track record before you book.

During produce season, protect your cash flow by prioritizing verified brokers, confirming payment terms upfront, and documenting every load. A few extra minutes of due diligence helps you secure reliable freight, avoid disputes, and keep revenue moving when demand is at its highest.

Stop leaving money on the table

Produce season offers real money for reefer drivers who avoid these mistakes.

Check your temps and document everything. Confirm detention terms before you book. Know the rates before you negotiate. Pre-cool your trailer on time. Plan your backhauls as part of the outbound trip. Work with verified brokers who have a track record of paying.

Small changes to how you operate make the difference between a profitable season and barely breaking even. You’re already doing the work. Stop giving away profit because you didn’t plan ahead.

Truckstop Load Board gives you the tools to avoid costly mistakes and find quality produce loads with brokers who pay on-time. Stop guessing. Start earning what the freight is worth.

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