Temperature-Controlled.
Held to the Degree.
Outside it can be 104 in Phoenix or 9 below in Fargo. Inside the trailer, your freight rides at the setpoint you booked: pre-cooled before loading, monitored every mile, documented at delivery. From -20°F deep frozen to 70°F climate protect.
Quote Your Temperature-Controlled Shipment
What is temperature-controlled shipping?
Temperature-controlled shipping moves freight in an insulated trailer with its own refrigeration unit, a reefer, that holds the cargo space at a precise setpoint anywhere from 20 below zero to 70 degrees. Conditioned air travels through a ceiling chute from the unit at the nose to the doors at the tail, wrapping every pallet in the same temperature for the entire run.
The hardware is the easy part. A cold chain holds because of process: the trailer pre-cooled and verified before loading, product temperatures pulped at the dock, the setpoint written on the bill of lading, and the box monitored every mile so drift gets caught while it is still a maintenance item instead of a claim. AFX Logistics runs that process on every temperature-controlled load, with spot capacity for one-off moves and dedicated reefers for recurring lanes.
Reefer is the right call when:
- ✓The product ships with a labeled temp range: frozen, chilled, or controlled
- ✓Summer heat or winter freeze would ruin otherwise dry-van freight
- ✓FSMA, USDA, or pharma rules require documented temperatures
- ✓The receiver pulps product at the dock and rejects warm loads
- ✓A few degrees of drift is the difference between revenue and a claim
Every product has a number. Dial yours in.
A refrigerated trailer does one thing with total precision: hold the number you set. That makes the setpoint the entire conversation, and the line between a clean delivery and a rejected load. Every commodity carries its own tolerance, run mode, and pre-cool, so select yours below and the finder returns the exact band we run it at, and the reading your box should show before loading begins.
Reefer Setpoint Finder
Pick the commodity. Get the setpoint, the run mode, and the pre-cool target.
Fresh Produce: setpoint 34°F, typical band 33 to 38°F, continuous operation.
Most produce rides at 34°F with continuous airflow carrying off field heat and ethylene.
Quote This Commodity →Setpoints reflect standard cold chain practice. Your product spec sheet always has the final word, and your specialist confirms the setpoint on every tender.
- Around -20°FDeep Frozen
- -10 to 0°FFrozen
- 28 to 41°FRefrigerated
- 45 to 70°FControlled
- Ice cream-20°F
- Frozen food0°F
- Produce34°F
- Pharma41°F
- Wine55°F
Three Ways a Cold Chain Breaks
Almost every temperature claim traces back to one of these. We engineered the process around all three.
The Missed Pre-Cool.
A trailer that shows up warm soaks your product in stored wall heat before the doors even close. Our pre-cool order ships with the load tender, and the box is verified at your setpoint before loading starts. A warm trailer does not get loaded.
The Silent Drift.
Reefer units rarely fail loudly. They drift a degree at a time while the truck rolls on. Telemetry streams box temperature the whole run, and a human dispatcher is alerted the moment a reading leaves your range, while it is still fixable.
The Paper Gap.
The load delivered cold, but nobody can prove it. We write the setpoint on the BOL, log the box temperature every mile, and file the full temp history with the signed POD. Audits and claims get answered with data, not arguments.
Built to Scale.
Proven to Deliver.
Cold, Dock to Dock, in Four Steps
Quote It
Lane, commodity, setpoint, and date. A live temperature-controlled rate in about two minutes, then lock it online.
Pre-Cool It
A cold-chain-vetted reefer is dispatched with your setpoint on the tender. The box is pre-cooled and verified before it backs into your dock.
Load It
Product is pulped at the dock, the trailer is loaded and sealed, and the setpoint and run mode are documented on the BOL.
Track It
Temperature and GPS stream live to your account. At delivery, the signed POD and the full temp log file together, automatically.
Frozen, Refrigerated, or Protect?
Three service bands cover everything a reefer moves. Here is how they differ, and what we watch on each.
| Criteria | Refrigerated | Frozen | Protect & Controlled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setpoint band | 33 to 40°F | -20 to 0°F | 40 to 70°F |
| Typical freight | Produce, dairy, fresh meat, pharma | Ice cream, frozen foods, seafood | Wine, chocolate, paint, electronics |
| Run mode | Continuous airflow | Continuous, deep cold | Start-stop, heat mode in winter |
| Pre-cool target | Setpoint, verified at the dock | 0°F or below before loading | Conditioned to setpoint |
| The risk | Ethylene, moisture loss, drift | Defrost cycles, door openings | Freeze damage on winter lanes |
| We watch it with | Live telemetry + dock pulping | Live telemetry + sealed doors | Lane weather + heat mode |
Not sure which band your product needs? Run it through the setpoint finder above, see how a reefer compares to a dry van, or look at expedited reefer for the time-critical edge.
How Fast Does Refrigerated Freight Move?
Reefer moves at full truckload speed, and the unit never clocks out: it runs through fuel stops, overnights, and every mile between.
Short shelf life? Expedited team service runs coast to coast in about two and a half days, unit running the whole way.
Zero Drift.
Zero Drama.
Holding 34 degrees across 2,000 miles of August asphalt is not luck, it is process. AFX builds the process into every load, then proves it with the temp log, degree by degree.
Start Shipping TodayRefrigerated Capacity Where You Ship
Daily reefer coverage in all 50 states, with deep capacity in the busiest markets.
Temperature-controlled by industry
The Cold Chain Playbook
Three guides that keep reefer invoices clean and deliveries smooth.
The Bill of Lading, Explained
Your setpoint belongs on the BOL. What else has to be on the page before a reefer rolls.
Read the guide BillingAccessorial Charges, Decoded
Detention hits reefer loads hardest. Know every charge before it knows you.
Read the guide SavingsHow to Cut Freight Shipping Costs
Lead time, flexible dates, and the booking habits that lower every invoice, reefer included.
Read the guideTemperature-Controlled Shipping FAQs
Temperature-controlled shipping, also called reefer freight, moves product in an insulated trailer with a refrigeration unit that holds a precise setpoint from about -20°F to +70°F. The trailer is pre-cooled before loading, the setpoint is documented on the bill of lading, and the box temperature is monitored throughout transit. It is the standard for food, beverage, pharmaceuticals, floral, and any freight that heat or freeze would damage.
A modern 53-ft reefer holds any setpoint from about 20 below zero Fahrenheit for deep-frozen product up to 70°F for climate protection. Most loads run in two bands: frozen food at 0°F or colder, and refrigerated product between 33 and 40°F. The unit can also run in heat mode, keeping freeze-sensitive freight safely warm on winter lanes.
Always. The pre-cool order goes out with the load tender, and the box is verified at your setpoint before loading begins. Loading into a warm trailer soaks product in stored wall heat and forces the unit to fight backward from the start, which is the most common self-inflicted cold chain failure. We also recommend pulping product at the dock, because a reefer is built to hold temperature, not to pull warm product down.
In continuous mode the unit runs nonstop and air never stops moving across the load, which is what produce, fresh protein, dairy, floral, and pharmaceuticals require. In start-stop mode, often called cycle sentry, the unit cools to setpoint and then rests, which saves fuel and suits frozen goods and hardy freight like beverages. The right run mode is written into every AFX reefer tender.
The reefer unit reports box temperature and position over telematics for the entire run, and dispatch is alerted the moment a reading leaves your range, while there is still time to act. After delivery, the full trip temperature log files beside the signed POD in your account, so an FSMA audit, a temperature claim, or a customer question gets answered with data instead of arguments.
Plan on roughly 10 to 25 percent above a comparable dry van load, depending on lane and season. The premium covers the refrigerated trailer, the diesel the unit burns, and the tighter pool of food-grade reefer capacity. Produce season, roughly April through July, tightens reefer markets sharply, so flexible dates and longer lead times earn real savings on refrigerated lanes.
Yes. Carriers moving food for AFX follow the FSMA Sanitary Transportation rule: pre-cool verification, setpoint documentation, clean food-grade trailers, and washout records when the prior load requires it. The documentation lives with your shipment record, so temperature logs and sanitary records are ready whenever your quality team or an auditor asks.
Yes, with a multi-temperature setup: a movable insulated bulkhead splits the trailer into zones, typically frozen at the nose and chilled at the doors, each held by its own evaporator. Multi-temp is how grocery distribution runs every day. Tell your specialist the temperature and footprint of each zone and we quote it as one move.
Yes. In winter the reefer unit runs in heat mode, holding paint, chemicals, beverages, electronics, and other freeze-sensitive freight safely above 32°F across cold lanes. Protect-from-freeze service runs seasonally, typically November through March on northern routes, and it costs far less than replacing a frozen load.
24 to 48 hours is comfortable on most lanes and earns the best rate. Same-day reefer coverage is routine in major markets, and during produce season extra lead time matters most. For short shelf life freight, expedited team service keeps the unit running coast to coast in about two and a half days.