General
reefer
What does reefer mean?
A temperature-controlled trailer with its own diesel-powered fridge unit bolted to the nose. Hauls everything from ice cream to pharmaceuticals. Pays better than dry van because the equipment costs more and the loads are time-sensitive — but the reefer unit chugging away all night is the soundtrack of every truck stop.
"I'm running a reefer load of strawberries from California to Chicago."
Origin
Trucker sense is a clip of 'refrigerator.' The cannabis sense is unrelated, likely from Mexican Spanish 'grifo' via 1920s jazz slang.
Frequently asked questions
What does Reefer mean in trucking?
A reefer is a refrigerated trailer, the kind used to haul frozen and chilled freight.
How do you use Reefer in a sentence?
"I'm running a reefer load of ice cream down to Florida, so the unit's got to stay cold the whole way."
Where does the trucking term reefer come from?
It's short for 'refrigerator,' referring to the refrigeration unit built into the trailer.
Study it as flashcards or scroll it in Vocabulary Flow — saved to your collection.
