Dry vans are simple, with plain design. No fridge, no ventilation, no advancement equipment, still very popular.
What Is Dry Van Shipping, and When Should You Use It?
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
‘Dry Van’ – you’ve possibly met that term several times. Yet, it’s quite difficult to understand what that means exactly and how it differs from other types of shipping. If these questions have ever piqued your curiosity, you’re in the right place. This article will review dry van shipping, reveal its perks, and provide use examples.
Dry Van Construction
These trailers have a plain design. No fridge, no ventilation, no advanced equipment – only an enclosed metal container, which ensures stable protection from dust and water. Yet, such a basic construction made dry vans the most popular and effective transportation means. Almost half of the locally produced non-perishables are moved by these trucks.
Main Principles of Dry Van Transportation?
Dry Van delivery is the most popular option to move cargo. It’s fast, available, and applicable to many goods and items. Another advantage of this type of transportation is its relatively low dry van shipping quotes.
In general, around 11 tons of cargo is moved by dry vans on US roads yearly.
Household items, papers, furniture, dry or canned food, electronics, or clothes – those are only a few sorts of popular products that dry vans bring to the shelves.
Yet, despite their great popularity, dry vans are not for everything. Fresh produce or temperature-sensitive products won’t survive such a transportation, as there are no refrigerators or climate control equipment.
Dry Van Sizes
While the principle of dry van shipping is always unchanged, not all vehicles are the same. Typically, there are three types of trailers offering different payload capacities.
Standard
A big, 53 feet container, can hold around 45,000 pounds of canned beans. It can also hold the same weight of Christmas decorations. It can carry things that are not ruined by hot or cold weather.
‘Pup’ Trailer
These 28-foot trailers are significantly smaller, yet are very convenient for smaller retailers and manufacturers who often transport fewer goods at once – up to 22,000 pounds. The great thing about these ‘babies’ is that they can be linked together to carry goods in two containers simultaneously.
Box Trucks
Lower trucks are a great solution for moving through lively urban areas. These trucks can go on city streets. They usually have lift gates that make loading things very easy, unlike other vehicles.
When to Use a Dry Van
Statistics show that companies often use dry vans for short-distance routes. Yet, this never means that you can’t use these trailers for long-distance delivery. Dry vans are good enough to go whenever you need – whether it’s a next street shop or a plant in a rural country. Yet, with an only condition: no perishables and no temperature-sensitive items.
Commonly transported items are clothing, home décor, books, electronics, furniture, nonperishable food, cleaning items, smaller machinery, and more.
Disadvantages of Dry Vans
Dry vans are good, yet not perfect. Let’s have a look at the main disadvantages:
- No Fridge or CC
Metal containers do not keep things safe from very hot or very cold weather. - Risk of Moisture Damage
Such vans have a wooden floor and no ventilation. Such a combo makes the floor sensitive to moisture and leads to extra spending on maintenance or increased spoilage of the cargo. - Limits to Standard-Sized Cargo
Unlike flatbed vehicles, vans can’t carry oversized goods or materials.
Conclusion
Dry vans are the most common choice for the transportation of nonperishable goods. While having lots of advantages, e.g., low fuel consumption, lower transportation price, different-sized options, etc, dry trailers are not equally good for all types of cargo. Carrying around 50% of US goods, dry vans are not used for fresh products, temperature-sensitive medication, plants, etc.
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Driven by passion for leveraging technology to “Build things worth Building”. I am a Software Engineer with a background in Computer Engineering from Pune University.
Having done multiple internships and volunteering programs throughout my engineering days, I have been deeply involved in the end-to-end development lifecycle, from conceptualization and design to implementation and deployment. I have been a part and also led teams at times to national/international level hackathons. Some of those include Peerlist GenAI Hackathon and NASA Space App challenges.
My educational foundation in Computer Engineering paired with the real world hands-on experience through various ventures provided me with strong knowledge of fundamental technologies.
Continuously seeking opportunities to learn and contribute. I am eager to connect with fellow innovators and contribute to impactful projects.
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