Dry Van Trucking Services
Standard 53' dry van capacity for palletized and floor-loaded general freight — the default trailer for retail replenishment, CPG, and packaged goods that ship dry, no temperature control required.
The Default Trailer for General Freight
A 53' dry van is the trailer most general freight moves on, and the fastest way to describe what belongs in one is what it doesn't need before it ships.
Our standard equipment is a 53' dry van, and legal payload runs roughly 44,000 to 45,000 pounds before a loaded trailer hits the 80,000-pound federal gross weight limit — the actual ceiling depends on how the pallets sit over the axles, so a dense load can max out well before the floor runs out of room. Freight goes in one of two ways. Palletized loads sit on standard pallets and move with a forklift or pallet jack, which is faster to load, faster to count, and easier to inspect for damage before the door closes. Floor-loaded freight skips the pallet and gets stacked by hand directly on the trailer floor, which slows the dock down but uses cube space that palletizing would waste on freight that doesn't stack cleanly. Either way, the trailer gets sealed before it leaves the shipper's dock, and that seal number rides with the paperwork to delivery.
Scheduling comes down to a live load versus a drop trailer, and which one fits depends entirely on how your dock runs. A live load keeps a driver on-site while forklifts or a crew works the trailer, which suits a facility that wants the truck gone the moment it's loaded. A drop trailer gets left at the dock ahead of the appointment — sometimes the night before — so your team can work it on its own clock and call for an empty pickup once it's done. We book to whichever pattern your facility actually uses rather than pushing the option that's simplest for dispatch.
What a dry van rules out matters as much as what it covers: no refrigeration unit, no insulation, no temperature record, so anything with a tolerance for heat or cold — fresh produce, dairy, pharma — has to move under our refrigerated freight services instead. That line gets tested every produce season, when a share of the reefer-capable fleet shifts toward agricultural regions and pulls some dry van capacity along with it, and rates on affected corridors move accordingly. What still belongs on a dry van: retail and CPG replenishment, e-commerce parcels and cartons headed to a fulfillment center, packaged non-perishables, and anything else that ships dry and doesn't need tie-down engineering the way flatbed freight does. See our full freight transportation services for how dry van fits alongside our other equipment types.
Built for Freight That Ships Dry
Three kinds of shippers make up most of our dry van volume, and each one asks for something slightly different from the trailer.
Retail & CPG Replenishment
Store and distribution-center replenishment runs on a schedule that doesn't tolerate a missed appointment, and it's almost always palletized for fast forklift turns at both ends. We book against that schedule directly, whether it's a single lane or a recurring run through our freight services for shippers.
E-Commerce Fulfillment
Parcel and carton freight headed into a fulfillment or sortation center is often mixed pallet configurations rather than a single uniform load, and the appointment windows tend to run tighter than traditional retail. Sealed, tracked dry van capacity keeps that freight moving on time without adding cost the margin can't absorb.
Packaged Non-Perishables
Canned goods, paper products, packaged dry foods, and anything else shelf-stable at ambient temperature is exactly what a dry van is built to carry — no cold chain to maintain, no reject risk from a warm trailer. That simplicity is also why it's the fastest freight on this page for a broker to quote — no setpoint, no permit, nothing to check before naming a rate. See what net-30 invoicing and spot quotes within hours look like on freight capacity for brokers.
What Makes a Dry Van Load Predictable
Dry van freight is the most standardized equipment type we run, and predictability comes from getting these four things right every time.
Sealed-Trailer Integrity
Trailers are sealed at the shipping dock and the seal number travels with the paperwork, so a broken seal at delivery is a flag, not a mystery. Palletized freight gets load-locked or strapped; floor-loaded freight gets braced and blocked at the door so a hard stop doesn't turn into a claim.
Live-Load or Drop-Trailer, Your Call
Some docks want a driver waiting at the door while forklifts work; others want a trailer dropped the night before and picked up empty the next morning. We schedule to whichever your dock actually runs on, instead of defaulting to the option that's easiest for us.
Reach Into Retail and CPG Lanes
General freight moves in volume between distribution centers and store networks on a schedule that doesn't flex much. Our regional hub structure keeps dry van capacity positioned where replenishment freight actually needs to pick up, not just where it's convenient to park a trailer.
Spot Quotes Within Hours
A dry van tender is the most straightforward quote we write — no permits, no temperature range, no deck height to check. Send weight, pallet count or floor-load description, origin, and destination, and a firm rate comes back within hours.
Common Questions About Dry Van Trucking
Still deciding between palletized and floor-loaded? Our freight transportation FAQ covers equipment, pricing, and carrier setup in more detail.
Tell Us About Your Dry Van Freight
Send us pallet count or floor-load description, weight, origin, and destination — we'll respond with a rate within hours.