A heavily insulated freight car equipped with a cooling system to haul temperature-sensitive goods like meat, produce, or beverages. Older versions relied on ice bunkers loaded through roof hatches, while newer reefers use self-contained diesel refrigeration units. They are recognizable by their thick plug doors and the mechanical hum of their cooling engines.
Heard on the job
We've a block of loaded reefers on the head end that need to be spotted at the produce terminal before midnight.
Also heard as
- refrigerator car