Volume and shipments continue to seasonally build in California, resulting in 
more demand for refrigerated equipment. This means rising freight rates, which have increased five to 10 percent and more recently.
There will be huge increase in avocado shipments this year — as much as 25 percent more out of Southern California. Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican festival widely celebrated in the U.S. May 5 will mean big shipments of the fruit. The amount of avocados shipped to U.S. markets with be split about evenly from those loaded in California, and with avocado border crossings from Mexico. Southern California also will be loading berries and citrus.
Various types of lettuce shipments are increasing from the Huron District in the San Joaquin Valley. Broccoli and cauliflower loadings have started from the Salinas Valley. Light volume with strawberries, broccoli and cauliflower has got underway from Santa Maria.
There have actually been a few $7000 freight rates from California to the East Coast. It’s going to be interesting in another month of so to see how high freight rates have risen as produce volume and demand for refrigerated equipment builds.
Southern California produce – grossing about $6700 to Boston.
NOTE: Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of a much smaller, less trained Mexican military unit that defeated the French in battle in 1862.