Author Archive
By Fresh Produce Association of the Americas
Nogales, AZ — With the heart of the 2013-14 Mexican produce season coming to a close, the numbers are in, and they show that Nogales is widening its lead over South Texas.
For the season beginning in September of 2013, and through April of 2014, about 37% of the Mexican fresh fruits and vegetables that were consumed in North America crossed through Nogales. This compares to about 28% of total volume for the crossing region in South Texas, comprised of Pharr and Progresso, Texas.
The 2013 crossing report information, gathered from the USDA website, reflects that Nogales enjoyed a dramatic 17% increase over the prior season versus other ports that have remained flat or realized much smaller increases. This is due to several factors, including improvements at the new Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, which are decreasing the amount of time a truck waits in line at the border.
For instance, the revamped Mariposa Port of Entry has doubled the number of commercial crossing lanes. To add to the processing efficiency, as part of the 2014 Omnibus Spending Bill, Nogales will be receiving 120 additional Customs Officers to facilitate trade at the expanded port. The Arizona Department of Transportation has also made significant improvements on the road leading into the U.S. from the port, including widening and adding additional lanes for vehicles to access I-19.
There’s no less than six regions currently active with California produce shipments. Here’s a look at each of those areas and how loading opportunities look. This is the time of year when produce freight rates are typically peaking and we’ll take a look at those as well.
Salinas Valley produce shipments, comprised primarily of mixed vegetables, strawberries and raspberries are moving into full volume, although there are some shipping gaps occurring with veggies. Lettuce shipments, led by iceberg and romaine are averaging over 1700 truckload equivalents per week. There also broccoli, cauliflower and dozens of other lesser volume vegetables being shipped.
You should gross about $8300 to New York City.
Santa Maria District is shipping many of the same items as the Salinas Valley, but in much smaller volume, with more pick ups, unless a shipper consolidates loads.
San Joaquin Valley produce shipments have every thing from mixed vegetables to stone fruit and blueberries and melons in the central valley.
Produce items grossing about $8200 to New York City.
Kern County has primarily carrots and potatoes available.
Southern California is relatively quiet with the exit of berries to Santa Maria and Watsonville. There are still some avocados and citrus and a few tomatoes — grossing about $7900 to New York City.
Desert Shipments including Coachella Valley table grapes, peppers, sweet corn and eggplant are available, grossing about $8100 to New York City.
A USDA Economic Research Service report reports higher consumption of fruit is associated with a lower body weight, but the same does not appear to be true for vegetables.
The USDA’s report, called “Healthy Vegetables Undermined by the Company They Keep,” said that processing and preparation methods plays a role in the influence of fruits and vegetables on body weight.
“Earlier ERS research found fruit consumption to be linked to healthier weight status, but for vegetable consumption there was no such link,” said report authors Joanne Guthrie and Biing-Hwan Lin. The report, issued in early May, said fruits are consumed in their natural states more than vegetables.
“Unlike naturally sweet fruit, Americans may find vegetables more palatable if prepared with added fats or oils, such as in fried potatoes or creamed spinach, or in a mixed dish like pizza,” according to the study. Americans often eat vegetables prepared in ways that add calories and sodium and remove dietary fiber.
Research in 2002 found that, on average, healthy weight children and adults ate more fruit than their overweight peers.
“Higher fruit consumption was associated with lower BMI for adult men and women and for adolescent girls and boys 10 years of age and above,” according to the study. However, total vegetable consumption had no association with body weight, the authors said. The 2002 study found that when vegetables were separated into two groups — white potatoes only, and all other vegetables — white potato intake was associated with higher BMI for both adult men and women. The study found that intake of vegetables other than potatoes was associated with lower BMI among women but not among any other age-sex groups.
Georgia peach shipments got off to a very light start a couple of weeks ago, but should experience a significant volume increase by the middle of June. However, the best loading opportunities from the Fort Valley area will take place during the month of July. Shipments should continue until at least the middle of August. So far, Georgia peach loadings have been only about 30 percent of normal due to a harsh winter and early spring weather conditions.
Meanwhile, South Carolina peach shipments only started about a week ago, which like Georgia, are running a week or two later than normal. The best loading opportunities for South Carolina peaches will be from about mid July until the middle of August, with the season ending by Labor Day.
The long awaited loadings of cherry from the Pacific Northwest get underway this week from the Tri-Cities area in Washington state. Initial volume will be with Chelans, with the more popular Bing variety coming about a week later.
Unlike California cherry shipments, where volume was down this season, the Northwest should experience a significant increase in cherry loadings. Total cherry shipments, mostly out of Washington state, should hit 20 million boxes, up from only 13 million boxes last year.
Washington state typically accounts for about 75 percent of the cherry shipments out of the Northwest, with most of the volume coming out of the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys. However, it is the Tri-City area where initial loadings occur as it spreads to the southern Columbia Basin and the lower Yakima Valley within the next week or so.
(Reuters Health) – Eating more fruits and vegetables may reduce stroke risk by almost a third, according to a fresh look at recent evidence. The results support existing recommendations from organizations like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which already call for a diet rich in fresh greens.
“The findings are consistent with the current knowledge that increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables should be encouraged to prevent stroke,” Dr. Yan Qu said in an email. Qu, of the Qingdao Municipal Hospital and the Medical College of Qingdao University in Qingdao, China, led the analysis.
A stroke occurs when bloodflow to part of the brain is blocked by a clot or a burst blood vessel. Without emergency care, a stroke can lead to severe brain damage or death. Stroke remains the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the CDC. Several studies have looked at the influence of diet on stroke risk. Some have tied eating lots of fruits and vegetables to lowered risk; others have found no link at all.
The effect could be indirect, and eating fruits and vegetables may benefit overall health by reducing blood pressure, cholesterol, weight and other stroke risk factors, Qu said. It’s also possible that specific nutrients in the foods may reduce stroke risk, he said. To get a better understanding of the relationship between stroke risk and plants in the diet, the researchers searched for reports from recent decades that tracked the eating habits and health of men and women around the world.
Twenty studies examining a total of 16,981 strokes among 760,629 participants were included in the analysis. Overall, the people who ate the most fruits and vegetables were 21 percent less likely to have a stroke, compared to people who ate the lowest amounts, the researchers found.
The benefits rose along with the amounts of produce consumed. Stroke risk fell by 32 percent for every 200 grams (g) per day of fruit people ate, and 11 percent with every 200 g of vegetables. The researchers found that citrus fruits, leafy vegetables and apples and pears were the specific types of greenery linked to reduced stroke risk.
Pear Bureau Northwest, the nonprofit marketing association that promotes fresh pears grown in Oregon and Washington, recently commissioned nutrition research examining fresh pear consumption and the associated nutrition and health benefits.
The research, which was led by Victor Fulgoni III, Ph.D, was presented at Experimental Biology in San Diego and revealed that when compared with non-consumers, fresh pear consumers had a better nutrition profile and overall better quality of diet (for example, more dietary fibre, vitamin C, copper, magnesium and potassium). Fresh pear consumers also had lower added sugar intake, as well as lower intake of total fat, mono-unsaturated fat and saturated fat. Furthermore, the likelihood of being obese was 35 percent lower among fresh pear consumers than among their non-consumer counterparts.
The association between fresh pear consumption with nutrient intake, dietary quality and risk of obesity was examined in adults 19 years old and older participating in the 2001-10 National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey. Energy and nutrient intakes were calculated using the USDA’s Food & Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies.
“We are pleased to see healthy pears as part of the greater scientific conversation and look forward to growing our nutrition research and communications program,” Kevin Moffitt, president and chief executive officer of Pear Bureau Northwest, said in a press release.
It was only a couple of weeks ago when 80 percent of the asparagus fields in west-central Michigan had frost damage, but it has since re-grown. Shipments have recently resumed and while the crop is now late, loss of volume is expected to be relatively small. The harvest already was late due to a cold spring and harvesting in southern Michigan didn’t start until about May 9. Asparagus shipments should continue through June. Volume in 2014 should be about equal to 2013 Michigan asparagus volume of 20 million pounds. Around 8 million pounds will to go to the fresh market this year, with the remainder of the total going to the processing market. The fresh market share has risen in two years to about 40 percent from 20-25 percent. In another two years about half of the state’s asparagus will go to the fresh market.
ATHENS, Ga. — The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has given Carrier Transicold full verification for its engine emissions system (EES) option as a level 3+ verified diesel emission control device.
“This is yet another significant milestone in the planned rollout of our latest trailer refrigeration platforms and emissions compliance devices as we continue to provide refrigerated fleets with technology options and compliance choices that best suit their particular operations,” said David Kiefer, director of sales, marketing and product management, Carrier Transicold.
Last year, CARB gave the EES a conditional verification, that allowed its installation on certain models and generator sets with up to 3,000 hours of engine operations. With full verification, the 3,000 hour condition is removed, allowing the EES installation on any of the model, regardless of the accrued hours of operation.
“CARB’s robust verification process requires independent testing and diligent review by CARB staff to assure fleets that verified products meet stringent durability, performance and emissions-reduction specifications,” Kiefer added. “Carrier Transicold worked closely with CARB staff to advance the EES to ensure reliable emissions reduction on models equipped with Tier 4 engines and achieve full verification. Building on this achievement, Carrier Transicold will next evaluate application of the EES to our older legacy platforms, for which maintaining CARB compliance has been limited to engine upgrades that will soon no longer be a compliance option.”
Installed as a substitute for a standard exhaust system, the EES filters exhaust using a high-performance diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and a catalytic diesel particulate filter (CDPF). The DOC removes more than 93% of hydrocarbons and the CDPF reduces more than 98% of particulate matter, well beyond the 85% ULETRU requirement.
No operator intervention is needed because the EES uses passive, active and active-assist regeneration to clear accumulated soot.
xxx
100 years ago the railroads ruled when it came to long haul freight transportation. The advent of the interstate highway system in the 1950s changed all of that and led to a thriving trucking industry. Then in the 1970s there was a renewed interest in rail service, and this involved fresh produce. It was primarily refrigerated intermodal trailers and refrigerated box cars. However, as the trailers and rail cars aged, the companies invested in those ventures too often had problems coming up with the capital to replace the equipment. Additionally, in those days the rails had difficulty understanding perishable produce had to be treated differently than coal or auto parts. There also were too many produce receivers filing claims at the drop of a hat. The rails also were notorious for taking forever to pay claims.
But times have changed. Here are some of the rail related companies that have come on the scene in recent years.
****Railex LLC, Rotterdam, NY. This was perhaps the first one, and it partners with the Union Pacific Railroad, using 64-foot refrigerated railcars transporting produce from the West Coast to an upstate New York distribution center, where trucks take over. It also is establishing a presence in the Southeast.
****Rail Logistics Cold Train, Overland Park, Ks. The Cold Train used containers shipped out Washington and Oregon to the Midwest and East Coast.
****McKay TransCold, Minneapolis. It works with the Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railroad using refrigerated boxcars out of California to Wilmington, IL citing each boxcar is equivalent to 3.5 to 4.2 truckloads of product.
****Tiger Cool Express LLC, Overland Park, Ks. According to its website it “Provides retailers an efficient, cost-effective, safe alternative to all-spot, all-the-time brokered transportation that relies on small, independent owner-operators who supply shippers through intermediaries.”
****C.R. England of Salt Lake City. While it is widely known as the nation’s largest refrigerated carrier with about 4,500 trucks, it also has had an intermodal division for about eight years and uses refrigerated containers.
Ricky Stover is director of business development – intermodal, for C.R. England. The company has 1,150 containers and plans adding 400 more this year.
“The percentage of produce we haul is small. We do a lot of frozen food, dairy, beverages, etc. That type of stuff is really our bread and butter,” he says.
Jason Spafford, McKay’s Vice President of Business Development credits the down turn in the nation’s economy resulting in people being “more open to new ideas.”
Spafford also points to increasing regulations on the trucking industry working in favor of the railroads.
“There’s the restrictions on driving hours that’s making it harder and is pushing it more towards a rail solution,” he states.
Additionally, Spafford says McKay TransCold believes they have to offer rail rates that are eight to 15 percent less than truck rates, depending upon the commodity and specific traffic lane.
“Traditionally rail has had difficulty with box car and intermodal concerns with damage claims. We’ve developed a racking system that creates a rock solid load. It can actually have less shifting than in truck load,” Spafford says.
McKay TransCold took a different approach in that it initially developed westbound rail shipments from the Midwest with commodities like eggs and ice cream. It then developed its eastbound freight, which is the opposite approach from most companies.
While a lot of attention is being paid to rail hauling fresh produce, Kenny Lund, Vice President of Allen Lund Company of LaCanada, CA states, “Owner operators move probably 95 percent of the produce cross country. Owner operators dominate cross country transportation of produce. The carriers that haul for us have 25 trucks at the most. We work with over 9,000 refrigerated carriers and they are mostly guys with 25 trucks or less.”
Continuing, Lund points out it is the rules and regulations that are hurting the owner operators. He adds there is no driver shortage, it is an owner operator shortage. The truck broker has been one of CARB’s (California Air Resources Board) biggest critics, citing such requirements on equipment such as refrigerated units for trailers cannot be over seven years old. Lund also is critical of the new diesel engines calling them a “nightmare. They shut down and you can’at fix them out in the field. You have to tow them in. They are so complicated and these regulations are going to make it worse.”
Paul Kazan, president of Target Interstate Systems Inc., Bronx, NY, is equally critical of excessive regulations on 18 wheelers.
“You don’t see it (increasing regulations) with trains, but at every turn you see it with the trucking industry. There is a very concerted affect out there by the rail industry to restrict trucks and I’m surprised there is not a more concerted effort by the trucking industry to push back against this effect. We’ve never had the power or the clout of the rail industry,” Kazan states.
At the same time, Kazan adds he is having conversations with rail entities and says, “we need a rail component.”
Target is headquartered on the Hunts Point Terminal Wholesale Market. Still, Kazan sees the rails “shying away” from wholesale terminal markets because these facilities hold on to the trailers (TOFC) too long using them as storage.
Kazan concedes, “Rails are here to stay. You have the green (environmental) technology, the carbon footprint.”
By Fresh Produce Association of the Americas
Nogales, AZ — With the heart of the 2013-14 Mexican produce season coming to a close, the numbers are in, and they show that Nogales is widening its lead over South Texas.
For the season beginning in September of 2013, and through April of 2014, about 37% of the Mexican fresh fruits and vegetables that were consumed in North America crossed through Nogales. This compares to about 28% of total volume for the crossing region in South Texas, comprised of Pharr and Progresso, Texas.
The 2013 crossing report information, gathered from the USDA website, reflects that Nogales enjoyed a dramatic 17% increase over the prior season versus other ports that have remained flat or realized much smaller increases. This is due to several factors, including improvements at the new Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, which are decreasing the amount of time a truck waits in line at the border.
For instance, the revamped Mariposa Port of Entry has doubled the number of commercial crossing lanes. To add to the processing efficiency, as part of the 2014 Omnibus Spending Bill, Nogales will be receiving 120 additional Customs Officers to facilitate trade at the expanded port. The Arizona Department of Transportation has also made significant improvements on the road leading into the U.S. from the port, including widening and adding additional lanes for vehicles to access I-19.
There’s no less than six regions currently active with California produce shipments. Here’s a look at each of those areas and how loading opportunities look. This is the time of year when produce freight rates are typically peaking and we’ll take a look at those as well.
Salinas Valley produce shipments, comprised primarily of mixed vegetables, strawberries and raspberries are moving into full volume, although there are some shipping gaps occurring with veggies. Lettuce shipments, led by iceberg and romaine are averaging over 1700 truckload equivalents per week. There also broccoli, cauliflower and dozens of other lesser volume vegetables being shipped.
You should gross about $8300 to New York City.
Santa Maria District is shipping many of the same items as the Salinas Valley, but in much smaller volume, with more pick ups, unless a shipper consolidates loads.
San Joaquin Valley produce shipments have every thing from mixed vegetables to stone fruit and blueberries and melons in the central valley.
Produce items grossing about $8200 to New York City.
Kern County has primarily carrots and potatoes available.
Southern California is relatively quiet with the exit of berries to Santa Maria and Watsonville. There are still some avocados and citrus and a few tomatoes — grossing about $7900 to New York City.
Desert Shipments including Coachella Valley table grapes, peppers, sweet corn and eggplant are available, grossing about $8100 to New York City.
A USDA Economic Research Service report reports higher consumption of fruit is associated with a lower body weight, but the same does not appear to be true for vegetables.
The USDA’s report, called “Healthy Vegetables Undermined by the Company They Keep,” said that processing and preparation methods plays a role in the influence of fruits and vegetables on body weight.
“Earlier ERS research found fruit consumption to be linked to healthier weight status, but for vegetable consumption there was no such link,” said report authors Joanne Guthrie and Biing-Hwan Lin. The report, issued in early May, said fruits are consumed in their natural states more than vegetables.
“Unlike naturally sweet fruit, Americans may find vegetables more palatable if prepared with added fats or oils, such as in fried potatoes or creamed spinach, or in a mixed dish like pizza,” according to the study. Americans often eat vegetables prepared in ways that add calories and sodium and remove dietary fiber.
Research in 2002 found that, on average, healthy weight children and adults ate more fruit than their overweight peers.
“Higher fruit consumption was associated with lower BMI for adult men and women and for adolescent girls and boys 10 years of age and above,” according to the study. However, total vegetable consumption had no association with body weight, the authors said. The 2002 study found that when vegetables were separated into two groups — white potatoes only, and all other vegetables — white potato intake was associated with higher BMI for both adult men and women. The study found that intake of vegetables other than potatoes was associated with lower BMI among women but not among any other age-sex groups.
Georgia peach shipments got off to a very light start a couple of weeks ago, but should experience a significant volume increase by the middle of June. However, the best loading opportunities from the Fort Valley area will take place during the month of July. Shipments should continue until at least the middle of August. So far, Georgia peach loadings have been only about 30 percent of normal due to a harsh winter and early spring weather conditions.
Meanwhile, South Carolina peach shipments only started about a week ago, which like Georgia, are running a week or two later than normal. The best loading opportunities for South Carolina peaches will be from about mid July until the middle of August, with the season ending by Labor Day.
The long awaited loadings of cherry from the Pacific Northwest get underway this week from the Tri-Cities area in Washington state. Initial volume will be with Chelans, with the more popular Bing variety coming about a week later.
Unlike California cherry shipments, where volume was down this season, the Northwest should experience a significant increase in cherry loadings. Total cherry shipments, mostly out of Washington state, should hit 20 million boxes, up from only 13 million boxes last year.
Washington state typically accounts for about 75 percent of the cherry shipments out of the Northwest, with most of the volume coming out of the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys. However, it is the Tri-City area where initial loadings occur as it spreads to the southern Columbia Basin and the lower Yakima Valley within the next week or so.
(Reuters Health) – Eating more fruits and vegetables may reduce stroke risk by almost a third, according to a fresh look at recent evidence. The results support existing recommendations from organizations like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which already call for a diet rich in fresh greens.
“The findings are consistent with the current knowledge that increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables should be encouraged to prevent stroke,” Dr. Yan Qu said in an email. Qu, of the Qingdao Municipal Hospital and the Medical College of Qingdao University in Qingdao, China, led the analysis.
A stroke occurs when bloodflow to part of the brain is blocked by a clot or a burst blood vessel. Without emergency care, a stroke can lead to severe brain damage or death. Stroke remains the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the CDC. Several studies have looked at the influence of diet on stroke risk. Some have tied eating lots of fruits and vegetables to lowered risk; others have found no link at all.
The effect could be indirect, and eating fruits and vegetables may benefit overall health by reducing blood pressure, cholesterol, weight and other stroke risk factors, Qu said. It’s also possible that specific nutrients in the foods may reduce stroke risk, he said. To get a better understanding of the relationship between stroke risk and plants in the diet, the researchers searched for reports from recent decades that tracked the eating habits and health of men and women around the world.
Twenty studies examining a total of 16,981 strokes among 760,629 participants were included in the analysis. Overall, the people who ate the most fruits and vegetables were 21 percent less likely to have a stroke, compared to people who ate the lowest amounts, the researchers found.
The benefits rose along with the amounts of produce consumed. Stroke risk fell by 32 percent for every 200 grams (g) per day of fruit people ate, and 11 percent with every 200 g of vegetables. The researchers found that citrus fruits, leafy vegetables and apples and pears were the specific types of greenery linked to reduced stroke risk.
Pear Bureau Northwest, the nonprofit marketing association that promotes fresh pears grown in Oregon and Washington, recently commissioned nutrition research examining fresh pear consumption and the associated nutrition and health benefits.
The research, which was led by Victor Fulgoni III, Ph.D, was presented at Experimental Biology in San Diego and revealed that when compared with non-consumers, fresh pear consumers had a better nutrition profile and overall better quality of diet (for example, more dietary fibre, vitamin C, copper, magnesium and potassium). Fresh pear consumers also had lower added sugar intake, as well as lower intake of total fat, mono-unsaturated fat and saturated fat. Furthermore, the likelihood of being obese was 35 percent lower among fresh pear consumers than among their non-consumer counterparts.
The association between fresh pear consumption with nutrient intake, dietary quality and risk of obesity was examined in adults 19 years old and older participating in the 2001-10 National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey. Energy and nutrient intakes were calculated using the USDA’s Food & Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies.
“We are pleased to see healthy pears as part of the greater scientific conversation and look forward to growing our nutrition research and communications program,” Kevin Moffitt, president and chief executive officer of Pear Bureau Northwest, said in a press release.
It was only a couple of weeks ago when 80 percent of the asparagus fields in west-central Michigan had frost damage, but it has since re-grown. Shipments have recently resumed and while the crop is now late, loss of volume is expected to be relatively small. The harvest already was late due to a cold spring and harvesting in southern Michigan didn’t start until about May 9. Asparagus shipments should continue through June. Volume in 2014 should be about equal to 2013 Michigan asparagus volume of 20 million pounds. Around 8 million pounds will to go to the fresh market this year, with the remainder of the total going to the processing market. The fresh market share has risen in two years to about 40 percent from 20-25 percent. In another two years about half of the state’s asparagus will go to the fresh market.
ATHENS, Ga. — The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has given Carrier Transicold full verification for its engine emissions system (EES) option as a level 3+ verified diesel emission control device.“This is yet another significant milestone in the planned rollout of our latest trailer refrigeration platforms and emissions compliance devices as we continue to provide refrigerated fleets with technology options and compliance choices that best suit their particular operations,” said David Kiefer, director of sales, marketing and product management, Carrier Transicold.
Last year, CARB gave the EES a conditional verification, that allowed its installation on certain models and generator sets with up to 3,000 hours of engine operations. With full verification, the 3,000 hour condition is removed, allowing the EES installation on any of the model, regardless of the accrued hours of operation.
“CARB’s robust verification process requires independent testing and diligent review by CARB staff to assure fleets that verified products meet stringent durability, performance and emissions-reduction specifications,” Kiefer added. “Carrier Transicold worked closely with CARB staff to advance the EES to ensure reliable emissions reduction on models equipped with Tier 4 engines and achieve full verification. Building on this achievement, Carrier Transicold will next evaluate application of the EES to our older legacy platforms, for which maintaining CARB compliance has been limited to engine upgrades that will soon no longer be a compliance option.”
Installed as a substitute for a standard exhaust system, the EES filters exhaust using a high-performance diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and a catalytic diesel particulate filter (CDPF). The DOC removes more than 93% of hydrocarbons and the CDPF reduces more than 98% of particulate matter, well beyond the 85% ULETRU requirement.
No operator intervention is needed because the EES uses passive, active and active-assist regeneration to clear accumulated soot.
xxx
100 years ago the railroads ruled when it came to long haul freight transportation. The advent of the interstate highway system in the 1950s changed all of that and led to a thriving trucking industry. Then in the 1970s there was a renewed interest in rail service, and this involved fresh produce. It was primarily refrigerated intermodal trailers and refrigerated box cars. However, as the trailers and rail cars aged, the companies invested in those ventures too often had problems coming up with the capital to replace the equipment. Additionally, in those days the rails had difficulty understanding perishable produce had to be treated differently than coal or auto parts. There also were too many produce receivers filing claims at the drop of a hat. The rails also were notorious for taking forever to pay claims.
But times have changed. Here are some of the rail related companies that have come on the scene in recent years.
****Railex LLC, Rotterdam, NY. This was perhaps the first one, and it partners with the Union Pacific Railroad, using 64-foot refrigerated railcars transporting produce from the West Coast to an upstate New York distribution center, where trucks take over. It also is establishing a presence in the Southeast.
****Rail Logistics Cold Train, Overland Park, Ks. The Cold Train used containers shipped out Washington and Oregon to the Midwest and East Coast.
****McKay TransCold, Minneapolis. It works with the Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railroad using refrigerated boxcars out of California to Wilmington, IL citing each boxcar is equivalent to 3.5 to 4.2 truckloads of product.
****Tiger Cool Express LLC, Overland Park, Ks. According to its website it “Provides retailers an efficient, cost-effective, safe alternative to all-spot, all-the-time brokered transportation that relies on small, independent owner-operators who supply shippers through intermediaries.”
****C.R. England of Salt Lake City. While it is widely known as the nation’s largest refrigerated carrier with about 4,500 trucks, it also has had an intermodal division for about eight years and uses refrigerated containers.
Ricky Stover is director of business development – intermodal, for C.R. England. The company has 1,150 containers and plans adding 400 more this year.
“The percentage of produce we haul is small. We do a lot of frozen food, dairy, beverages, etc. That type of stuff is really our bread and butter,” he says.
Jason Spafford, McKay’s Vice President of Business Development credits the down turn in the nation’s economy resulting in people being “more open to new ideas.”
Spafford also points to increasing regulations on the trucking industry working in favor of the railroads.
“There’s the restrictions on driving hours that’s making it harder and is pushing it more towards a rail solution,” he states.
Additionally, Spafford says McKay TransCold believes they have to offer rail rates that are eight to 15 percent less than truck rates, depending upon the commodity and specific traffic lane.
“Traditionally rail has had difficulty with box car and intermodal concerns with damage claims. We’ve developed a racking system that creates a rock solid load. It can actually have less shifting than in truck load,” Spafford says.
McKay TransCold took a different approach in that it initially developed westbound rail shipments from the Midwest with commodities like eggs and ice cream. It then developed its eastbound freight, which is the opposite approach from most companies.
While a lot of attention is being paid to rail hauling fresh produce, Kenny Lund, Vice President of Allen Lund Company of LaCanada, CA states, “Owner operators move probably 95 percent of the produce cross country. Owner operators dominate cross country transportation of produce. The carriers that haul for us have 25 trucks at the most. We work with over 9,000 refrigerated carriers and they are mostly guys with 25 trucks or less.”
Continuing, Lund points out it is the rules and regulations that are hurting the owner operators. He adds there is no driver shortage, it is an owner operator shortage. The truck broker has been one of CARB’s (California Air Resources Board) biggest critics, citing such requirements on equipment such as refrigerated units for trailers cannot be over seven years old. Lund also is critical of the new diesel engines calling them a “nightmare. They shut down and you can’at fix them out in the field. You have to tow them in. They are so complicated and these regulations are going to make it worse.”
Paul Kazan, president of Target Interstate Systems Inc., Bronx, NY, is equally critical of excessive regulations on 18 wheelers.
“You don’t see it (increasing regulations) with trains, but at every turn you see it with the trucking industry. There is a very concerted affect out there by the rail industry to restrict trucks and I’m surprised there is not a more concerted effort by the trucking industry to push back against this effect. We’ve never had the power or the clout of the rail industry,” Kazan states.
At the same time, Kazan adds he is having conversations with rail entities and says, “we need a rail component.”
Target is headquartered on the Hunts Point Terminal Wholesale Market. Still, Kazan sees the rails “shying away” from wholesale terminal markets because these facilities hold on to the trailers (TOFC) too long using them as storage.
Kazan concedes, “Rails are here to stay. You have the green (environmental) technology, the carbon footprint.”