Author Archive
Produce haulers found plenty of potatoes for hauling out of Idaho last year 
(season) and this time around there will be even more, if predictions hold true.
The nation’s biggest shipper of potatoes expects to have a volume for the 2012-13 shipping season that is 8 percent more than a year ago. Nationally, 5 percent more spuds are forecast to be shipped.
Idaho has a whopping 345,000 acres of potatoes planted. It’s true that the early variety norkotah russets harvest has been underway about a month. However, the tale of how many loads will be available this season comes with the main variety from Idaho, the russet burbanks. Still, with 25,000 more acres of spuds in the grown this year, Idaho most likely will have a huge amount of shipments.
Of course, not all of these loads will be by truck. Potatoes are a prime candiate for rail shipments every year – and the railroads do haul a significant amount, particularly out of Idaho.
Nationwide, total planted acreage is estimated at 1.15 million. The figure includes plantings from all four season, with fall plantings being about 1 million acres alone.
The actual potato volume for the fall season will have a better handle come November 9th when The USDA will issue a new crop estimate.
A primary threat to a reduction in loading opportunities is if an early, hard frost or snow hits the Idaho farming areas. This could damage potato crops. Thus, farmers will be harvesting quickly as possible through October to beat cold weather.
Idaho potatoes – grossing about $4300 to Atlanta; $5500 to New York.
As one of the longer hottest summers on record comes to a close we can 
reflect on the changes that have taken place in the lives of Americans in just a few short months.
The debt crisis, a prolonged recession, a volatile stock and housing market, the failure of Keynesian economics, social unrest in the Middle East, higher diesel and gasoline prices, inflated food prices, European economic failures, tornados and hurricanes, and the prolonged heat wave creates an environment of stress throughout our country that Americans haven’t experienced since The Great Depression of the 1930’s.
It may be that the stresses in the lives of Americans are indeed even worse today than it was over 80 years ago. During the 1930’s people were more self-reliant. We were a nation of individuals who were not too many generations removed from the self-reliant pioneers who settled this country.
Over the last 200 years Americans have lost the ability to take care of themselves. We have become a nation of lemmings who depend on someone else for nearly everything in our lives.
Gone are the days when we grew our own food, built our own houses, stitched our own cloths, and provided for our own future. Today we have so many people who look toward the government, or “Federal Family” as the spin doctors are now calling the government, for everything in their lives.
We have become walking zombies. What is interesting is the difference in the attitude of the people who live in different states. Our nation was designed as a union of individual states. The idea being that people who live in the states can govern their own lives with local and state governments, and that the federal government is to be limited and nonintrusive in our individual lives.
However, over the past 200 years the federal government has been growing and growing. We are at a crossroads as a nation. Do we continue with this bloated federal government and the increased financial burden it places on the people, or do we start to shrink the federal government back to a manageable level?
That will be the question facing us in the coming elections in November. Our nation has survived and prospered over the past 200 years to become the greatest nation that has ever existed. Our brand of freedom and capitalism has fed more people, created more prosperity, spread more democracy and freedom, and increased mankind’s knowledge of medical science and technology than any nation in history.
Now we face a danger, not from a foreign threat, but from a threat of human complacency from within. Do we allow ourselves to become the beings of George Orwell’s book Nineteen Eighty-Four, or do we stand on our own two feet as our founding fathers did?
Our society has developed a disturbing pattern of behavior in our people. Nobody is willing to take responsibility for their lives or their actions. We are constantly blaming the conditions of our lives on anyone or anything but the results of our own actions. This even goes all the way to the Oval Office. Obama has blamed his failures on everything from the last president to earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan.
We didn’t elect him to play the blame game, we elected him to fix the leak. “Joe the plumber” could have done a better job. Unfortunately we have complete states with this type of mentality. I hate to keep picking on California, but they are the best example of the worst of us.
California, a state of lemmings, has 12% of the nation’s population and 32% of the nation’s welfare. And they wonder why they are in debt $24 billion dollars and getting worse every day. Now what’s wrong with this picture?
All of us need to stop and re-evaluate our lives as individuals. Are we to become a has-been nation of lemmings, or a revived nation of individuals standing on our own two feet. It is now time for the nation to decide.
I, for one, think we are about to see a great revival in this country. A revival that will embrace our brand of capitalism and crush the socialist marxist leanings of many of our lemming citizens. But I have been wrong before.
It is tempting to let big brother and the nanny state do the things for us that we should be doing for ourselves. Laziness is a very human temptation. So stand in front of a mirror, fully clothed of course, and take a good look at who is looking back at you. Is that person taking on the shape of a lemming? If so, go out and wash and wax your car.
That’s exactly what my wife is going to do this fall. And she may even wax my truck, as she promised after her team lost the Super Bowl earlier this year.
— Larry Oscar
California fall produce shipments are in full mode, although this certainly does not mean the volume is there you normally find 
during the late spring and summer.
One of the best hauls continues to be table grapes out of the San Joaquin Valley. It is providing big volume and is one the finest quality crops in recent memory. That shouldstranslate into a reduction of claims and rejected loads. Grapes are averaging about 2,000 truck loads per week. Good volume also continues from the San Joaqun Valley with peaches, plums and nectarines although shipments are now in a seasonal decline.
If there is one segment of the produce industry capable of over producing on a scale of the potato industry, it is the growers of tomatoes. Vine ripe tomatoes abound in California with shipments coming out of Ventura County, the San Diego area, as well as Mexican product originating from Baja California. However, the biggest tomato volume is with mature greens grown in the San Joaquin Valley as well as areas located between the valley and the San Francisco Bay area (such as Tracy).
In the Salinas Valley, vegetable loads remain pretty consistent, led by head lettuce, then celery, plus broccoli and cauliflower. Plenty of other vegetables help fill partial loads as well….Although strawberry shipments are lower from the Watsonsville District, they are still accounting for over 600 truck loads per week.
Salinas Valley strawberries and vegetables – grossing about $7000 to New York City.
San Joaquin Valley grapes – about $4800 to Chicago.
Consumers tend to absolutely love Asian pears. It is a very attractive looking 
fruit and somewhat resembles a golden delicious apple. The hosui variety harvest in California ends in mid-September, but thanks to storage is available in supermarkets through April or May.
Availability in stores will be at peak levels until around New Year’s. Asian pears tend to be a little pricy, but folks that love ’em will pay extra. This piece of fruit shown in the photo cost $1.21.
Around mid October consumers will also begin to see Asian pears from Japan arriving in stores.
NUTRITITIONAL FACTS
An Asian pear contains approximately 51 total calories. Carbohydrates account for 47 calories, fat contributes 2 calories and protein provides the remaining 2 calories. An Asian pear provides 3 percent of the daily value (DV) for total calories based on a diet of 2,000 calories per day.
The fruit has 13g of total carbohydrates. Simple sugars provide 9g of this total and dietary fiber accounts for the remaining 4g. An Asian pear has 4 percent of the DV for total carbohydrates and 18 percent of the DV for dietary fiber. An Asian pear doesn’t have any complex carbohydrates.
It contains 0.3g of fat, or less than 1 percent of the DV for fat. It doesn’t have any unsaturated fats, trans fats or cholesterol. An Asian pear also contains 0.6g of protein, which is slightly more than 1 percent of the DV for protein.
An Asian pear contains 8 percent of the DV for vitamin C, 7 percent of the DV for vitamin K and 2 percent of the DV for folate. It also has 4 percent of the DV for potassium, 4 percent of the DV for manganese, 3 percent of the DV for copper and 2 percent of the DV for magnesium. An Asian pear provides 1 percent or less of the DV for all other vitamins and minerals.
References
The food and pharmaceutical industries are rapidly moving towards 
returnable transport items (RTIs) and reusable plastic containers (RPCs) for shipping goods through the supply chain. Why? They’re lighter, more durable and now can be made intelligent. By adding temperature monitoring capabilities directly into the RTIs and RPCs, growers, manufacturers, shippers and retailers can both track and monitor the quality of their products as they move through the cold chain to improve quality and operational efficiency while lowering costs.
Press Release: Intelleflex
(Editor’s Note: This also can provide protection from claims for owner operators and transporters)
Total Quality Logistics, Cincinnati, is launching Drivers Dreams, similar to a “make-a-wish” program for truck drivers.
Drivers can go to http://www.DriversDreams.com and submit “dreams,” such as a vacation or furthering their education, according to a news release.
TQL employees will choose the 10 most compelling submissions and put them on the website during the National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, Sept. 16-22.
Drivers cast votes on the submissions and the one with the most votes will receive $10,000, according to the release.
TQL plans to donate one dollar to the St. Christopher Truckers Development and Relief Fund for every submission. The company will donate up to $25,000
Freightliner Trucks is now accepting applications from professional truck drivers to participate as a “Team 
Run Smart” Pro Driver. Each “Team Run Smart” Pro will be provided with a Freightliner Cascadia Class 8 Tractor to use for two years! Team Run Smart Pros are considered the best owner-operators in the business and are industry experts who carry the utmost credibility with their peers. If you are selected, you will be asked to provide expert advice based on your experience on the road and in the business of trucking. Click here for the full list of criteria and responsibilities and watch the video below to see why you should apply to be a Team Run Smart Pro! ttps://www.teamrunsmart.com/pro
Team Run Smart – Become a Pro
www.teamrunsmart.com
Your truck IS your business. Learn how you can lower your operational costs and maximize your uptime – the keys to increasing your revenue.
RWI Transportation, Wilder, Ky., was recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in America.
Inc. Magazine released its 2012 list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the nation in mid-August, according to a news release.
The list is based on percentage revenue growth over a three-year period.
From 2008 to 2011, RWI transportation reached 17.6% in revenue growth, according to the release.
In June RWI expanded into a new 9,000-facility in Fort Thomas, Ky., to accommodate its expanding logistics unit.
“RWI Transportation has experienced expansive growth through recent years as a result of our reputation for quality service, flexibility and responsiveness to the marketplace,” Richard Bauer, executive vice president and general manager of RWI Transportation, said in the release. “We are extremely proud of the fact that, despite a slowly recovering economic environment, we have been able to achieve such impressive growth, and we’re honored to be recognized for our efforts by Inc. Magazine.”
To view the complete results of the list, visit www.inc.com/inc5000.
Cargo Data Corporation, Ventura, Calif., has released the Orange Wedge digital temperature recorder.
This temperature recorder is designed specifically for monitoring inter-company transfers and cross-dock movements, according to a news release.
Orange Wedge comes with an out-of-range alert. This feature allows unloading staff at the receiving dock to immediately know if an inter-company transfer shipment has strayed from desired temperature and other conditions during transit.
The Orange Wedge is compatible with Cargo Data’s KoldLink desktop application, according to the release.
The KoldLink also takes temperature data to Cargo Data’s UpLink cloud data access facility.
Is the Mexican truck border program falling apart? If so, that would be music 
to the ears of many, if not the majority in the trucking industry. On the other hand, produce shippers and others will not be too happy.
As reported here on August 23rd, a federal audit would be coming soon on the cross-border pilot program involving Mexican based trucking companies being allowed to operate in the USA.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration estimated that 46 Mexican carriers would participate in the three-year pilot program. The feds were planning to conduct 4,100 inspections during this time. However, only four Mexican trucking companies have participated, involving only four trucks and five drivers. A total of 89 inspections have been conducted by the FMCSA. Ouch!
The controverisal program has created some strange bedfellows in trucking. For example the Owner-Operators Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters seldom agree on much of anything. However, they’ve tightly held hands fighting this issue based around fears that a flood of Mexican trucks in the USA will drive down freight rates, many of which are not much different from 20 years ago. There also are concerns by owner operators over safety issues with Mexican equipment and lack of training among Mexican drivers.
Meanwhile produce shippers and others favoring Mexican trucking access to USA markets like the idea of greater competition leading to lower freight rates.
If the pilot program falls apart, with few Mexican trucking companies interested in participating, some produce shippers are concerned the Mexican government will re-implement tariffs of everything from apples to pears and potatoes – with some tariffs being as high as 20 percent.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), under which this pilot program is operating, requires the USA to permit cross-border trucking. However, legal challenges over the years by American carrier groups have prevented Mexican trucks from operating north of the border for over 10 years.
Produce haulers found plenty of potatoes for hauling out of Idaho last year (season) and this time around there will be even more, if predictions hold true.
The nation’s biggest shipper of potatoes expects to have a volume for the 2012-13 shipping season that is 8 percent more than a year ago. Nationally, 5 percent more spuds are forecast to be shipped.
Idaho has a whopping 345,000 acres of potatoes planted. It’s true that the early variety norkotah russets harvest has been underway about a month. However, the tale of how many loads will be available this season comes with the main variety from Idaho, the russet burbanks. Still, with 25,000 more acres of spuds in the grown this year, Idaho most likely will have a huge amount of shipments.
Of course, not all of these loads will be by truck. Potatoes are a prime candiate for rail shipments every year – and the railroads do haul a significant amount, particularly out of Idaho.
Nationwide, total planted acreage is estimated at 1.15 million. The figure includes plantings from all four season, with fall plantings being about 1 million acres alone.
The actual potato volume for the fall season will have a better handle come November 9th when The USDA will issue a new crop estimate.
A primary threat to a reduction in loading opportunities is if an early, hard frost or snow hits the Idaho farming areas. This could damage potato crops. Thus, farmers will be harvesting quickly as possible through October to beat cold weather.
Idaho potatoes – grossing about $4300 to Atlanta; $5500 to New York.
As one of the longer hottest summers on record comes to a close we can reflect on the changes that have taken place in the lives of Americans in just a few short months.
The debt crisis, a prolonged recession, a volatile stock and housing market, the failure of Keynesian economics, social unrest in the Middle East, higher diesel and gasoline prices, inflated food prices, European economic failures, tornados and hurricanes, and the prolonged heat wave creates an environment of stress throughout our country that Americans haven’t experienced since The Great Depression of the 1930’s.
It may be that the stresses in the lives of Americans are indeed even worse today than it was over 80 years ago. During the 1930’s people were more self-reliant. We were a nation of individuals who were not too many generations removed from the self-reliant pioneers who settled this country.
Over the last 200 years Americans have lost the ability to take care of themselves. We have become a nation of lemmings who depend on someone else for nearly everything in our lives.
Gone are the days when we grew our own food, built our own houses, stitched our own cloths, and provided for our own future. Today we have so many people who look toward the government, or “Federal Family” as the spin doctors are now calling the government, for everything in their lives.
We have become walking zombies. What is interesting is the difference in the attitude of the people who live in different states. Our nation was designed as a union of individual states. The idea being that people who live in the states can govern their own lives with local and state governments, and that the federal government is to be limited and nonintrusive in our individual lives.
However, over the past 200 years the federal government has been growing and growing. We are at a crossroads as a nation. Do we continue with this bloated federal government and the increased financial burden it places on the people, or do we start to shrink the federal government back to a manageable level?
That will be the question facing us in the coming elections in November. Our nation has survived and prospered over the past 200 years to become the greatest nation that has ever existed. Our brand of freedom and capitalism has fed more people, created more prosperity, spread more democracy and freedom, and increased mankind’s knowledge of medical science and technology than any nation in history.
Now we face a danger, not from a foreign threat, but from a threat of human complacency from within. Do we allow ourselves to become the beings of George Orwell’s book Nineteen Eighty-Four, or do we stand on our own two feet as our founding fathers did?
Our society has developed a disturbing pattern of behavior in our people. Nobody is willing to take responsibility for their lives or their actions. We are constantly blaming the conditions of our lives on anyone or anything but the results of our own actions. This even goes all the way to the Oval Office. Obama has blamed his failures on everything from the last president to earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan.
We didn’t elect him to play the blame game, we elected him to fix the leak. “Joe the plumber” could have done a better job. Unfortunately we have complete states with this type of mentality. I hate to keep picking on California, but they are the best example of the worst of us.
California, a state of lemmings, has 12% of the nation’s population and 32% of the nation’s welfare. And they wonder why they are in debt $24 billion dollars and getting worse every day. Now what’s wrong with this picture?
All of us need to stop and re-evaluate our lives as individuals. Are we to become a has-been nation of lemmings, or a revived nation of individuals standing on our own two feet. It is now time for the nation to decide.
I, for one, think we are about to see a great revival in this country. A revival that will embrace our brand of capitalism and crush the socialist marxist leanings of many of our lemming citizens. But I have been wrong before.
It is tempting to let big brother and the nanny state do the things for us that we should be doing for ourselves. Laziness is a very human temptation. So stand in front of a mirror, fully clothed of course, and take a good look at who is looking back at you. Is that person taking on the shape of a lemming? If so, go out and wash and wax your car.
That’s exactly what my wife is going to do this fall. And she may even wax my truck, as she promised after her team lost the Super Bowl earlier this year.
— Larry Oscar
California fall produce shipments are in full mode, although this certainly does not mean the volume is there you normally find during the late spring and summer.
One of the best hauls continues to be table grapes out of the San Joaquin Valley. It is providing big volume and is one the finest quality crops in recent memory. That shouldstranslate into a reduction of claims and rejected loads. Grapes are averaging about 2,000 truck loads per week. Good volume also continues from the San Joaqun Valley with peaches, plums and nectarines although shipments are now in a seasonal decline.
If there is one segment of the produce industry capable of over producing on a scale of the potato industry, it is the growers of tomatoes. Vine ripe tomatoes abound in California with shipments coming out of Ventura County, the San Diego area, as well as Mexican product originating from Baja California. However, the biggest tomato volume is with mature greens grown in the San Joaquin Valley as well as areas located between the valley and the San Francisco Bay area (such as Tracy).
In the Salinas Valley, vegetable loads remain pretty consistent, led by head lettuce, then celery, plus broccoli and cauliflower. Plenty of other vegetables help fill partial loads as well….Although strawberry shipments are lower from the Watsonsville District, they are still accounting for over 600 truck loads per week.
Salinas Valley strawberries and vegetables – grossing about $7000 to New York City.
San Joaquin Valley grapes – about $4800 to Chicago.
Consumers tend to absolutely love Asian pears. It is a very attractive looking fruit and somewhat resembles a golden delicious apple. The hosui variety harvest in California ends in mid-September, but thanks to storage is available in supermarkets through April or May.
Availability in stores will be at peak levels until around New Year’s. Asian pears tend to be a little pricy, but folks that love ’em will pay extra. This piece of fruit shown in the photo cost $1.21.
Around mid October consumers will also begin to see Asian pears from Japan arriving in stores.
NUTRITITIONAL FACTS
An Asian pear contains approximately 51 total calories. Carbohydrates account for 47 calories, fat contributes 2 calories and protein provides the remaining 2 calories. An Asian pear provides 3 percent of the daily value (DV) for total calories based on a diet of 2,000 calories per day.
The fruit has 13g of total carbohydrates. Simple sugars provide 9g of this total and dietary fiber accounts for the remaining 4g. An Asian pear has 4 percent of the DV for total carbohydrates and 18 percent of the DV for dietary fiber. An Asian pear doesn’t have any complex carbohydrates.
It contains 0.3g of fat, or less than 1 percent of the DV for fat. It doesn’t have any unsaturated fats, trans fats or cholesterol. An Asian pear also contains 0.6g of protein, which is slightly more than 1 percent of the DV for protein.
An Asian pear contains 8 percent of the DV for vitamin C, 7 percent of the DV for vitamin K and 2 percent of the DV for folate. It also has 4 percent of the DV for potassium, 4 percent of the DV for manganese, 3 percent of the DV for copper and 2 percent of the DV for magnesium. An Asian pear provides 1 percent or less of the DV for all other vitamins and minerals.
References
The food and pharmaceutical industries are rapidly moving towards returnable transport items (RTIs) and reusable plastic containers (RPCs) for shipping goods through the supply chain. Why? They’re lighter, more durable and now can be made intelligent. By adding temperature monitoring capabilities directly into the RTIs and RPCs, growers, manufacturers, shippers and retailers can both track and monitor the quality of their products as they move through the cold chain to improve quality and operational efficiency while lowering costs.
Press Release: Intelleflex
(Editor’s Note: This also can provide protection from claims for owner operators and transporters)
Total Quality Logistics, Cincinnati, is launching Drivers Dreams, similar to a “make-a-wish” program for truck drivers.
Drivers can go to http://www.DriversDreams.com and submit “dreams,” such as a vacation or furthering their education, according to a news release.
TQL employees will choose the 10 most compelling submissions and put them on the website during the National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, Sept. 16-22.
Drivers cast votes on the submissions and the one with the most votes will receive $10,000, according to the release.
TQL plans to donate one dollar to the St. Christopher Truckers Development and Relief Fund for every submission. The company will donate up to $25,000
Freightliner Trucks is now accepting applications from professional truck drivers to participate as a “Team Run Smart” Pro Driver. Each “Team Run Smart” Pro will be provided with a Freightliner Cascadia Class 8 Tractor to use for two years! Team Run Smart Pros are considered the best owner-operators in the business and are industry experts who carry the utmost credibility with their peers. If you are selected, you will be asked to provide expert advice based on your experience on the road and in the business of trucking. Click here for the full list of criteria and responsibilities and watch the video below to see why you should apply to be a Team Run Smart Pro! ttps://www.teamrunsmart.com/pro
Team Run Smart – Become a Pro
www.teamrunsmart.com
Your truck IS your business. Learn how you can lower your operational costs and maximize your uptime – the keys to increasing your revenue.
RWI Transportation, Wilder, Ky., was recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in America.
Inc. Magazine released its 2012 list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the nation in mid-August, according to a news release.
The list is based on percentage revenue growth over a three-year period.
From 2008 to 2011, RWI transportation reached 17.6% in revenue growth, according to the release.
In June RWI expanded into a new 9,000-facility in Fort Thomas, Ky., to accommodate its expanding logistics unit.
“RWI Transportation has experienced expansive growth through recent years as a result of our reputation for quality service, flexibility and responsiveness to the marketplace,” Richard Bauer, executive vice president and general manager of RWI Transportation, said in the release. “We are extremely proud of the fact that, despite a slowly recovering economic environment, we have been able to achieve such impressive growth, and we’re honored to be recognized for our efforts by Inc. Magazine.”
To view the complete results of the list, visit www.inc.com/inc5000.
Cargo Data Corporation, Ventura, Calif., has released the Orange Wedge digital temperature recorder.
This temperature recorder is designed specifically for monitoring inter-company transfers and cross-dock movements, according to a news release.
Orange Wedge comes with an out-of-range alert. This feature allows unloading staff at the receiving dock to immediately know if an inter-company transfer shipment has strayed from desired temperature and other conditions during transit.
The Orange Wedge is compatible with Cargo Data’s KoldLink desktop application, according to the release.
The KoldLink also takes temperature data to Cargo Data’s UpLink cloud data access facility.
Is the Mexican truck border program falling apart? If so, that would be music to the ears of many, if not the majority in the trucking industry. On the other hand, produce shippers and others will not be too happy.
As reported here on August 23rd, a federal audit would be coming soon on the cross-border pilot program involving Mexican based trucking companies being allowed to operate in the USA.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration estimated that 46 Mexican carriers would participate in the three-year pilot program. The feds were planning to conduct 4,100 inspections during this time. However, only four Mexican trucking companies have participated, involving only four trucks and five drivers. A total of 89 inspections have been conducted by the FMCSA. Ouch!
The controverisal program has created some strange bedfellows in trucking. For example the Owner-Operators Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters seldom agree on much of anything. However, they’ve tightly held hands fighting this issue based around fears that a flood of Mexican trucks in the USA will drive down freight rates, many of which are not much different from 20 years ago. There also are concerns by owner operators over safety issues with Mexican equipment and lack of training among Mexican drivers.
Meanwhile produce shippers and others favoring Mexican trucking access to USA markets like the idea of greater competition leading to lower freight rates.
If the pilot program falls apart, with few Mexican trucking companies interested in participating, some produce shippers are concerned the Mexican government will re-implement tariffs of everything from apples to pears and potatoes – with some tariffs being as high as 20 percent.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), under which this pilot program is operating, requires the USA to permit cross-border trucking. However, legal challenges over the years by American carrier groups have prevented Mexican trucks from operating north of the border for over 10 years.