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Britton Transport Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Bison Transport Inc., announced 
today the acquisition of Scott’s Express Inc. and Scott’s Transportation Services Inc. (collectively “Scott’s), located in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Scott’s was established in 1952 and is a nationwide trucking and truck brokerage company, specializing in Agribusiness throughout the United States and parts of Canada.
Brad Seymour
“The acquisition of Scott’s expands and builds upon Britton’s customer relationships and capabilities as a logistics service provider in the Red River Valley,” said Dave Britton, President of Britton. “Scott’s has a long tradition of service excellence among agricultural shippers within the valley and will continue to service its customers with Britton’s support. We are excited about the opportunity to serve Scott’s long-term customers with Britton’s asset-based capabilities.”
Brad Seymour, President of Scott’s, will continue with the company in the transition of ownership and servicing of Scott’s customers. He says, “I have known Dave Britton for over 25 years and have a high regard for the way Britton does business. We are very pleased to be joining forces with Britton and I feel it gives our employees and our customers a platform to grow in the years ahead.”
Founded in 1952, Scott’s was initially operated as a filling station but soon after Archie Scott identified a need for sourcing trucks on behalf of local potato farmers. What started as a sideline became the first truck brokerage in the Red River Valley. Today, Scott’s continues to service the potato and specialty crop sector with superior service and an unmatched reputation.
Financial details concerning this transaction have not been disclosed.
(This story appeared 8/28/12 in Potato Bytes, the online publication of the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association)
Pictured here is a seeded watermelon. Don’t see ’em near as much as you used 
to. They have kind of gone the way of “plucking” a watermelon before you buy it. Remember that? Try plucking one today, and you just might be arrested (plucking is using a knife to cut a triangular piece out of the watermelon to taste to see if it’s worth buying). I never was very good at thumping melons to see if they were ripe. I generally just go by color and making sure they don’t have any soft spots. Anyway, I’ve had bought my share of watermelons over the 10 weeks or so. Some were good and others not so good.
This is first seeded watermelon I’ve purchased this year. Seedless melons are just about all the produce departments in stores sell anymore. They assume we consumers are simply too lazy to be bothered with spitting out seeds. Anyway, the seeded melon was as good as any watermelon I’ve had this summer – and was better than most. It was shipped out of Edinburg, TX. Enjoy watermelons while you can, supplies and quality often diminshed after Labor Day.
Another item that has had fantastic quality this summer are cherries – first out of California and now they are coming out of Washington state and Oregon. A record crop has resulted in reasonable retail prices. Like watermelons, enjoy the Northwest cherries while you can. They will be vanishing from your local supermarket by Labor Day.
Another great buy now in retail stores are California grapes, both red and green. They will typically be available through the end of the year, although supplies in the fall drop and prices trend up. But right now, a record crop is being harvested, quality is excellent and prices good. Let’s hope the heat in the San Joaquin Valley subsides some and doesn’t take a toll of the quality of what is a fruit that has excellent eating.
As expected, there will be a record number of cherries shipped from 
Washington state this season by produce haulers.
Washington state had shipped 18.7 million boxes of cherries as of August 22nd. If you include the Northwest, in other words, mostly Oregon, as of Aug. 22, 22.8 million boxes of cherries had been shipped, which also is a record. By the end of August most of the fruit will have been packed and shipped, and total volume will likely top a record 23 million boxes.
California table grape shipments are ahead of schedule this season due to the warmer-than-normal weather. The primary concern is if the San Joaquin Valley heat eventually starts taking a toll of the vineyards, which could lead to quality problems, something we’ll watch out for as it could impact claims or rejected loads for produce truckers.
It appears this year will be the first time California hits 100 million or more boxes of grapes.
In the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, watermelon shipments continue. Quality appears good enough that you should be able to avoid unfair claims or rejected loads – depending of course, upon whom you are delivering to. There also are steady shipments of Mexican citrus, tropical fruit and vegetables crossing the border into South Texas.
In the Hudson Valley of New York, various vegetables such as sweet corn are being loaded in light to moderate volume. The new apple harvest has just started and volume is very light, but increasing.
South Texas produce loads – grossing about $220o to Atlanta.
San Joaquin Valley grapes – grossing about $4300 to Chicago.
I spent Thursday at the Great American Truck Show in Dallas visiting with as 
many drivers and exhibitors as possible. It was the first show I’d been to in five or six years. Dates of the show are Thursday, Friday and Saturday, August 23-25.
It appears to be a little larger than when I last attended, and there seemed to be more trucks entered in the Pride & Polish competition. There are over 500 exhibitors, according the GATS program. The first few hours of the first day of the show had light traffic, but it picked up significantly the last half of the afternoon. Traditionally, there will be a lot more attendees today and Saturday.
While there are some of the big name companies at the show such as Peterbilt and Great Dane, there are obviously a number of the big boys that continue to not exhibit at Dallas.
Still, it is a good show, with the usual workshops and country performers with big names, but past their glory days.
Apparently there is still good demand for drivers as quite a few carriers and logistics companies were exhibiting putting, their best foot forward to sign up owner operators and company drivers.
The show continues to be under air conditioning, which includes the Pride and Polish competition. Dallas can be brutal in August, although yesterday it was only 95 degrees, with low humidity.
Show hours today and Saturday are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
— Bill Martin
Produce shipments from the Western half of the USA offer perishable haulers 
some obvious and not-so-obvious choices for obtaining loads.
Here’s some places you may not have considered. New crops of potatoes are now available in some upper mid-western states. The Big Lake, MN area is shipping both red potatoes and russets. New crops of spuds have recently got underway from Central Wisconsin, Nebraska and Northern Colorado.
In Idaho and Malheur County, OR., loading opportunities have recently become available with a new crop of storage onions. While the area is known for its onions, a few shippers are starting to offer sweet onions. Just be aware that these shippers are new at this game and still may be on a learning curve relating to quality. Sweet onions often do not store well.
In California, the heaviest volume from the Salinas Valley is with head lettuce, averaging about 1,100 truck load equivalents per week. Many other vegetable items are also being shipped…..In the nearby Watsonville District, about 750 truckload equivalents of strawberriers are being loaded weekly.
Plenty of loading opportunities are coming from the San Joaquin Valley of California with stone fruit, veggies and grapes. Heaviest table grape movement is from the southern valley area known as the Kern District, but volume is rapidly increasing from more northern areas of the valley.
An update on apple shipments from Washington state, shows it will account for 77 percent of the nation’as apple shipments during the 2012-13 shipping season. Washington always leads the nation in this category, but with heavy weather related losses to apples in Michigan and New York state, the northwest will provide an even more than normal percentage of the country’s apple loads. Washington expects to ship its second largest amount of apples in history; and this is despite a 10 to 15 percent crop loss due to hail storms earlier this year.
Salinas Valley produce – grossing about $7500 to New York City.
Big Lake MN potatoes – about $1300 to Chicago.
Central Wisconsin potatoes – about $2500 to Atlanta.
Within the next month USA transportation officials anticipate an audit report 
on the trucking pilot program with Mexico. While U.S. produce industry shippers may be anxious because thereport could be negative, they fear it could lead to another round of retaliatory tariffs by Mexico.
At the same time some trucking groups in the USA hope this is exactly what happens. Not necessarily retailitory tariffs by the Mexicans, but they are strongly opposed to Mexican truckers having free access to USA markets with poorly trained drivers and subpar equipment, compared to American standards — not to mentions concerns freights were plummet.
The apple, pear and cherry industries in the Northwest has paid tens of millions of dollars during the three years that Mexico imposed 20% tariffs.
The North American Free Trade Act requires the U.S. to allow cross-border trucking. However, opposition by U.S. trucking unions – including the Teamsters and trade organizations – such as the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, OOIDA, has kept the Mexican trucks out for more than a decade after the act went into effect in 1994. The trucking interests cited safety concerns with Mexican trucking equipment and drivers.
Despite lobbying efforts and some congressional roadblocks, the pilot program finally gained approval from President Obama and his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon in July 2011. The first Mexican truck came into the U.S. in October 2011.
However, only six Mexican carriers — each with one truck approved for the program — are participating in the pilot program.
One requirement built into the pilot program is that the DOT be able to document the safety of the Mexican trucks and drivers with “statistically valid” data. Powers said that could be a difficult task because of the low participation numbers.
Late summer shipments of fresh fruits and vegetables continue in steady 
volume from around the country.
In New York state, onions have started from Orange County, while cabbage is coming from several areas in both the central and western parts of the state.
Michigan shippers continue to load a variety of vegetables, led by cucumbers and squash, particularly from the western half of the state.
It is a relatively short shipping season for red potatoes from the Big Lake, MN area. Those loadings will soon be giving away to the Red River Valley, which should move into volume shipments after Labor Day.
In California, stone fruit, grape and vegetables loads remain steady for the most part. A similar situation exits for vegetables from the Salinas Valley.
Tabulations for the outlook of national apple shipments have been issued at a recent outlook and marketing conference. The forecast predicts the smallest apple crop since 1986. This would amount to 192 million bushels, ranking it as the 31st biggest crop that will be shipped.
While the forecasts for the East and Midwest regions declined this year, the forecast for the West increased by 6 percent. And although some of its crop was damaged by hail, Washington state is still forecast to produce 135.7 million bushels, 5 percent above its 2011 production.
Washington state apples and pears – grossing about $5600 to New York City.
Michigan vegetables – about $900 to Chicago.
San Joaquin Valley produce – about $6000 to Atlanta.
More and more often you here the phrase “you just can’t make this stuff up.” 
Funny, most of the time it’s in regard to something from Washington. Just when you think the world can’t get any more crazy…… it invariably does. It seems like the entire world has lost all common sense and irrational behavior is now the new norm.
Lliving in Oklahoma, and having my ancestry go back to before the 1889 Oklahoma Land Run, it is easy to see why we think very differently than much of the rest of the nation. Oklahoma Territory was settled by a diverse set of fiercely independent people. They range from native American tribes, outlaws, oil barons, farmers, coal miners, cattle ranchers, and even bootleggers. The makeup of our state is not a socially unified group of people.
If you walk up to a native Oklahoman and tell him “we are all in this together,” you will more often than not get a frown, and a reply that lets you know that they will be the judge of who and whom they are “in this together with” and not you.
We are individuals in Oklahoma, and not members of some group of human lemmings like they are in other states. If you have moved here from the “Left Coast” or “Taxachusetts,” you will quickly learn that we don’t appreciate socialists. In fact, you may get invited to return from whence you came!
There is such a thing as “Oklahoma Values” and most Oklahomans will take up arms to defend them, including me. Here are some of our Oklahoma values:
1. You must stand on your own two feet! Nobody “owes” you anything. Your success in life depends on your decisions and your behavior. It’s nobody’s fault but your own. Got that “Oblama!”
2. We “give”…We don’t “give back”! As Oklahomans we have worked hard to get where we are in life. When you “libtards” ask us to “give back” you are marginalizing our accomplishments in life. We didn’t get where we are by being “lucky” or “fortunate.” The vast majority of Oklahomans got where we are by hard work and being willing to take a business risk. If you want us to donate our time and money you better just ask us to “give.” Don’t insult our individual accomplishments by asking us to “give back.”
3. Never blame your parents! Your parents only have you for about 18 years. And by the time you reach 13, you won’t listen to anything they have to say anyway, so take responsibility for your own life and your own actions. You won’t find 40-year-old Oklahomans blaming their parents.
4. We shoot guns! Oklahoma is a land of the outdoors. We fish, hunt, camp out, hike, and we love things that explode and make noise. If you come from a part of the country where you have never been exposed to firearms, don’t bring your anti-gun mentality to Oklahoma. We are proud of our western heritage and WE SHOOT GUNS!
5. No whining! Oklahomans are not whiners. Good and bad things happen in life. That’s just the way it is so learn to live with it. You will have good and bad times. We lived through the dust bowl, WWII, and the Great Depression all at once. The woosies among us left for California. I could write a book on that.
6. The government can roll it up into a nice tight ball and put it where the sun never shines! Oklahomans don’t want a nanny state government. We will take care of our own and ourselves. Whiz on the government. We are a free people who will live free or die. Don’t bring your big government mentality into our state. You will find that Democrats and Republicans in our state consider themselves as Oklahomans and brothers first. We Oklahomans stand together, and we will determine how we live and not some all powerful dictator from Washington.
The list of Oklahoma values is much longer than the six listed above, and any native Oklahoman will be happy to expound on the full list if asked. Oh…one more Oklahoma value. We like burgers, hot dogs, BBQ, fried chicken, and 32oz soft drinks. Got that New York? — By Larry Oscar
WEST CHESTER. PA – A. Duie Pyle, a leading Northeast transportation and 
logistics provider, announced Leo Flack has won his second National Championship by earning first place in this year’s Sleeper Berth Class division. The American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) National Truck Driving Championship was held the second week of August in Minneapolis, MN and included top professional truck drivers from around the nation who qualified during the summer at state and regional levels in order to advance to the national competition.
Flack of West Chester, PA placed first in the Sleeper Berth Class division after completing a written examination, pre-trip inspection test and a skills test. A veteran of the competition, Leo has competed in the championship round for 7 years. In 2011 he took top honors in the tank truck division.
“We are extremely proud of our drivers, and we are especially proud of Leo Flack,” said Peter Dannecker, director of loss prevention for A. Duie Pyle. “He is a humble, soft-spoken gentleman who worked hard for this achievement by relentlessly studying and practicing whenever he could. Earning his way to the championship round for the past 7 years and winning gold belt buckles in the past two is a testament to his hard work and dedication.”
Over 400 drivers from all 50 states competed in Minneapolis for four days during the 2012 National Truck Driving Championships and National Step Van Driving Championships, known as the “Super Bowl of Safety”, challenging their driving skills, and knowledge of safety, equipment and the industry. This year marked the 75th anniversary of the event.
Press release provided by A. Duie Pyle
Triple digit heat in much of the country has finally broken and fall shipments 
of fresh produce are coming. Two such items are fresh cranberries, that will be shipped from a handful of states, plus California apples that fill a niche between loadings of Chilean fruit and apples out of Washington state.
The third largest cranberry crop on record is being forecast by the USDA, amounting to 7.6 million 100-pound barrels. While Massachuetts will be down slightly from last fall, increases are seen in Wisconsin, Washington state, Oregon and New Jersey (the latter being virtually all processed fruit).
Expect Wisconsin cranberry shipments to get started around the week of September 17th, with Massachusetts starting around that same time as well. Oregon and Washington state seasonally start later.
While loadings begin in September, cranberries are still closely associated with the Thanksgiving holiday. Thus, the big volume is moved in the first half of November leading up to the holiday. With this big a crop, some loads will be moving after Thanksgiving (which is November 22nd) for the Christmas holidays.
California Apples
A lot more California apples used to be shipped than are today. This situation reminds me a bit of vegetables shipped from the Eastern Shore area of Delaware, Maryland and Viriginia. This region is sandwiched in between harvests to its south such as the Carolinas and Georgia, and to the north in shipping areas such as New Jersey and New York. If the Eastern shore veggies are too early or too late they are up against shipments from competing areas to the north and south of them. As a result of many “misses” compared to “hits” for the Eastern Shore, shippers have hurt. The result is fewer shippers and less volume than a decade or two ago.
If you are a veteran trucker who has hauled apples from California, you may remember in the mid 1990s there were around 10 million boxes of fruit being shipped for the season. Today, that number has dwindled to about 2.5 to 3 million boxes. Most of the loads originate out the Central San Joaquin Valley including San Joaquin County, Sonoma County and Santa Cruz County.
Shipments will continue through December. Leading apple varieties are fujis, galas and granny smiths.
Britton Transport Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Bison Transport Inc., announced today the acquisition of Scott’s Express Inc. and Scott’s Transportation Services Inc. (collectively “Scott’s), located in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Scott’s was established in 1952 and is a nationwide trucking and truck brokerage company, specializing in Agribusiness throughout the United States and parts of Canada.
Brad Seymour
“The acquisition of Scott’s expands and builds upon Britton’s customer relationships and capabilities as a logistics service provider in the Red River Valley,” said Dave Britton, President of Britton. “Scott’s has a long tradition of service excellence among agricultural shippers within the valley and will continue to service its customers with Britton’s support. We are excited about the opportunity to serve Scott’s long-term customers with Britton’s asset-based capabilities.”
Brad Seymour, President of Scott’s, will continue with the company in the transition of ownership and servicing of Scott’s customers. He says, “I have known Dave Britton for over 25 years and have a high regard for the way Britton does business. We are very pleased to be joining forces with Britton and I feel it gives our employees and our customers a platform to grow in the years ahead.”
Founded in 1952, Scott’s was initially operated as a filling station but soon after Archie Scott identified a need for sourcing trucks on behalf of local potato farmers. What started as a sideline became the first truck brokerage in the Red River Valley. Today, Scott’s continues to service the potato and specialty crop sector with superior service and an unmatched reputation.
Financial details concerning this transaction have not been disclosed.
(This story appeared 8/28/12 in Potato Bytes, the online publication of the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association)
Pictured here is a seeded watermelon. Don’t see ’em near as much as you used to. They have kind of gone the way of “plucking” a watermelon before you buy it. Remember that? Try plucking one today, and you just might be arrested (plucking is using a knife to cut a triangular piece out of the watermelon to taste to see if it’s worth buying). I never was very good at thumping melons to see if they were ripe. I generally just go by color and making sure they don’t have any soft spots. Anyway, I’ve had bought my share of watermelons over the 10 weeks or so. Some were good and others not so good.
This is first seeded watermelon I’ve purchased this year. Seedless melons are just about all the produce departments in stores sell anymore. They assume we consumers are simply too lazy to be bothered with spitting out seeds. Anyway, the seeded melon was as good as any watermelon I’ve had this summer – and was better than most. It was shipped out of Edinburg, TX. Enjoy watermelons while you can, supplies and quality often diminshed after Labor Day.
Another item that has had fantastic quality this summer are cherries – first out of California and now they are coming out of Washington state and Oregon. A record crop has resulted in reasonable retail prices. Like watermelons, enjoy the Northwest cherries while you can. They will be vanishing from your local supermarket by Labor Day.
Another great buy now in retail stores are California grapes, both red and green. They will typically be available through the end of the year, although supplies in the fall drop and prices trend up. But right now, a record crop is being harvested, quality is excellent and prices good. Let’s hope the heat in the San Joaquin Valley subsides some and doesn’t take a toll of the quality of what is a fruit that has excellent eating.
As expected, there will be a record number of cherries shipped from Washington state this season by produce haulers.
Washington state had shipped 18.7 million boxes of cherries as of August 22nd. If you include the Northwest, in other words, mostly Oregon, as of Aug. 22, 22.8 million boxes of cherries had been shipped, which also is a record. By the end of August most of the fruit will have been packed and shipped, and total volume will likely top a record 23 million boxes.
California table grape shipments are ahead of schedule this season due to the warmer-than-normal weather. The primary concern is if the San Joaquin Valley heat eventually starts taking a toll of the vineyards, which could lead to quality problems, something we’ll watch out for as it could impact claims or rejected loads for produce truckers.
It appears this year will be the first time California hits 100 million or more boxes of grapes.
In the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, watermelon shipments continue. Quality appears good enough that you should be able to avoid unfair claims or rejected loads – depending of course, upon whom you are delivering to. There also are steady shipments of Mexican citrus, tropical fruit and vegetables crossing the border into South Texas.
In the Hudson Valley of New York, various vegetables such as sweet corn are being loaded in light to moderate volume. The new apple harvest has just started and volume is very light, but increasing.
South Texas produce loads – grossing about $220o to Atlanta.
San Joaquin Valley grapes – grossing about $4300 to Chicago.
I spent Thursday at the Great American Truck Show in Dallas visiting with as many drivers and exhibitors as possible. It was the first show I’d been to in five or six years. Dates of the show are Thursday, Friday and Saturday, August 23-25.
It appears to be a little larger than when I last attended, and there seemed to be more trucks entered in the Pride & Polish competition. There are over 500 exhibitors, according the GATS program. The first few hours of the first day of the show had light traffic, but it picked up significantly the last half of the afternoon. Traditionally, there will be a lot more attendees today and Saturday.
While there are some of the big name companies at the show such as Peterbilt and Great Dane, there are obviously a number of the big boys that continue to not exhibit at Dallas.
Still, it is a good show, with the usual workshops and country performers with big names, but past their glory days.
Apparently there is still good demand for drivers as quite a few carriers and logistics companies were exhibiting putting, their best foot forward to sign up owner operators and company drivers.
The show continues to be under air conditioning, which includes the Pride and Polish competition. Dallas can be brutal in August, although yesterday it was only 95 degrees, with low humidity.
Show hours today and Saturday are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
— Bill Martin
Produce shipments from the Western half of the USA offer perishable haulers some obvious and not-so-obvious choices for obtaining loads.
Here’s some places you may not have considered. New crops of potatoes are now available in some upper mid-western states. The Big Lake, MN area is shipping both red potatoes and russets. New crops of spuds have recently got underway from Central Wisconsin, Nebraska and Northern Colorado.
In Idaho and Malheur County, OR., loading opportunities have recently become available with a new crop of storage onions. While the area is known for its onions, a few shippers are starting to offer sweet onions. Just be aware that these shippers are new at this game and still may be on a learning curve relating to quality. Sweet onions often do not store well.
In California, the heaviest volume from the Salinas Valley is with head lettuce, averaging about 1,100 truck load equivalents per week. Many other vegetable items are also being shipped…..In the nearby Watsonville District, about 750 truckload equivalents of strawberriers are being loaded weekly.
Plenty of loading opportunities are coming from the San Joaquin Valley of California with stone fruit, veggies and grapes. Heaviest table grape movement is from the southern valley area known as the Kern District, but volume is rapidly increasing from more northern areas of the valley.
An update on apple shipments from Washington state, shows it will account for 77 percent of the nation’as apple shipments during the 2012-13 shipping season. Washington always leads the nation in this category, but with heavy weather related losses to apples in Michigan and New York state, the northwest will provide an even more than normal percentage of the country’s apple loads. Washington expects to ship its second largest amount of apples in history; and this is despite a 10 to 15 percent crop loss due to hail storms earlier this year.
Salinas Valley produce – grossing about $7500 to New York City.
Big Lake MN potatoes – about $1300 to Chicago.
Central Wisconsin potatoes – about $2500 to Atlanta.
Within the next month USA transportation officials anticipate an audit report on the trucking pilot program with Mexico. While U.S. produce industry shippers may be anxious because thereport could be negative, they fear it could lead to another round of retaliatory tariffs by Mexico.
At the same time some trucking groups in the USA hope this is exactly what happens. Not necessarily retailitory tariffs by the Mexicans, but they are strongly opposed to Mexican truckers having free access to USA markets with poorly trained drivers and subpar equipment, compared to American standards — not to mentions concerns freights were plummet.
The apple, pear and cherry industries in the Northwest has paid tens of millions of dollars during the three years that Mexico imposed 20% tariffs.
The North American Free Trade Act requires the U.S. to allow cross-border trucking. However, opposition by U.S. trucking unions – including the Teamsters and trade organizations – such as the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, OOIDA, has kept the Mexican trucks out for more than a decade after the act went into effect in 1994. The trucking interests cited safety concerns with Mexican trucking equipment and drivers.
Despite lobbying efforts and some congressional roadblocks, the pilot program finally gained approval from President Obama and his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon in July 2011. The first Mexican truck came into the U.S. in October 2011.
However, only six Mexican carriers — each with one truck approved for the program — are participating in the pilot program.
One requirement built into the pilot program is that the DOT be able to document the safety of the Mexican trucks and drivers with “statistically valid” data. Powers said that could be a difficult task because of the low participation numbers.
Late summer shipments of fresh fruits and vegetables continue in steady volume from around the country.
In New York state, onions have started from Orange County, while cabbage is coming from several areas in both the central and western parts of the state.
Michigan shippers continue to load a variety of vegetables, led by cucumbers and squash, particularly from the western half of the state.
It is a relatively short shipping season for red potatoes from the Big Lake, MN area. Those loadings will soon be giving away to the Red River Valley, which should move into volume shipments after Labor Day.
In California, stone fruit, grape and vegetables loads remain steady for the most part. A similar situation exits for vegetables from the Salinas Valley.
Tabulations for the outlook of national apple shipments have been issued at a recent outlook and marketing conference. The forecast predicts the smallest apple crop since 1986. This would amount to 192 million bushels, ranking it as the 31st biggest crop that will be shipped.
While the forecasts for the East and Midwest regions declined this year, the forecast for the West increased by 6 percent. And although some of its crop was damaged by hail, Washington state is still forecast to produce 135.7 million bushels, 5 percent above its 2011 production.
Washington state apples and pears – grossing about $5600 to New York City.
Michigan vegetables – about $900 to Chicago.
San Joaquin Valley produce – about $6000 to Atlanta.
More and more often you here the phrase “you just can’t make this stuff up.” Funny, most of the time it’s in regard to something from Washington. Just when you think the world can’t get any more crazy…… it invariably does. It seems like the entire world has lost all common sense and irrational behavior is now the new norm.
Lliving in Oklahoma, and having my ancestry go back to before the 1889 Oklahoma Land Run, it is easy to see why we think very differently than much of the rest of the nation. Oklahoma Territory was settled by a diverse set of fiercely independent people. They range from native American tribes, outlaws, oil barons, farmers, coal miners, cattle ranchers, and even bootleggers. The makeup of our state is not a socially unified group of people.
If you walk up to a native Oklahoman and tell him “we are all in this together,” you will more often than not get a frown, and a reply that lets you know that they will be the judge of who and whom they are “in this together with” and not you.
We are individuals in Oklahoma, and not members of some group of human lemmings like they are in other states. If you have moved here from the “Left Coast” or “Taxachusetts,” you will quickly learn that we don’t appreciate socialists. In fact, you may get invited to return from whence you came!
There is such a thing as “Oklahoma Values” and most Oklahomans will take up arms to defend them, including me. Here are some of our Oklahoma values:
1. You must stand on your own two feet! Nobody “owes” you anything. Your success in life depends on your decisions and your behavior. It’s nobody’s fault but your own. Got that “Oblama!”
2. We “give”…We don’t “give back”! As Oklahomans we have worked hard to get where we are in life. When you “libtards” ask us to “give back” you are marginalizing our accomplishments in life. We didn’t get where we are by being “lucky” or “fortunate.” The vast majority of Oklahomans got where we are by hard work and being willing to take a business risk. If you want us to donate our time and money you better just ask us to “give.” Don’t insult our individual accomplishments by asking us to “give back.”
3. Never blame your parents! Your parents only have you for about 18 years. And by the time you reach 13, you won’t listen to anything they have to say anyway, so take responsibility for your own life and your own actions. You won’t find 40-year-old Oklahomans blaming their parents.
4. We shoot guns! Oklahoma is a land of the outdoors. We fish, hunt, camp out, hike, and we love things that explode and make noise. If you come from a part of the country where you have never been exposed to firearms, don’t bring your anti-gun mentality to Oklahoma. We are proud of our western heritage and WE SHOOT GUNS!
5. No whining! Oklahomans are not whiners. Good and bad things happen in life. That’s just the way it is so learn to live with it. You will have good and bad times. We lived through the dust bowl, WWII, and the Great Depression all at once. The woosies among us left for California. I could write a book on that.
6. The government can roll it up into a nice tight ball and put it where the sun never shines! Oklahomans don’t want a nanny state government. We will take care of our own and ourselves. Whiz on the government. We are a free people who will live free or die. Don’t bring your big government mentality into our state. You will find that Democrats and Republicans in our state consider themselves as Oklahomans and brothers first. We Oklahomans stand together, and we will determine how we live and not some all powerful dictator from Washington.
The list of Oklahoma values is much longer than the six listed above, and any native Oklahoman will be happy to expound on the full list if asked. Oh…one more Oklahoma value. We like burgers, hot dogs, BBQ, fried chicken, and 32oz soft drinks. Got that New York? — By Larry Oscar
WEST CHESTER. PA – A. Duie Pyle, a leading Northeast transportation and logistics provider, announced Leo Flack has won his second National Championship by earning first place in this year’s Sleeper Berth Class division. The American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) National Truck Driving Championship was held the second week of August in Minneapolis, MN and included top professional truck drivers from around the nation who qualified during the summer at state and regional levels in order to advance to the national competition.
Flack of West Chester, PA placed first in the Sleeper Berth Class division after completing a written examination, pre-trip inspection test and a skills test. A veteran of the competition, Leo has competed in the championship round for 7 years. In 2011 he took top honors in the tank truck division.
“We are extremely proud of our drivers, and we are especially proud of Leo Flack,” said Peter Dannecker, director of loss prevention for A. Duie Pyle. “He is a humble, soft-spoken gentleman who worked hard for this achievement by relentlessly studying and practicing whenever he could. Earning his way to the championship round for the past 7 years and winning gold belt buckles in the past two is a testament to his hard work and dedication.”
Over 400 drivers from all 50 states competed in Minneapolis for four days during the 2012 National Truck Driving Championships and National Step Van Driving Championships, known as the “Super Bowl of Safety”, challenging their driving skills, and knowledge of safety, equipment and the industry. This year marked the 75th anniversary of the event.
Press release provided by A. Duie Pyle
Triple digit heat in much of the country has finally broken and fall shipments of fresh produce are coming. Two such items are fresh cranberries, that will be shipped from a handful of states, plus California apples that fill a niche between loadings of Chilean fruit and apples out of Washington state.
The third largest cranberry crop on record is being forecast by the USDA, amounting to 7.6 million 100-pound barrels. While Massachuetts will be down slightly from last fall, increases are seen in Wisconsin, Washington state, Oregon and New Jersey (the latter being virtually all processed fruit).
Expect Wisconsin cranberry shipments to get started around the week of September 17th, with Massachusetts starting around that same time as well. Oregon and Washington state seasonally start later.
While loadings begin in September, cranberries are still closely associated with the Thanksgiving holiday. Thus, the big volume is moved in the first half of November leading up to the holiday. With this big a crop, some loads will be moving after Thanksgiving (which is November 22nd) for the Christmas holidays.
California Apples
A lot more California apples used to be shipped than are today. This situation reminds me a bit of vegetables shipped from the Eastern Shore area of Delaware, Maryland and Viriginia. This region is sandwiched in between harvests to its south such as the Carolinas and Georgia, and to the north in shipping areas such as New Jersey and New York. If the Eastern shore veggies are too early or too late they are up against shipments from competing areas to the north and south of them. As a result of many “misses” compared to “hits” for the Eastern Shore, shippers have hurt. The result is fewer shippers and less volume than a decade or two ago.
If you are a veteran trucker who has hauled apples from California, you may remember in the mid 1990s there were around 10 million boxes of fruit being shipped for the season. Today, that number has dwindled to about 2.5 to 3 million boxes. Most of the loads originate out the Central San Joaquin Valley including San Joaquin County, Sonoma County and Santa Cruz County.
Shipments will continue through December. Leading apple varieties are fujis, galas and granny smiths.
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