Author Archive
There have been an amazing advances in trucking equipment and other 
technology since I first started covering the transportation of fresh fruits and vegetables in 1974. However, some things never change. The human element remains. In order for both the driver and the other parties involved in the successful loading, transit and delivery of the produce, honesty, fairness, and respect must be at the center of the business deal.
A webinar was held July 18 where a set of “best practices” have been developed by the North American Transportation Working Group (NATWG), which consists of members of the produce industry seeking improvements between their trade and the trucking industry. Among those participating were individuals from Australia, Mexico, Canada and the USA.
For decades it has been realized that some things never change. The need for communication and documentation are vital when hauling fresh produce, and those was emphasized once again at the webinar.
The advancements in technology was discussed at the webinar. For example there is becoming more use of temperature recording devices in transit that are combined with GPS systems so real time temperatures can be monitored. However, without good documentation of the load, all the technology around may not be able to protect thosed involved in the load, whether it be shipper, carrier, or driver. That documentation can be anything from photos, to bill of ladings, videos, e-mails, or a combination of these.
The NATWG has developed abest practices and checklists are on the group’s website at http://naptwg.org. It is a one-page checklist for shippers, truckers and receivers to provide important infomation to those involved in the load .
Jim Gordon, operations manager for Ippolito Fruit & Produce Ltd. of Toronto has been in the produce industry for 40 years. He observed that early in his carerr he realized the importance of respectful treatment of truck drivers, plus the need for fast turnaround times to get them back on the road. This is a key to maintaining good relationships with carriers.
This becomes even more critical with the new hours-of-service regulations because loading and unloading time now counts toward their driving time, Gordon said.
Top transportation tips
- Inspect produce with the truck driver present before loading and unloading.
- Check pulp temperatures at loading and unloading and note them on the bill of lading.
- Pre-cool produce before loading.
- Don’t put temperature recorders where vents will blow on them in the trailer to ensure accurate readings.
- Require carriers to provide constant temperatures rather than relying on cycling patterns of refer units.
- Make sure all documents are completely filled out to avoid delays at border crossings.
NATWG is to be commended for their efforts in improving working relationships between the produce and trucking industries. Unfortunately, there are those in the produce and trucking industries who are not as noble as the NATWG appears to be. Thus, recommendations and guidelines on a piece of paper will only go so far.
Something with more “teeth” in it is ultimately needed.
The produce industry has enjoyed protections from the federal government through the USDA by a vehicle known as the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. For over 80 years PACA has provided mediation and arbitration when there are business disputes between parties in the produce industry.
Since at least the 1960s or 70s there have been occasional efforts to bring produce trucking into the PACA to provide these same protections where there is a claim that cannot be resolved. Unfortunately, some in the produce industry have successfully fought these efforts.
Saturn peaches are among the very best of the white-flesh varieties. It has an 
unusually flat shape, and are named for their resemblance to the rings of Saturn. It also is called Doughnut peaches. In fact, many supermarkets package the flat peaches in long boxes like those used for doughnuts, and market them as a good-for-you snack food.
Some reason to check out Saturn Peaches:
1. They often taste better than other peaches. They’re sweeter, with almond overtones.
2. They are lower in acid than other peaches.
3. The pit doesn’t cling to the flesh, so it’s easy to pop out with your thumb.
4. The fruit’s thin, red skin has little or no fuzz, so it doesn’t have to be peeled.
5. Their small size lends itself to being eaten out of hand.
The Salinas and San Joaquin Valleys continue to provide your best loading 
opportunities in California.
Head lettuce may be producing the biggest volume from Salinas and is averaging around 1700 to 1800 truckload equivalents a week. However, there remains significant tonnage coming with other types of lettuce, as well broccoli, cauliflower, celery and many other items….The nearby Watsonville area is shipping a lot of strawberries….
The relentless heat baking much of the USA this summer makes it paramount you take precautions to protect your load (check out the TransFresh ad on this website that provides “in-transit warming” information).
The Santa Maria district has much lighter volume than Salinas, but it also is shipping many of the same vegetables.
The San Joaquin Valley has both fruits and vegetable loadings occurring from many areas. In the central valley around 500 to 600 truckload equivalents of mature green tomatoes are being shipped each week….Table grape loadings continue on pace to what could be record shipments this year, with heaviest volume currently coming from the Arvin and Delano areas.
Shipments from the California desert of cantaloupe (and some other items) has mercifully come to an end as some product was looking pretty rough at the end of the season.
California supplies for refrigerated equipment generally remain adequate, but you shouldn’t face signficant delays for loads in most cases because of the seasonal volume.
Salinas vegetables are grossing – about $7700 to Hunts Point in New York City.
San Joaquin Valley fruits and vegetables – about $5000 to Chicago.
New Yorkers could be forking over more green for their summer fruits and 
salads — as record-breaking heat waves and droughts shrivel crops across the nation, sending prices soaring.
Dozens of field-picked vegetables and fruits got baked out of business in the past three weeks, causing overnight shortages at Hunts Point in The Bronx, the world’s largest produce marketplace.
Fresh-picked cucumbers, for example, have soared 57 percent at the wholesale level since the start of July.
Boston lettuce has skyrocketed 80 percent, while blueberries are up 69 percent.
“Wholesale prices for certain field crops are becoming a lot higher than expected,” said Terry Long, an analyst at the US Department of Agriculture.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: New York Post
By Paul Tharp
Here’s some items that are now available in your local supermarket, or will be 
available soon.
Starkrimson pears are among the first to be harvested early in the season and have a crimson red color that brightens as its ripens. They have a juicy texture and sweet flavor. Starkrimson pears are recognizable by their unique color and thick, stocky stem with a neck that appears to be growing up and around it.
Bosc pears are large with an elongated neck and have a distinct bronze/yellow color.
Bartlett is among the top pears in the U.S. Bartlett pears are bell-shaped with a classic sweet pear flavor and smooth, buttery texture. Bartlett pears are excellent for fresh eating and are a common pear used for canning.
Bartlett pears are the most popular of the pear varieties. They are picked at full mataurity in August and will ripen from green to yellow by the time they reach your supermarket shelves. The Bartlett is a classic pear for canning and is great for fresh eating, pies and sauce.
Sweet onions from the Vidalia, GA area are pretty much history because of a smaller crop and the season ending earlier than normal. While it may be the most famous of the sweet onions, a number of other states have established themselves in the past decade or so as providing consumers with some pretty tasty sweet onions themselves. South Texas also grows a good sweet onions, but it has ended like Vidalia.
California is now providing sweet onions and will do so into August.
One alleged “sweet onion” I would avoid are those from Colorado. Every year the Rocky Mountain state has bags of onions in my local supermarket labeled “sweet” and they never fail to disappoint, much less set my mouth on fire.
One of the best sweet onions coming on before long I’ve been pleased with from year to year is from the Skagit Valley in Washington state.
One of the better imported sweet onions that should be in your stores by early August are from Peru. Sometimes, they are lacking a little sweetness at the start of the season, but get better as we move closer to fall.
You should also be seeing some good reasonable retail prices on table grapes from California, especially with the red grapes right now. Soon to follow will be the yellow seedless grapes. With a good chance for a record crop from California, there should be some good prices on grapes this summer.
Another good buy in the coming weeks and months should be on potatoes with the new crop set to start. The USA has over one million acres of spuds planted, which is 46,000 more acres than at this time last year.
New York ranks among the top five states in shipments of fresh fruits and 
vegetables. Produce shippers are located in many different regions of the state. Since New York is over 300 miles wide from East to West this covers a lot of territory. We’ll be covering apples soon, but right now we’ll focus on vegetable shipments, which are underway.
For example items are available for hauling such as cabbage, beans, squash, cucumbers and potatoes from shippers in the Rochester, as well as Buffalo, NY areas. Such operations are located near small agriculture communities such as Elba located just west of Rochester, as well as Marion just east of Rochester, and Eden found south of Buffalo.
Cabbage is a big item near the towns of Holley and Stanley, NY.
Orange County New York has a number of large onion shippers. Shipments are expected to get underway around the third week of August.
A primary destination for New York produce shipments, of course, is the Hunts Point Terminal Wholesale Market in New York City, although loads are also destined to a number of other major cities ranging from Boston to Philadelphia and Atlanta, among others.
Since a significant rise in early June of rates for hauling fresh produce from 
some major shipping areas — particuarly the west coast, it has been a pretty quiet summer as rates have remained relatively stable, and few serious truck shortages have occurred.
While some produce items may have record shipments this year, such as California grapes and Washington state cherries, other areas ranging from Michigan fruit to South Texas vegetables, as well as California stone fruit, have taken some hits from the weather. I’m sure there may be other factors involved ranging from more contract rates, which tend to provide more rate stability on a seasonal, if not a year around basis. The struggling economy, with a lot of pitfully low rates for dry freight, may have more carriers seeking higher paying produce loads, particularly this time of the year.
Nationally, here’s a glimpse at loading opportunities for fresh fruits and vegetables.
South Carolina peaches are still being shipped , primarily in an area located south and southeast of Columbia stretching to the Georgia state line. Speaking of Georgia, peach loadings are on their last leg and should be finished within a week as the latter part of the season had exceptionally light production. South Carolina won’t be far behind.
In South Texas, various citrus, tropical fruits and vegetables from Mexico continue crossing the border into the Lone Star State. They join lesser amounts of produce grown and shipped from the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Southern New Mexico continues to ship onions…..In Michigan, blueberries and various vegetables such as cucumbers and squash are providing loads.
In Idaho, the country’s largest potato shipper continues to provide hauls from the 2011-12 harvest. New product should become available for hauling next month.
In the Columbia Basin of Washington state, potato and onion loads remain available. An excellent crop of sweet cherries are now coming out of Washington’s Yakima and Wenachee valleys, along with late season apples. Shipments of Washington pears are virtually finished.
In California, the vast majority of produce shipments are now coming from shipping areas north of Interstate 10.
Salinas Valley vegetables are generally grossing – about $7700 to New York City.
Washington states potatoes and onions from the Columbia Basin – about $3000 to Chicago.
South Carolina peaches – about $3400 to Boston.
Georgia peaches – $3300 to New York City.
In a nutshell, produce truckers too often receive the shaft in unfair claims and 
deductions from the produce industry. And the produce industry, which has protections in disputes, won’t even consider allowing these same truckers the protections they enjoy. More about this in a moment.
It is turning into a relatively uneventful produce shipping and hauling season, as far as total produce volume as well as supply and demand for refrigerated equipment. Rates remain strong from the major shipping areas, but not setting any records. Any produce shipping area that may be reporting a shortage of trucks is probably experiencing this shortage primarily due to not increasing the rates enough to attract more equipment. Often the shipping areas are off the beaten path, and providing more lower cost, basic or “hardware” produce items.
Also, when I describe the summer produce shipping season as “relatively uneventful,” I qualify that by saying there still are the usual unfair claims and deduction on loads at destination. Combine this with the fact, there have been a number of produce companies file for bankruptcy this year, it increases the odds that the trucker will be the last to paid, and probably not receive a dime of what is owed.
Many if not most produce companies receive protections under the Perishable Commodites Act (PACA) that provides protections and arbitation in disputes between members of the produce industry. However, as I’ve “preached” for decades now, truckers are not afforded the same protections. So if you are owed money by a bankrupt receiver, you are pretty much on your own in trying to collect monies owed. Even with a receiver not involved in a bankruptcy, and there is an unfair claim or deduction, unless you have an exceptional carrier, shipper or broker behind you, or you can afford a lawyer to represent you, mostly likely in a state hundreds if not thousands of miles away — you are out of luck.
Meanwhile, the produce industry continues to have meetings, conferences, teleconferences, etc. now and then, that promote good and fair treatment of produce truckers. This is honorable. There are actually some people in the industry that care and would love to see produce haulers receive the same protections as members of the produce industry. But they are easily in the minority and lack the clout to do much about it.
Large produce companies with political clout and money generally won’t consider PACA protections for truckers — and until this changes — no one in the Federal government has the will, stomach, or abililty to fight for this needed change. — Bill Martin
Colorado is the fourth leading shipper of onions by volume in the USA, and 
loadings not only with onions, but other vegetables begin this month from the northeastern part of the state.]
In the San Luis Valley, which at an elevation of 7,600 feet, is the highest and largest commerical agricultural valley in the world, potatoes from the 2011-12 season should be finishing up soon, just in time from the new crop of russets to get started. Colorado ranks in the top 10 among potato shipping states.
The Rocky Ford area of Colorado has started shipping cantaloupe, but loading opportunities will be off a whopping 70 percent this season. Much less acreage was planted following the disasterious 2011 season where a food borne illness – listeria – killed 32 people, plus sickened nearly 150 people in 28 states. Only about 180,000 cartons of Colorado cantaloupes are forecast to be shipped, and distribution will not be nationwide this year, as in the past.
San Luis Valley potatoes – grossing about $1600 to Dallas.
Truckers wanting to find a load in the mid-west for delivery to the West Coast 
in order to take advantage of attractive eastbound produce rates are finding it difficult. Even when a load is obtained, the westbound freight rates are horribly low.
Obtaining produce loads in the Central USA somewhere between the Canadian and Mexican borders isn’t necessarily easy, but here’s some of the best opportunities.
Watermelons may not be your favorite items for hauling, particularly if you’re stuck alongside some field waiting for enough product to be harvested to fill your trailer. Additionally unloading charges are something you have to be keenly aware of, because they can be pretty darn steep, especially if the melons are loaded in bulk, and not in bins placed on pallets.
Watermelons shipments are occuring everywhere from South Texas, to Western Oklahoma, the bootheel of Southeastern Missouri, and from Southwest Indiana and Southeastern Illinois.
Mississippi is still shipping sweet potatoes, although loadings out of Louisiana are pretty done for the season.
In Michigan, blueberry shipments are gearing up, joining a number of vegetables which are already available.
Missouri watermelons are grossing – about $1500 to Atlanta.
Mississippi sweet potatoes, about $1200 to Atlanta.
Texas watermelons, about $1400 to Oklahoma City.
There have been an amazing advances in trucking equipment and other technology since I first started covering the transportation of fresh fruits and vegetables in 1974. However, some things never change. The human element remains. In order for both the driver and the other parties involved in the successful loading, transit and delivery of the produce, honesty, fairness, and respect must be at the center of the business deal.
A webinar was held July 18 where a set of “best practices” have been developed by the North American Transportation Working Group (NATWG), which consists of members of the produce industry seeking improvements between their trade and the trucking industry. Among those participating were individuals from Australia, Mexico, Canada and the USA.
For decades it has been realized that some things never change. The need for communication and documentation are vital when hauling fresh produce, and those was emphasized once again at the webinar.
The advancements in technology was discussed at the webinar. For example there is becoming more use of temperature recording devices in transit that are combined with GPS systems so real time temperatures can be monitored. However, without good documentation of the load, all the technology around may not be able to protect thosed involved in the load, whether it be shipper, carrier, or driver. That documentation can be anything from photos, to bill of ladings, videos, e-mails, or a combination of these.
The NATWG has developed abest practices and checklists are on the group’s website at http://naptwg.org. It is a one-page checklist for shippers, truckers and receivers to provide important infomation to those involved in the load .
Jim Gordon, operations manager for Ippolito Fruit & Produce Ltd. of Toronto has been in the produce industry for 40 years. He observed that early in his carerr he realized the importance of respectful treatment of truck drivers, plus the need for fast turnaround times to get them back on the road. This is a key to maintaining good relationships with carriers.
This becomes even more critical with the new hours-of-service regulations because loading and unloading time now counts toward their driving time, Gordon said.
Top transportation tips
- Inspect produce with the truck driver present before loading and unloading.
- Check pulp temperatures at loading and unloading and note them on the bill of lading.
- Pre-cool produce before loading.
- Don’t put temperature recorders where vents will blow on them in the trailer to ensure accurate readings.
- Require carriers to provide constant temperatures rather than relying on cycling patterns of refer units.
- Make sure all documents are completely filled out to avoid delays at border crossings.
NATWG is to be commended for their efforts in improving working relationships between the produce and trucking industries. Unfortunately, there are those in the produce and trucking industries who are not as noble as the NATWG appears to be. Thus, recommendations and guidelines on a piece of paper will only go so far.
Something with more “teeth” in it is ultimately needed.
The produce industry has enjoyed protections from the federal government through the USDA by a vehicle known as the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. For over 80 years PACA has provided mediation and arbitration when there are business disputes between parties in the produce industry.
Since at least the 1960s or 70s there have been occasional efforts to bring produce trucking into the PACA to provide these same protections where there is a claim that cannot be resolved. Unfortunately, some in the produce industry have successfully fought these efforts.
Saturn peaches are among the very best of the white-flesh varieties. It has an unusually flat shape, and are named for their resemblance to the rings of Saturn. It also is called Doughnut peaches. In fact, many supermarkets package the flat peaches in long boxes like those used for doughnuts, and market them as a good-for-you snack food.
unusually flat shape, and are named for their resemblance to the rings of Saturn. It also is called Doughnut peaches. In fact, many supermarkets package the flat peaches in long boxes like those used for doughnuts, and market them as a good-for-you snack food.Some reason to check out Saturn Peaches:
1. They often taste better than other peaches. They’re sweeter, with almond overtones.
2. They are lower in acid than other peaches.
3. The pit doesn’t cling to the flesh, so it’s easy to pop out with your thumb.
4. The fruit’s thin, red skin has little or no fuzz, so it doesn’t have to be peeled.
5. Their small size lends itself to being eaten out of hand.
2. They are lower in acid than other peaches.
3. The pit doesn’t cling to the flesh, so it’s easy to pop out with your thumb.
4. The fruit’s thin, red skin has little or no fuzz, so it doesn’t have to be peeled.
5. Their small size lends itself to being eaten out of hand.
The Salinas and San Joaquin Valleys continue to provide your best loading opportunities in California.
Head lettuce may be producing the biggest volume from Salinas and is averaging around 1700 to 1800 truckload equivalents a week. However, there remains significant tonnage coming with other types of lettuce, as well broccoli, cauliflower, celery and many other items….The nearby Watsonville area is shipping a lot of strawberries….
The relentless heat baking much of the USA this summer makes it paramount you take precautions to protect your load (check out the TransFresh ad on this website that provides “in-transit warming” information).
The Santa Maria district has much lighter volume than Salinas, but it also is shipping many of the same vegetables.
The San Joaquin Valley has both fruits and vegetable loadings occurring from many areas. In the central valley around 500 to 600 truckload equivalents of mature green tomatoes are being shipped each week….Table grape loadings continue on pace to what could be record shipments this year, with heaviest volume currently coming from the Arvin and Delano areas.
Shipments from the California desert of cantaloupe (and some other items) has mercifully come to an end as some product was looking pretty rough at the end of the season.
California supplies for refrigerated equipment generally remain adequate, but you shouldn’t face signficant delays for loads in most cases because of the seasonal volume.
Salinas vegetables are grossing – about $7700 to Hunts Point in New York City.
San Joaquin Valley fruits and vegetables – about $5000 to Chicago.
New Yorkers could be forking over more green for their summer fruits and salads — as record-breaking heat waves and droughts shrivel crops across the nation, sending prices soaring.
Dozens of field-picked vegetables and fruits got baked out of business in the past three weeks, causing overnight shortages at Hunts Point in The Bronx, the world’s largest produce marketplace.
Fresh-picked cucumbers, for example, have soared 57 percent at the wholesale level since the start of July.
Boston lettuce has skyrocketed 80 percent, while blueberries are up 69 percent.
“Wholesale prices for certain field crops are becoming a lot higher than expected,” said Terry Long, an analyst at the US Department of Agriculture.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: New York Post
By Paul Tharp
Here’s some items that are now available in your local supermarket, or will be available soon.
Starkrimson pears are among the first to be harvested early in the season and have a crimson red color that brightens as its ripens. They have a juicy texture and sweet flavor. Starkrimson pears are recognizable by their unique color and thick, stocky stem with a neck that appears to be growing up and around it.
Bosc pears are large with an elongated neck and have a distinct bronze/yellow color.
Bartlett is among the top pears in the U.S. Bartlett pears are bell-shaped with a classic sweet pear flavor and smooth, buttery texture. Bartlett pears are excellent for fresh eating and are a common pear used for canning.
Bartlett pears are the most popular of the pear varieties. They are picked at full mataurity in August and will ripen from green to yellow by the time they reach your supermarket shelves. The Bartlett is a classic pear for canning and is great for fresh eating, pies and sauce.
Sweet onions from the Vidalia, GA area are pretty much history because of a smaller crop and the season ending earlier than normal. While it may be the most famous of the sweet onions, a number of other states have established themselves in the past decade or so as providing consumers with some pretty tasty sweet onions themselves. South Texas also grows a good sweet onions, but it has ended like Vidalia.
California is now providing sweet onions and will do so into August.
One alleged “sweet onion” I would avoid are those from Colorado. Every year the Rocky Mountain state has bags of onions in my local supermarket labeled “sweet” and they never fail to disappoint, much less set my mouth on fire.
One of the best sweet onions coming on before long I’ve been pleased with from year to year is from the Skagit Valley in Washington state.
One of the better imported sweet onions that should be in your stores by early August are from Peru. Sometimes, they are lacking a little sweetness at the start of the season, but get better as we move closer to fall.
You should also be seeing some good reasonable retail prices on table grapes from California, especially with the red grapes right now. Soon to follow will be the yellow seedless grapes. With a good chance for a record crop from California, there should be some good prices on grapes this summer.
Another good buy in the coming weeks and months should be on potatoes with the new crop set to start. The USA has over one million acres of spuds planted, which is 46,000 more acres than at this time last year.
New York ranks among the top five states in shipments of fresh fruits and vegetables. Produce shippers are located in many different regions of the state. Since New York is over 300 miles wide from East to West this covers a lot of territory. We’ll be covering apples soon, but right now we’ll focus on vegetable shipments, which are underway.
For example items are available for hauling such as cabbage, beans, squash, cucumbers and potatoes from shippers in the Rochester, as well as Buffalo, NY areas. Such operations are located near small agriculture communities such as Elba located just west of Rochester, as well as Marion just east of Rochester, and Eden found south of Buffalo.
Cabbage is a big item near the towns of Holley and Stanley, NY.
Orange County New York has a number of large onion shippers. Shipments are expected to get underway around the third week of August.
A primary destination for New York produce shipments, of course, is the Hunts Point Terminal Wholesale Market in New York City, although loads are also destined to a number of other major cities ranging from Boston to Philadelphia and Atlanta, among others.
Since a significant rise in early June of rates for hauling fresh produce from some major shipping areas — particuarly the west coast, it has been a pretty quiet summer as rates have remained relatively stable, and few serious truck shortages have occurred.
While some produce items may have record shipments this year, such as California grapes and Washington state cherries, other areas ranging from Michigan fruit to South Texas vegetables, as well as California stone fruit, have taken some hits from the weather. I’m sure there may be other factors involved ranging from more contract rates, which tend to provide more rate stability on a seasonal, if not a year around basis. The struggling economy, with a lot of pitfully low rates for dry freight, may have more carriers seeking higher paying produce loads, particularly this time of the year.
Nationally, here’s a glimpse at loading opportunities for fresh fruits and vegetables.
South Carolina peaches are still being shipped , primarily in an area located south and southeast of Columbia stretching to the Georgia state line. Speaking of Georgia, peach loadings are on their last leg and should be finished within a week as the latter part of the season had exceptionally light production. South Carolina won’t be far behind.
In South Texas, various citrus, tropical fruits and vegetables from Mexico continue crossing the border into the Lone Star State. They join lesser amounts of produce grown and shipped from the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Southern New Mexico continues to ship onions…..In Michigan, blueberries and various vegetables such as cucumbers and squash are providing loads.
In Idaho, the country’s largest potato shipper continues to provide hauls from the 2011-12 harvest. New product should become available for hauling next month.
In the Columbia Basin of Washington state, potato and onion loads remain available. An excellent crop of sweet cherries are now coming out of Washington’s Yakima and Wenachee valleys, along with late season apples. Shipments of Washington pears are virtually finished.
In California, the vast majority of produce shipments are now coming from shipping areas north of Interstate 10.
Salinas Valley vegetables are generally grossing – about $7700 to New York City.
Washington states potatoes and onions from the Columbia Basin – about $3000 to Chicago.
South Carolina peaches – about $3400 to Boston.
Georgia peaches – $3300 to New York City.
In a nutshell, produce truckers too often receive the shaft in unfair claims and deductions from the produce industry. And the produce industry, which has protections in disputes, won’t even consider allowing these same truckers the protections they enjoy. More about this in a moment.
It is turning into a relatively uneventful produce shipping and hauling season, as far as total produce volume as well as supply and demand for refrigerated equipment. Rates remain strong from the major shipping areas, but not setting any records. Any produce shipping area that may be reporting a shortage of trucks is probably experiencing this shortage primarily due to not increasing the rates enough to attract more equipment. Often the shipping areas are off the beaten path, and providing more lower cost, basic or “hardware” produce items.
Also, when I describe the summer produce shipping season as “relatively uneventful,” I qualify that by saying there still are the usual unfair claims and deduction on loads at destination. Combine this with the fact, there have been a number of produce companies file for bankruptcy this year, it increases the odds that the trucker will be the last to paid, and probably not receive a dime of what is owed.
Many if not most produce companies receive protections under the Perishable Commodites Act (PACA) that provides protections and arbitation in disputes between members of the produce industry. However, as I’ve “preached” for decades now, truckers are not afforded the same protections. So if you are owed money by a bankrupt receiver, you are pretty much on your own in trying to collect monies owed. Even with a receiver not involved in a bankruptcy, and there is an unfair claim or deduction, unless you have an exceptional carrier, shipper or broker behind you, or you can afford a lawyer to represent you, mostly likely in a state hundreds if not thousands of miles away — you are out of luck.
Meanwhile, the produce industry continues to have meetings, conferences, teleconferences, etc. now and then, that promote good and fair treatment of produce truckers. This is honorable. There are actually some people in the industry that care and would love to see produce haulers receive the same protections as members of the produce industry. But they are easily in the minority and lack the clout to do much about it.
Large produce companies with political clout and money generally won’t consider PACA protections for truckers — and until this changes — no one in the Federal government has the will, stomach, or abililty to fight for this needed change. — Bill Martin
Colorado is the fourth leading shipper of onions by volume in the USA, and loadings not only with onions, but other vegetables begin this month from the northeastern part of the state.]
In the San Luis Valley, which at an elevation of 7,600 feet, is the highest and largest commerical agricultural valley in the world, potatoes from the 2011-12 season should be finishing up soon, just in time from the new crop of russets to get started. Colorado ranks in the top 10 among potato shipping states.
The Rocky Ford area of Colorado has started shipping cantaloupe, but loading opportunities will be off a whopping 70 percent this season. Much less acreage was planted following the disasterious 2011 season where a food borne illness – listeria – killed 32 people, plus sickened nearly 150 people in 28 states. Only about 180,000 cartons of Colorado cantaloupes are forecast to be shipped, and distribution will not be nationwide this year, as in the past.
San Luis Valley potatoes – grossing about $1600 to Dallas.
Truckers wanting to find a load in the mid-west for delivery to the West Coast in order to take advantage of attractive eastbound produce rates are finding it difficult. Even when a load is obtained, the westbound freight rates are horribly low.
Obtaining produce loads in the Central USA somewhere between the Canadian and Mexican borders isn’t necessarily easy, but here’s some of the best opportunities.
Watermelons may not be your favorite items for hauling, particularly if you’re stuck alongside some field waiting for enough product to be harvested to fill your trailer. Additionally unloading charges are something you have to be keenly aware of, because they can be pretty darn steep, especially if the melons are loaded in bulk, and not in bins placed on pallets.
Watermelons shipments are occuring everywhere from South Texas, to Western Oklahoma, the bootheel of Southeastern Missouri, and from Southwest Indiana and Southeastern Illinois.
Mississippi is still shipping sweet potatoes, although loadings out of Louisiana are pretty done for the season.
In Michigan, blueberry shipments are gearing up, joining a number of vegetables which are already available.
Missouri watermelons are grossing – about $1500 to Atlanta.
Mississippi sweet potatoes, about $1200 to Atlanta.
Texas watermelons, about $1400 to Oklahoma City.