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Produce loadings have seasonally moved northward, some by as much as 
three weeks earlier than normal.
A case in point is New Jersey where southern area vegetables have been ahead of schedule for weeks. Now it is peach loadings taking center stage. Jersey peaches started the third week of June, but do not normally get underway until around July 10th. The Garden State ranks fourth nationally in peach volume behind California, South Carolina and Georgia….New Jersey also is a leading shipper of blueberries, which are now moving in volume.
Watermelon loadings are available from the Charleston-Beaufort area of South Carolina…..North Carolina continues to ship sweet potatoes.
Florida has entered its deadest part of the year as far as produce is concerned, while the state of Georgia isn’t a whole lot better. Weather problems really hurt Georgia vegetable, blueberry and watermelon shipments this year. Vidalia onion volume has dwindled and the latter end of the Georgia peach shipping season is lighter than normal.
New Jersey blueberries – grossing about $2600 to Orlando.
North Carolina sweet potatoes – about $1750 to Philadelphia.
This is the most fun time of the year buy fresh produce, unless of course you 
are growing your own. Home grown tomatoes can’t be beat. Eat ’em like apples!
Here in Oklahoma for only a few weeks, we savor our Porter peaches, grown around the small town of Porter, OK on the Arkansas-Oklahoma state line. Nothing compares! Wish I could say the same for peaches coming from both coasts. Their quality has been all over the board this summer. Some has been juicy and sweet, while others have been dry and tastless.
The same goes for strawberries, although they have been disappointing more often than not.
The pleasant surprises for me in the produce departments this summer has been the seedless watermelons, and the bing cherries – both from California and Washington state. The melons and cherries have been reasonably priced and the quality has been quite good. Watermelons are now coming out of areas such as the bootheel of Missouri as well as Illinois and Indiana.
Kiwifruit has been a great buy for months. I pick it up regularly at three for a dollar. It hasn’t mattered whether it has been from California, Mexico, Chile, etc. It has all been good….Another excellent buy are avocados! I have had them from both California and Mexico recently. They are great in salads. I also love to spread them on crackers and have with a glass of red wine.
The Westside district of the San Joaquin Valley is now shipping cantaloupe 
and other melons. However, after the Colorado listera outbreak last season involving a number of consumer deaths from eating cantaloupe, sales across the USA were affected. As a result, even though California cantaloupes were not associated with the outbreak, shipments were impacted. As a result fewer Westside district acres were planted this season.
The early portion of what is expected to be record breaking table grape shipments from the San Joaquin Valley is building. Best volume is currently coming out of the Arvin district near Bakersfield. Within days however, there will be light volume of grapes available from as far north in the valley as Fresno and Tulare counties. Including the grapes from Coachella (which are finished), California could ship over 100 million, 19-pound cartons this season.
There’s also other items now being shipped such as tomatoes from the Tracy, CA area, and a number of vegetables from the Fresno area and other parts of the valley.
You may be surprised at the amount of onions California ships, with the heaviest volume coming out of Fresno, Kern and Tulare counties. However, since you can haul onions in everything from flatbed trailers to dry vans, rates are significantly lower.
San Joaquin Valley onions – grossing about $5400 to New York City.
San Joaquin Valley fruit, veggies, melons – about $7500 to New York City.
SALINAS, Calif. –TransFRESH Corporation has announced that in partnership with 
Landec Corporation, its Tectrol® Service Network storage solution for blueberries is now available featuring Landec’s BreatheWay® Technology supplied by Apio, Inc., offering growers and shippers further enhanced storage capability.
The specialized BreatheWay membrane technology delivers bag permeability characteristics that more precisely match blueberry respiration rates for better balanced atmospheres and storage stability.
“We are very pleased to introduce this further enhancement of the Tectrol Service Network storage solution for blueberries,” said Rich Macleod, TransFRESH vice president, pallet division North America. “With an increased interest from growers and shippers in blueberry storage capabilities, the application of the BreatheWay® membrane technology to the Tectrol blueberry storage solution now offers our business partners added storage benefits.”
The TransFRESH Tectrol team collaborated closely with Landec and its wholly owned subsidiary, Apio Inc., throughout the application of the BreatheWay technology to the Tectrol blueberry storage solution program.
TransFRESH also unveiled a pallet bag label for its blueberry program featuring a new contemporary blueberry image along with the TransFRESH logotype and Apio, Inc. BreatheWay® Technology identification and patent number.
About TransFRESH®
TransFRESH® Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chiquita Brands (NYSE: CQB), is a pioneering and established global company, with nearly 50 years of experience in perishables transport. Tectrol® is the trademarked brand name for the TransFRESH® family of proprietary modified and controlled atmosphere systems and processes developed and owned by TransFRESH®. The Tectrol® Service Network™ services, markets and supports the Tectrol Pallet Systems operations and technologies. Since inception, TransFRESH’s innovations in packaging, equipment and sealing processes have established Tectrol® as the industry standard. For more information, visit the TransFRESH website at www.TransFresh.com.
About Apio, Inc.
Apio, Inc., founded in 1979 by five growers of celery in the Santa Maria Valley in the central coastal region of California has grown to become the leader in processing and marketing fresh-cut specialty packaged vegetables in the U.S. Headquartered in Guadalupe, California, Apio sells its specialty packaged vegetables in convenient bag and tray formats under the Eat Smart® brand. Apio’s fresh-cut specialty packaged vegetable products are unique in that they utilize the Landec Corporation BreatheWay® proprietary breathable packaging technology to extend the shelf life of specific produce. Landec acquired Apio in 1999. For more information about Apio visit Apio’s website at www.apioinc.com.
About Landec Corp.
Landec Corporation is a materials science company that leverages its proprietary polymer technologies, application development and innovation capabilities to develop and commercialize new products in food, agricultural and biomedical markets. Landec’s subsidiary, Apio, has become the leader in US fresh-cut specialty packaged vegetables by combining Landec’s proprietary food packaging technology with the capabilities of a large national food supplier, processor and distributor. Lifecore Biomedical, also a subsidiary of Landec, is a leading supplier of premium hyaluronan-based biomaterials for the ophthalmic and orthopedic markets. Landec’s Licensing Partnerships work closely with market-leading companies to develop and commercialize differentiated polymer-based products. For more information, visit Landec’s website at www.landec.com
News Release: TransFresh Corporation
.
Everything from peaches to apricots, cherries and blueberries will soon be in 
good volume out of the Pacific Northwest, ramping of loading opportunities for those with refrigerated equipment.
Washington state cherry shipments are underway and in peak volume, which should continue through July, with lighter loadings continuing into August. Record cherry shipments are being predicted. Apricots also are being shipped, continuing into the third week of July.
Shipments are expected to be significantly higher for Northwest peaches this season, compared to 2011. Peaches get underway the third week of July and should continue into October.
Oregon blueberry loads became available recently from the southern production areas of the state. Further north in the Williamette district, “blues” have just started.
The Yakima Valley of Washington state is still shipping some apples and pears from the 2011-2012 season.
Washington state fruit – grossing about $6400 to New York City.
Atlanta, GA – As part of its cross-country tour, the Great Big Idaho® Potato 
Truck spent a few days enjoying the southern hospitality in Atlanta, Ga. One of its first stops was the Atlanta Food Truck Park on 1850 Howell Mill Road. Lunchtime visitors had an opportunity to view this “spudtacular” vehicle and four local Meals On Wheels agencies received a total of 350,000 servings of Idahoan Mashed Potatoes, ready-to-serve, dehydrated potato products.
The Idaho Potato Commission built the truck, a larger-than-life version of the vintage Idaho potato postcard, in celebration of its milestone 75th Anniversary. Weighing in at six tons (the equivalent of 32,346 medium-sized Idaho® potatoes), the Great Big Idaho® Potato is traversing the country to greet fans and to help raise funds and awareness for the Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA), the oldest and largest national organization dedicated to helping end senior hunger.
“Idaho® potatoes generate more than $4 billion dollars in revenue annually and employ more than 30,000 people. Agriculture and potatoes in particular are the primary reasons Idaho is among the most fiscally sound states in the nation,” explained Frank Muir, president and CEO, IPC.
The Great Big Idaho® Potato Truck made its national debut at the Famous Idaho® Potato Bowl in Boise, Idaho last December when ESPN prominently featured it several times during the game. Since then, the Truck has made several public appearances and at every venue, the most frequently asked question is: “Is it real?” We’ll never tell, but consider that the Great Big Idaho® Potato…
* Would take more than 10,000 years to grow.
* Is 1,102 times heavier than the largest potato ever grown, which weighed 11 pounds.
* Would take two years and nine months to bake.
* Could make 30,325 servings of mashed potatoes and more than 1.4 million (1,455,570) average-sized fries!
The Great Big Idaho® Potato Truck was created and built by Chris Schofield and Sharolyn Spruce of Weiser, Idaho. With the help of a few specialized contractors, they spent an entire year designing and building this incredible vehicle. The Kenworth Sales Company and Western Trailer, both based in Boise, Idaho, also aided with the construction.
To find out when the Great Big Idaho® Potato Truck will be in a city near you, please visit www.bigidahopotato.com. The website provides in-depth information about the Truck, the IPC’s partnership with MOWAA and is updated regularly with tales and photos from the road.
Source: Idaho Potato Commission
Fred Plotsky and his staff at Cool Runnings arrange about 8,000 loads a year. 
He sees the biggest issue facing trucker is financing, followed by the rules and regulations on the trucking industry.
“However,” he adds, “If you can’t get the financing, the rules and regulations don’t matter.”
The president of Cool Runnings, based in Kenosha, WI, says truckers are facing rising costs with everything from tires to fuel and labor. An engine overhaul that was $13,000 two years ago now costs $20,000 to $21,000. The mechanics who work on those diesel engines have hourly rates that have increased from $60 to $100 per hour.
While the produce rates have gone up in recent weeks, the price of disel fuel remains high as well. For example, Fred says a truck averaging five miles per gallon, running 3,700 miles per week, at today’s diesel prices, that is costing $3,000 a week, which is hard to finance.
While Cool Runnings charges a two percent fee for advances on loads, Fred points out a lot of truck brokers charge three to five percent.
“The broker has to borrow to finance advance loads. The bank is not loaning you that money for free,” Fred states. “Financing is tight. You either pay the bank, or the broker for the cash advance. It is going to cost you more either way.”
It used to be the average cash advance was around $500 to $700 for the fuel to cover a trip from Idaho to Chicago. The advances are around $1,500.
“You are talking two percent of $1,500 when it used to be two percent of $700. The truckers have to find a way to finance this themselves, while the others who do not figure it out fall by the wayside,” Fred says.
Cool Runnings works with a lot of owner operators and small fleet operations. “The guys who used to have 20 trucks now own eight or 10. If he had 10 trucks, now he only has three or four trucks,” Fred says. “They just don’t care anymore. They’ll say, `I’m tired of fighting the rules and regulations and everything else.'”
One example of excessive government interference, Fred notes, are the CARB (California Air Resources Board) rules in California. The requirements, some of which have to do with reducing emissions, increase the costs of operation and is make it very difficult for truckers to comply, much less continue to operate profitably.
He knows one trucker who delivers freight to Utah and runs to Idaho and to pick up potatoes and French fries for delivery to Chicago. That trucker receives a consistent, steady fair rate. The trucker also does not have to comply with California’s CARB rules.
“Now that those rules are stabilized, just don’t keep changing them,” Fred states.
Cool Runnings History
Although it has been nearly 26 years, it seems almost like yesterday when I first met Fred Plotsky. I was riding in a car with a friend and business associate named Gary Robinson in Highland Park, IL during a week I was working in Chicago. Gary had just sold his truck brokerage, Cool Runnings.
How would you like to meet the new owner of Cool Runnings? He’s really a great guy,” Gary asked me. In a moment, Gary had Fred dialed up on his car phone. I met up with Fred later that day and the rest is history. We have been friends ever since.
Fred and I immediately found a few things in common. We both had an interest in produce trucking for starters. Both of us loved to fish. Fred goes after northern pike, especially on fishing expeditions to Canada, while this southern boy prefers the warmer climates and large mouth (you might find Fred reporting to work at the Cool Runnings offices in Kenosha, WI, wearing shorts in January).
Fred also has love for listening to radio, and only a few months earlier in 1986 I had launched the Produce Truckers Network and had two radio stations airing it — WRVA in Richmond, VA with Big John Trimble and WMAQ in Chicago with Fred Sanders.
Both of us are sports fans with Fred a great follower of the Chicago White Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers. He is forgiving of my support of St. Louis Cardinals.
Over the years I’ve learned to respect Fred as a loving husband, great father, little league baseball coach — and a fair and honest businessman.
It has sort of become a tradition with Fred and I to occasionally have lunch together — usually involving chicken wings and root beer. It was during such a recent visit, Fred shared some thoughts on Cool Runnings, which he has owned since July 1986, as well as what is happening with the trucking industry, and what he views as the major concerns and issues with the professionals driving the big rigs. — By Bill Martin
During some summers when produce shipments are in peak volume, so much 
product needs to be moved, and the demand for refrigerated equipment is so great, that already high rates then go through roof. It certainly has not happened this summer, and if anything, produce rates declined leading up to the Fourth of July holiday. The Fourth, being on a Wednesday, is felt by some to lessening the impact on rates.
Rates from major some shipping areas, for example in California, dropped 5 to 10 percent and more from the San Joaquin Valley, Salinas Valley, and Santa Maria.
A number of factors apparently resulted in the lower, although still healthy produce rates. For example, stone fruit shipments out of the San Joaquin Valley are down this year, freeing up some equipment. Other areas are shipping a lot less produce than normal such as Michigan (with fruit) and many Southeastern (watermelons, bluesberries and vegetables) states and in the South (Texas watermelons and melons in loutheastern states).
Still, the heaviest produce volume, on a national basis, usually occurs between May and August – and that still holds true this year.
In California, table grape shipments are winding down in the Coachella Valley, but the big volume is yet to come – from the San Joaquin Valley. Grapes have started from the Arvin (Bakersfield) district….The Salinas Valley remains heavy with vegetables shipments.
Southeastern Arkansas is in peak loadings with tomatoes.
Kentucky and Tennessee are now shipping tomatoes, zucchi, strawberries and peppers. Most shipments are on a regional basis.
Although we usually don’t think too much about ports and imported produce this time of year, various ports around the U.S. are receiving summer citrus. for example, there are arrivals of navel oranges from Peru. There is various types of citrus arriving from South Africa, Argentina, and Uruguay.
San Joaquin Valley fruit and vegetables – grossing about $7,500 to New York City.
South Texas watermelons – $3000 to Chicago.
2012 may be a year many Michigan produce shippers will prefer to forget, not 
to mention for produce haulers who like to haul out of this state.
Your best opportunities this summer will be with Michigan vegetables, which have been mostly unaffected by adverse weather. Normal volume is seen and shipments will continue into the fall. Another plus is with blueberries. As a top shipper of “blues” in the country, Michigan blueberries are forecast at about 80 to 90 million pounds, which is pretty normal.
On the downside is with other fruit. Michigan ranks in the top five in apple shipments, but certainly will not this year. Very few new crop apples survivied the April freeze. Any apples you load in next few weeks will be the last remains from the 2011-12 season. The state’s cherry shipments were also clobbered by weather, with 85 to 90 percent of the cherries wiped out. Heavy hits also were suffered with the state’s peaches and grapes.
The strong, but seasonal produce trucking rates off the West Coast sound 
pretty good, until one starts to consider what it takes to get a Westbound freight haul. The hard economic times in the USA has taken its toll on many truckers. Some in trucking report dry freight grossing as little as $2000 from the Mid-west to California.
Bradley Cook drives a truck for Frank’s Transport, a one-truck operation out of North Miami Beach, FL. HaulProduce.com recently caught up with him at a Flying J Truck Stop, after delivering a load of juice. He was hoping to get a load of freight out of Tulsa, OK for the West Coast to pick up a load of produce.
The 35-year-old has been trucking either long haul or locally since 1998, and this is about as tough as he has seen it.
“I’m working this truck like a dog trying to make ends meets,” he says, pointing to the conventional Peterbilt he is driving. The owner operator he is driving for once had three trucks, but now it is down this single tractor.
It is not easy when outbound dry freight is paying only $1.35 to $1.40 per mile, while eastbound produce loads are grossing about $2.25 per mile, “if you are lucky. The people paying for the East bound (produce) want to pay you the Westbound rates,” he says, “although they pay the better rates because they have little choice.”
It also does not help that other produce shipping areas often do not pay that well. He cites per mile rates of out of Florida being $1.25, while Texas loads are averaging about $1.50 per mile. The high cost of number 2 diesel fuel only makes it worse.
“The price of fuel is so high the produce people and everyone else are relying on the freight charges of 20 years to help make up for it (cost of deliveries),” Bradley says.
Adding to the challenges of hauling produce are the delays in loading and unloading the often occur.
“With produce, I often face delays anywhere from one to eight hours. The product may still be in fields, even though I’m at the facility on time to load,” Bradley states. “I am picking up in California and supposed to deliver in Massachusetts. If I am late for delivery (because of loading delays), that Massachusetts receiver will not pay full price for that load upon arrival.”
Another primary “beef” with Bradley is dealing with four wheelers, and particularly those driving cars who cut off big rigs.
If a wheeler cuts me off then hits the brakes, I’m going to hit my brakes, but I can’t stop on a dime. I’ll end up going five truck lengths through that guy’s vehicle,” Bradely states.
In some Western states he notes speed limits on some highways are 80 mph. “You can cut me off, and I’m going to end up killing you (with my truck, which can’t stop),” he says.
Bradley believes as part of obtaining a driver’s license four wheelers should have to ride in big rig for three weeks to get a better understanding of what it is like to operate an 18 wheeler and “experience the centrifical forces of nature.”
Similar problems exist with four wheelers who tail gate big rigs and when the trucker hits the brakes, if the other driver is not paying close enough attention he can end up “going through your DOT approved trailer bumper — and die.”
Produce loadings have seasonally moved northward, some by as much as three weeks earlier than normal.
A case in point is New Jersey where southern area vegetables have been ahead of schedule for weeks. Now it is peach loadings taking center stage. Jersey peaches started the third week of June, but do not normally get underway until around July 10th. The Garden State ranks fourth nationally in peach volume behind California, South Carolina and Georgia….New Jersey also is a leading shipper of blueberries, which are now moving in volume.
Watermelon loadings are available from the Charleston-Beaufort area of South Carolina…..North Carolina continues to ship sweet potatoes.
Florida has entered its deadest part of the year as far as produce is concerned, while the state of Georgia isn’t a whole lot better. Weather problems really hurt Georgia vegetable, blueberry and watermelon shipments this year. Vidalia onion volume has dwindled and the latter end of the Georgia peach shipping season is lighter than normal.
New Jersey blueberries – grossing about $2600 to Orlando.
North Carolina sweet potatoes – about $1750 to Philadelphia.
This is the most fun time of the year buy fresh produce, unless of course you are growing your own. Home grown tomatoes can’t be beat. Eat ’em like apples!
Here in Oklahoma for only a few weeks, we savor our Porter peaches, grown around the small town of Porter, OK on the Arkansas-Oklahoma state line. Nothing compares! Wish I could say the same for peaches coming from both coasts. Their quality has been all over the board this summer. Some has been juicy and sweet, while others have been dry and tastless.
The same goes for strawberries, although they have been disappointing more often than not.
The pleasant surprises for me in the produce departments this summer has been the seedless watermelons, and the bing cherries – both from California and Washington state. The melons and cherries have been reasonably priced and the quality has been quite good. Watermelons are now coming out of areas such as the bootheel of Missouri as well as Illinois and Indiana.
Kiwifruit has been a great buy for months. I pick it up regularly at three for a dollar. It hasn’t mattered whether it has been from California, Mexico, Chile, etc. It has all been good….Another excellent buy are avocados! I have had them from both California and Mexico recently. They are great in salads. I also love to spread them on crackers and have with a glass of red wine.
The Westside district of the San Joaquin Valley is now shipping cantaloupe and other melons. However, after the Colorado listera outbreak last season involving a number of consumer deaths from eating cantaloupe, sales across the USA were affected. As a result, even though California cantaloupes were not associated with the outbreak, shipments were impacted. As a result fewer Westside district acres were planted this season.
The early portion of what is expected to be record breaking table grape shipments from the San Joaquin Valley is building. Best volume is currently coming out of the Arvin district near Bakersfield. Within days however, there will be light volume of grapes available from as far north in the valley as Fresno and Tulare counties. Including the grapes from Coachella (which are finished), California could ship over 100 million, 19-pound cartons this season.
There’s also other items now being shipped such as tomatoes from the Tracy, CA area, and a number of vegetables from the Fresno area and other parts of the valley.
You may be surprised at the amount of onions California ships, with the heaviest volume coming out of Fresno, Kern and Tulare counties. However, since you can haul onions in everything from flatbed trailers to dry vans, rates are significantly lower.
San Joaquin Valley onions – grossing about $5400 to New York City.
San Joaquin Valley fruit, veggies, melons – about $7500 to New York City.
SALINAS, Calif. –TransFRESH Corporation has announced that in partnership with Landec Corporation, its Tectrol® Service Network storage solution for blueberries is now available featuring Landec’s BreatheWay® Technology supplied by Apio, Inc., offering growers and shippers further enhanced storage capability.
The specialized BreatheWay membrane technology delivers bag permeability characteristics that more precisely match blueberry respiration rates for better balanced atmospheres and storage stability.
“We are very pleased to introduce this further enhancement of the Tectrol Service Network storage solution for blueberries,” said Rich Macleod, TransFRESH vice president, pallet division North America. “With an increased interest from growers and shippers in blueberry storage capabilities, the application of the BreatheWay® membrane technology to the Tectrol blueberry storage solution now offers our business partners added storage benefits.”
The TransFRESH Tectrol team collaborated closely with Landec and its wholly owned subsidiary, Apio Inc., throughout the application of the BreatheWay technology to the Tectrol blueberry storage solution program.
TransFRESH also unveiled a pallet bag label for its blueberry program featuring a new contemporary blueberry image along with the TransFRESH logotype and Apio, Inc. BreatheWay® Technology identification and patent number.
About TransFRESH®
TransFRESH® Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chiquita Brands (NYSE: CQB), is a pioneering and established global company, with nearly 50 years of experience in perishables transport. Tectrol® is the trademarked brand name for the TransFRESH® family of proprietary modified and controlled atmosphere systems and processes developed and owned by TransFRESH®. The Tectrol® Service Network™ services, markets and supports the Tectrol Pallet Systems operations and technologies. Since inception, TransFRESH’s innovations in packaging, equipment and sealing processes have established Tectrol® as the industry standard. For more information, visit the TransFRESH website at www.TransFresh.com.
About Apio, Inc.
Apio, Inc., founded in 1979 by five growers of celery in the Santa Maria Valley in the central coastal region of California has grown to become the leader in processing and marketing fresh-cut specialty packaged vegetables in the U.S. Headquartered in Guadalupe, California, Apio sells its specialty packaged vegetables in convenient bag and tray formats under the Eat Smart® brand. Apio’s fresh-cut specialty packaged vegetable products are unique in that they utilize the Landec Corporation BreatheWay® proprietary breathable packaging technology to extend the shelf life of specific produce. Landec acquired Apio in 1999. For more information about Apio visit Apio’s website at www.apioinc.com.
About Landec Corp.
Landec Corporation is a materials science company that leverages its proprietary polymer technologies, application development and innovation capabilities to develop and commercialize new products in food, agricultural and biomedical markets. Landec’s subsidiary, Apio, has become the leader in US fresh-cut specialty packaged vegetables by combining Landec’s proprietary food packaging technology with the capabilities of a large national food supplier, processor and distributor. Lifecore Biomedical, also a subsidiary of Landec, is a leading supplier of premium hyaluronan-based biomaterials for the ophthalmic and orthopedic markets. Landec’s Licensing Partnerships work closely with market-leading companies to develop and commercialize differentiated polymer-based products. For more information, visit Landec’s website at www.landec.com
News Release: TransFresh Corporation
.
Everything from peaches to apricots, cherries and blueberries will soon be in good volume out of the Pacific Northwest, ramping of loading opportunities for those with refrigerated equipment.
Washington state cherry shipments are underway and in peak volume, which should continue through July, with lighter loadings continuing into August. Record cherry shipments are being predicted. Apricots also are being shipped, continuing into the third week of July.
Shipments are expected to be significantly higher for Northwest peaches this season, compared to 2011. Peaches get underway the third week of July and should continue into October.
Oregon blueberry loads became available recently from the southern production areas of the state. Further north in the Williamette district, “blues” have just started.
The Yakima Valley of Washington state is still shipping some apples and pears from the 2011-2012 season.
Washington state fruit – grossing about $6400 to New York City.
Atlanta, GA – As part of its cross-country tour, the Great Big Idaho® Potato Truck spent a few days enjoying the southern hospitality in Atlanta, Ga. One of its first stops was the Atlanta Food Truck Park on 1850 Howell Mill Road. Lunchtime visitors had an opportunity to view this “spudtacular” vehicle and four local Meals On Wheels agencies received a total of 350,000 servings of Idahoan Mashed Potatoes, ready-to-serve, dehydrated potato products.
The Idaho Potato Commission built the truck, a larger-than-life version of the vintage Idaho potato postcard, in celebration of its milestone 75th Anniversary. Weighing in at six tons (the equivalent of 32,346 medium-sized Idaho® potatoes), the Great Big Idaho® Potato is traversing the country to greet fans and to help raise funds and awareness for the Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA), the oldest and largest national organization dedicated to helping end senior hunger.
“Idaho® potatoes generate more than $4 billion dollars in revenue annually and employ more than 30,000 people. Agriculture and potatoes in particular are the primary reasons Idaho is among the most fiscally sound states in the nation,” explained Frank Muir, president and CEO, IPC.
The Great Big Idaho® Potato Truck made its national debut at the Famous Idaho® Potato Bowl in Boise, Idaho last December when ESPN prominently featured it several times during the game. Since then, the Truck has made several public appearances and at every venue, the most frequently asked question is: “Is it real?” We’ll never tell, but consider that the Great Big Idaho® Potato…
* Would take more than 10,000 years to grow.
* Is 1,102 times heavier than the largest potato ever grown, which weighed 11 pounds.
* Would take two years and nine months to bake.
* Could make 30,325 servings of mashed potatoes and more than 1.4 million (1,455,570) average-sized fries!
The Great Big Idaho® Potato Truck was created and built by Chris Schofield and Sharolyn Spruce of Weiser, Idaho. With the help of a few specialized contractors, they spent an entire year designing and building this incredible vehicle. The Kenworth Sales Company and Western Trailer, both based in Boise, Idaho, also aided with the construction.
To find out when the Great Big Idaho® Potato Truck will be in a city near you, please visit www.bigidahopotato.com. The website provides in-depth information about the Truck, the IPC’s partnership with MOWAA and is updated regularly with tales and photos from the road.
Source: Idaho Potato Commission
Fred Plotsky and his staff at Cool Runnings arrange about 8,000 loads a year. He sees the biggest issue facing trucker is financing, followed by the rules and regulations on the trucking industry.
“However,” he adds, “If you can’t get the financing, the rules and regulations don’t matter.”
The president of Cool Runnings, based in Kenosha, WI, says truckers are facing rising costs with everything from tires to fuel and labor. An engine overhaul that was $13,000 two years ago now costs $20,000 to $21,000. The mechanics who work on those diesel engines have hourly rates that have increased from $60 to $100 per hour.
While the produce rates have gone up in recent weeks, the price of disel fuel remains high as well. For example, Fred says a truck averaging five miles per gallon, running 3,700 miles per week, at today’s diesel prices, that is costing $3,000 a week, which is hard to finance.
While Cool Runnings charges a two percent fee for advances on loads, Fred points out a lot of truck brokers charge three to five percent.
“The broker has to borrow to finance advance loads. The bank is not loaning you that money for free,” Fred states. “Financing is tight. You either pay the bank, or the broker for the cash advance. It is going to cost you more either way.”
It used to be the average cash advance was around $500 to $700 for the fuel to cover a trip from Idaho to Chicago. The advances are around $1,500.
“You are talking two percent of $1,500 when it used to be two percent of $700. The truckers have to find a way to finance this themselves, while the others who do not figure it out fall by the wayside,” Fred says.
Cool Runnings works with a lot of owner operators and small fleet operations. “The guys who used to have 20 trucks now own eight or 10. If he had 10 trucks, now he only has three or four trucks,” Fred says. “They just don’t care anymore. They’ll say, `I’m tired of fighting the rules and regulations and everything else.'”
One example of excessive government interference, Fred notes, are the CARB (California Air Resources Board) rules in California. The requirements, some of which have to do with reducing emissions, increase the costs of operation and is make it very difficult for truckers to comply, much less continue to operate profitably.
He knows one trucker who delivers freight to Utah and runs to Idaho and to pick up potatoes and French fries for delivery to Chicago. That trucker receives a consistent, steady fair rate. The trucker also does not have to comply with California’s CARB rules.
“Now that those rules are stabilized, just don’t keep changing them,” Fred states.
Cool Runnings History
Although it has been nearly 26 years, it seems almost like yesterday when I first met Fred Plotsky. I was riding in a car with a friend and business associate named Gary Robinson in Highland Park, IL during a week I was working in Chicago. Gary had just sold his truck brokerage, Cool Runnings.
How would you like to meet the new owner of Cool Runnings? He’s really a great guy,” Gary asked me. In a moment, Gary had Fred dialed up on his car phone. I met up with Fred later that day and the rest is history. We have been friends ever since.
Fred and I immediately found a few things in common. We both had an interest in produce trucking for starters. Both of us loved to fish. Fred goes after northern pike, especially on fishing expeditions to Canada, while this southern boy prefers the warmer climates and large mouth (you might find Fred reporting to work at the Cool Runnings offices in Kenosha, WI, wearing shorts in January).
Fred also has love for listening to radio, and only a few months earlier in 1986 I had launched the Produce Truckers Network and had two radio stations airing it — WRVA in Richmond, VA with Big John Trimble and WMAQ in Chicago with Fred Sanders.
Both of us are sports fans with Fred a great follower of the Chicago White Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers. He is forgiving of my support of St. Louis Cardinals.
Over the years I’ve learned to respect Fred as a loving husband, great father, little league baseball coach — and a fair and honest businessman.
It has sort of become a tradition with Fred and I to occasionally have lunch together — usually involving chicken wings and root beer. It was during such a recent visit, Fred shared some thoughts on Cool Runnings, which he has owned since July 1986, as well as what is happening with the trucking industry, and what he views as the major concerns and issues with the professionals driving the big rigs. — By Bill Martin
During some summers when produce shipments are in peak volume, so much product needs to be moved, and the demand for refrigerated equipment is so great, that already high rates then go through roof. It certainly has not happened this summer, and if anything, produce rates declined leading up to the Fourth of July holiday. The Fourth, being on a Wednesday, is felt by some to lessening the impact on rates.
Rates from major some shipping areas, for example in California, dropped 5 to 10 percent and more from the San Joaquin Valley, Salinas Valley, and Santa Maria.
A number of factors apparently resulted in the lower, although still healthy produce rates. For example, stone fruit shipments out of the San Joaquin Valley are down this year, freeing up some equipment. Other areas are shipping a lot less produce than normal such as Michigan (with fruit) and many Southeastern (watermelons, bluesberries and vegetables) states and in the South (Texas watermelons and melons in loutheastern states).
Still, the heaviest produce volume, on a national basis, usually occurs between May and August – and that still holds true this year.
In California, table grape shipments are winding down in the Coachella Valley, but the big volume is yet to come – from the San Joaquin Valley. Grapes have started from the Arvin (Bakersfield) district….The Salinas Valley remains heavy with vegetables shipments.
Southeastern Arkansas is in peak loadings with tomatoes.
Kentucky and Tennessee are now shipping tomatoes, zucchi, strawberries and peppers. Most shipments are on a regional basis.
Although we usually don’t think too much about ports and imported produce this time of year, various ports around the U.S. are receiving summer citrus. for example, there are arrivals of navel oranges from Peru. There is various types of citrus arriving from South Africa, Argentina, and Uruguay.
San Joaquin Valley fruit and vegetables – grossing about $7,500 to New York City.
South Texas watermelons – $3000 to Chicago.
2012 may be a year many Michigan produce shippers will prefer to forget, not to mention for produce haulers who like to haul out of this state.
Your best opportunities this summer will be with Michigan vegetables, which have been mostly unaffected by adverse weather. Normal volume is seen and shipments will continue into the fall. Another plus is with blueberries. As a top shipper of “blues” in the country, Michigan blueberries are forecast at about 80 to 90 million pounds, which is pretty normal.
On the downside is with other fruit. Michigan ranks in the top five in apple shipments, but certainly will not this year. Very few new crop apples survivied the April freeze. Any apples you load in next few weeks will be the last remains from the 2011-12 season. The state’s cherry shipments were also clobbered by weather, with 85 to 90 percent of the cherries wiped out. Heavy hits also were suffered with the state’s peaches and grapes.
The strong, but seasonal produce trucking rates off the West Coast sound pretty good, until one starts to consider what it takes to get a Westbound freight haul. The hard economic times in the USA has taken its toll on many truckers. Some in trucking report dry freight grossing as little as $2000 from the Mid-west to California.
Bradley Cook drives a truck for Frank’s Transport, a one-truck operation out of North Miami Beach, FL. HaulProduce.com recently caught up with him at a Flying J Truck Stop, after delivering a load of juice. He was hoping to get a load of freight out of Tulsa, OK for the West Coast to pick up a load of produce.
The 35-year-old has been trucking either long haul or locally since 1998, and this is about as tough as he has seen it.
“I’m working this truck like a dog trying to make ends meets,” he says, pointing to the conventional Peterbilt he is driving. The owner operator he is driving for once had three trucks, but now it is down this single tractor.
It is not easy when outbound dry freight is paying only $1.35 to $1.40 per mile, while eastbound produce loads are grossing about $2.25 per mile, “if you are lucky. The people paying for the East bound (produce) want to pay you the Westbound rates,” he says, “although they pay the better rates because they have little choice.”
It also does not help that other produce shipping areas often do not pay that well. He cites per mile rates of out of Florida being $1.25, while Texas loads are averaging about $1.50 per mile. The high cost of number 2 diesel fuel only makes it worse.
“The price of fuel is so high the produce people and everyone else are relying on the freight charges of 20 years to help make up for it (cost of deliveries),” Bradley says.
Adding to the challenges of hauling produce are the delays in loading and unloading the often occur.
“With produce, I often face delays anywhere from one to eight hours. The product may still be in fields, even though I’m at the facility on time to load,” Bradley states. “I am picking up in California and supposed to deliver in Massachusetts. If I am late for delivery (because of loading delays), that Massachusetts receiver will not pay full price for that load upon arrival.”
Another primary “beef” with Bradley is dealing with four wheelers, and particularly those driving cars who cut off big rigs.
If a wheeler cuts me off then hits the brakes, I’m going to hit my brakes, but I can’t stop on a dime. I’ll end up going five truck lengths through that guy’s vehicle,” Bradely states.
In some Western states he notes speed limits on some highways are 80 mph. “You can cut me off, and I’m going to end up killing you (with my truck, which can’t stop),” he says.
Bradley believes as part of obtaining a driver’s license four wheelers should have to ride in big rig for three weeks to get a better understanding of what it is like to operate an 18 wheeler and “experience the centrifical forces of nature.”
Similar problems exist with four wheelers who tail gate big rigs and when the trucker hits the brakes, if the other driver is not paying close enough attention he can end up “going through your DOT approved trailer bumper — and die.”