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When shopping in your favorite supermarket, here’s a few things to be check out.
Chilean grapes – Although the Chilean table grapes I’ve had this season have 
been pretty tasty (sweet), there are reports of quality issues with some of the fruit lacking in size (which I’ve seen plenty of), to lack of color and quality. I can live the smaller sizes of the individual grapes, and even if they don’t look as pretty as usual. In fact, with too many fruits and vegetables, there is way too much emphasis on beauty, or color. The old saying beauty is only skin deep applies here.
It is the taste; the quality; that really matters. One reason there are so many disppointments with tomatoes, for example, is too much emphasis over the years has been placed on “glamour” or beauty. You take home these gorgeous looking items, but find the taste is lacking.
One other note. There have been about 10 percent fewer Chilean grapes arriving this season into the U.S. than a year ago. There has been a lot more competition of the fruit from such world markets as Europe and Asia. That means less supply here in America, and you end up paying more……Does this remind anyone of our soaring gasoline and diesel fuel prices? Part of the reason is oil is being shipped to the U.S, then it is refined. However, instead of you and I buying and using it; other countries such as China are purchasing it. Sure it’s free market at work, but we as consumers are getting the shaft at the same time. But that is another story for another time.
Asparagus –
By MindShare Strategies, Inc.
for RWI Transportation LLC
Wilder, Ky., February 21, 2012- Truck continues to be the primary mode of 
transportation for temperature-controlled transportation and with today’s capacity crunch this remains a challenge for shippers. According to a just released report by RWI Transportation, an asset-based logistics company providing temperature-controlled transportation for perishable commodities, the top three challenges include capacity, controlling and monitoring the temperature of products during shipping, and cost containment.
The RWI Transportation’s 2012 Temperature-Controlled Transportation Report delves into the challenges and the strategies shippers use to overcome these challenges. The study is based on research from North American shippers of temperature-controlled products. Highlights include:
* Strategies to improving available capacity include finding new carriers as reported by 27 percent of respondents, better planning (22 percent), long-term contracts or commitments to carriers (13 percent) and using asset-based carriers/3PLs (6 percent).
* Shipment rejections due to inappropriate temperature variances are reported by 65 percent of respondents. Variances with too warm temperatures accounts for 42 percent and too cool 23 percent.
* A full 90 percent of respondents indicated that temperature tolerances impact their organizations with 38 indicating a significant to extreme impact.
“This report uncovers challenges specific to shippers of products requiring temperature-controlled environments that we are seeing today as we work closely with our customers,” said Richard Bauer, executive vice president and general manager of RWI Transportation. “Current solutions to these challenges come from understanding and using the data available on shipments including lanes, location, temperature and more. As technology improves our access to better data increases and brings the industry closer to overcoming these challenges.”
Managing in excess of 100,000 shipments annually, RWI handles temperature-controlled and dry freight, and also has specialized expertise in handling fresh produce and other perishable food commodities. RWI is an affiliate of the Castellini Group of Companies, which combines to form one of the largest distributors of fresh produce in the United States. For further information on RWI, visit www.RWItrans.com.
For a full copy of the RWI Transportation’s 2012 Temperature-Controlled Transportation Report visit http://rwitrans.com/resources/whitepapers.asp.
# # #
About RWI Transportation
RWI Transportation LLC is an asset-based logistics company that provides regional and national truckload, LTL, expedited, and refrigerated warehousing services for refrigerated and dry products. RWI is an affiliate of the Castellini Group of Companies, which forms one of the largest distributors of fresh fruits and vegetables in the United States. For more information, visit www.rwitrans.com.
Some quality problems with imported grapes from Chile have been reported. 
It’s not believed to be a major problem, but it IS major, if you are the one delivering those grapes and end up in a claims dispute over quality. The issues on both red and green varieties range from the size of the individual grapes to color and quality. So be extra careful in observing and checking what is being loaded onto your truck. These quality problems are expected to last until the end of the season in April.
By mid April imports of Chilean grapes are expected to drop off quickly.
Chilean grapes from the Port of Long Beach to Chicago – grossing about $3700.
We are several weeks away from Southern shipments of blueberries as well as 
sweet onions from Georgia’s Vidalia district. However, a recent freeze in the Georgia and Northern Florida is bound to reduce volume and loads. It is a matter of determining how much.
Blueberry shipments normally start in late March and continue until Mid May from Northern Florida, followed by Georgia, which starts in late May. Early estimates are all over the board and too unreliable to really get a handle on at this time.
Southeastern Georgia’s famous Vidalia sweet onions are also going to face some losses, but intial inquiries show those losses should not be heavy to the overall shipping season. It still appears volume could be close to normal once loadings begin around the second week of April and then shipments should start really picking up within a week or two.
There are still efforts in Congress to increase the gross weight limits for trucks.
One piece of legislation is the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act (H.R. 763). This bill would allow increasing the weight limit from the current 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds.
Proponets of heavier trucks claim it will reduce greenhouse gases, ease what they see as an upcoming driver shortage when the economy improves, and make freight transportation more efficient. In other words, fewer trucks can haul more freight and reduce highway congestion. Heavier truck supporters also say new hours of service regulations going into effect in 2013 will create increased demand for more equipment and drivers.
What proponets of heavier trucks usually don’t admit is they want to load more freight on the truck, but pay truckers the same old freight rate. It doesn’t matter to them that heavier trucks also increase risk of more highway damage, not to mention the greater wear and tear on tractors and trailers, decreased miles per gallon and longer distances required for a big rig to stop resulting in more crashes.
Some things never seemed to change in trucking and this is one of those issues that has been out there for decades.
With a glut of tomatoes due to over production both from Florida and Mexico,
tomatoes should be reasonably priced in your local supermarket. I emphasize “should be” as retailers too often love to see overproduction “blood baths” allowing them to buy product cheap, but too often these retailers are very reluctant to pass the savings on to the consumer.
Another good buy should be Chilean grapes. I’ve found the red seedless grapes to be of excellent quality, although often lacking in size. The green seedless grapes I’ve tasted have been a little tart, but not bad.
If you are looking for honeydew, expect to pay a premium as supplies from both Mexico and Central America are light. I find honeydew this time of year too often lacking in taste….Asian pears are a favorite of mine. They are a little pricey anytime, but expect this to be even more so now. Supplies are shifting from the U.S. to Chile, where the crop may be off as much as 15 percent.
My experience thus far with strawberries has been kind of erractic. I have had some fruit that didn’t look that good, but had better taste than some of the berries with great color. It’s hard to figure out.
Produce shipments out of Southern California are entering decent volume for 
strawberries, but avocado loadings will be limited for awhile. Better weather conditions compared to a year ago have strawberries loadings more than double over 2011 volume. About 25 to 30 percent of California’s total strawberry shipments come from Ventura County and south. Overall, California is forecast to ship 176 million trays of strawberries this year.
As for avocados, Californa expects to move nearly 400 million trays. Loading opportunities from California have been less than normal as many West Coast shippers are holding onto product waiting for big volumes from Mexico and Chile to subside. Expect significant increases in California avocado shipments come April.
From the Bakersfield area, there’s about 300 truckload equivalents of carrots being shipped weekly….There also is fair volume with items such as lettuce, celery, cauliflower and broccoli being loaded from the Coachella and Imperial valleys of the California desert.
Southern California berries, citrus is grossing about $5500 to New York City.
Imperial Valley veggies – about $3600 to Chicago.
There’s been the ongoing political fight involving the trucking aspects of the 
North American Free Trade Agreement since the Clinton administration. Several months ago the Obama Administration implemented a pilot program whereby Mexican trucking companies could begin operations in the United States.
Apparently about 20 trucking companies from south of the border are awaiting approval from the U.S. to begin operations here. Produce shippers are salavating at the prospects of access to more transportation and cheaper rates to move fruits and vegetables to markets across the U.S. and Canada. Meanwhile, many in the trucking industry are fighting made over the prospects of unsafe Mexican trucks undercutting freight rates.
Among the best loading opportunities for those of you that haul produce this 
time of year is with West Mexican produce crossing the border at Nogales, AZ. Between now and April is a wide variety of everything from watermelons to mangoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, eggplant, tomatoes and beans, among others. Once these items begin to decline in volume, there will be table grapes beginning sometime around the last half of April. But now is when the biggest volume, and loading opportunities are underway….The bad news is you may have to pick up at more than one warehouse to fill out your trailer. The good news is all the warehouses around Nogales are in close proximity.
Nogales mixed veggies grossing about $5000 to Philly.
February may be the slowest month of the year for produce shipments, and 
for the most part there’s plenty of trucks for hauling product from most shipping points nationwide. There are a few exceptions. Equipment appears to the tighest in Florida for hauling mixed veggies, tomatoes and strawberries; sweet potatoes out of Eastern portions of North Carolina and with potatoes out of Northwest Washington.
Nationally, it is reported there are four percent more apples remaining in storages compared to a year ago. Best apple loading opportunities are occuring from Yakima, WA and points in western and central Michigan….Mexican melons and mixed vegetables are crossing the border at Nogales, AZ in good volume…In California, December freezes have apparently reduced citrus shipments for the season from around 93 million cartons to about 74 million cartons. Mandarins were hit pretty hard, especially in the northern San Joaquin Valley. Although packinghouses sort out damaged product, it is a good idea to (as always) to watch what is being loaded.
Washington apples – grossing about $6000 to New York City.
North Carolina sweet potatoes – $2250 to Chicago.
Michigan apples – $2400 to Atlanta.
When shopping in your favorite supermarket, here’s a few things to be check out.
Chilean grapes – Although the Chilean table grapes I’ve had this season have been pretty tasty (sweet), there are reports of quality issues with some of the fruit lacking in size (which I’ve seen plenty of), to lack of color and quality. I can live the smaller sizes of the individual grapes, and even if they don’t look as pretty as usual. In fact, with too many fruits and vegetables, there is way too much emphasis on beauty, or color. The old saying beauty is only skin deep applies here.
It is the taste; the quality; that really matters. One reason there are so many disppointments with tomatoes, for example, is too much emphasis over the years has been placed on “glamour” or beauty. You take home these gorgeous looking items, but find the taste is lacking.
One other note. There have been about 10 percent fewer Chilean grapes arriving this season into the U.S. than a year ago. There has been a lot more competition of the fruit from such world markets as Europe and Asia. That means less supply here in America, and you end up paying more……Does this remind anyone of our soaring gasoline and diesel fuel prices? Part of the reason is oil is being shipped to the U.S, then it is refined. However, instead of you and I buying and using it; other countries such as China are purchasing it. Sure it’s free market at work, but we as consumers are getting the shaft at the same time. But that is another story for another time.
Asparagus –
By MindShare Strategies, Inc.
for RWI Transportation LLC
Wilder, Ky., February 21, 2012- Truck continues to be the primary mode of transportation for temperature-controlled transportation and with today’s capacity crunch this remains a challenge for shippers. According to a just released report by RWI Transportation, an asset-based logistics company providing temperature-controlled transportation for perishable commodities, the top three challenges include capacity, controlling and monitoring the temperature of products during shipping, and cost containment.
The RWI Transportation’s 2012 Temperature-Controlled Transportation Report delves into the challenges and the strategies shippers use to overcome these challenges. The study is based on research from North American shippers of temperature-controlled products. Highlights include:
* Strategies to improving available capacity include finding new carriers as reported by 27 percent of respondents, better planning (22 percent), long-term contracts or commitments to carriers (13 percent) and using asset-based carriers/3PLs (6 percent).
* Shipment rejections due to inappropriate temperature variances are reported by 65 percent of respondents. Variances with too warm temperatures accounts for 42 percent and too cool 23 percent.
* A full 90 percent of respondents indicated that temperature tolerances impact their organizations with 38 indicating a significant to extreme impact.
“This report uncovers challenges specific to shippers of products requiring temperature-controlled environments that we are seeing today as we work closely with our customers,” said Richard Bauer, executive vice president and general manager of RWI Transportation. “Current solutions to these challenges come from understanding and using the data available on shipments including lanes, location, temperature and more. As technology improves our access to better data increases and brings the industry closer to overcoming these challenges.”
Managing in excess of 100,000 shipments annually, RWI handles temperature-controlled and dry freight, and also has specialized expertise in handling fresh produce and other perishable food commodities. RWI is an affiliate of the Castellini Group of Companies, which combines to form one of the largest distributors of fresh produce in the United States. For further information on RWI, visit www.RWItrans.com.
For a full copy of the RWI Transportation’s 2012 Temperature-Controlled Transportation Report visit http://rwitrans.com/resources/whitepapers.asp.
# # #
About RWI Transportation
RWI Transportation LLC is an asset-based logistics company that provides regional and national truckload, LTL, expedited, and refrigerated warehousing services for refrigerated and dry products. RWI is an affiliate of the Castellini Group of Companies, which forms one of the largest distributors of fresh fruits and vegetables in the United States. For more information, visit www.rwitrans.com.
Some quality problems with imported grapes from Chile have been reported. It’s not believed to be a major problem, but it IS major, if you are the one delivering those grapes and end up in a claims dispute over quality. The issues on both red and green varieties range from the size of the individual grapes to color and quality. So be extra careful in observing and checking what is being loaded onto your truck. These quality problems are expected to last until the end of the season in April.
By mid April imports of Chilean grapes are expected to drop off quickly.
Chilean grapes from the Port of Long Beach to Chicago – grossing about $3700.
We are several weeks away from Southern shipments of blueberries as well as sweet onions from Georgia’s Vidalia district. However, a recent freeze in the Georgia and Northern Florida is bound to reduce volume and loads. It is a matter of determining how much.
Blueberry shipments normally start in late March and continue until Mid May from Northern Florida, followed by Georgia, which starts in late May. Early estimates are all over the board and too unreliable to really get a handle on at this time.
Southeastern Georgia’s famous Vidalia sweet onions are also going to face some losses, but intial inquiries show those losses should not be heavy to the overall shipping season. It still appears volume could be close to normal once loadings begin around the second week of April and then shipments should start really picking up within a week or two.
There are still efforts in Congress to increase the gross weight limits for trucks. One piece of legislation is the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act (H.R. 763). This bill would allow increasing the weight limit from the current 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds.
Proponets of heavier trucks claim it will reduce greenhouse gases, ease what they see as an upcoming driver shortage when the economy improves, and make freight transportation more efficient. In other words, fewer trucks can haul more freight and reduce highway congestion. Heavier truck supporters also say new hours of service regulations going into effect in 2013 will create increased demand for more equipment and drivers.
What proponets of heavier trucks usually don’t admit is they want to load more freight on the truck, but pay truckers the same old freight rate. It doesn’t matter to them that heavier trucks also increase risk of more highway damage, not to mention the greater wear and tear on tractors and trailers, decreased miles per gallon and longer distances required for a big rig to stop resulting in more crashes.
Some things never seemed to change in trucking and this is one of those issues that has been out there for decades.
With a glut of tomatoes due to over production both from Florida and Mexico,
tomatoes should be reasonably priced in your local supermarket. I emphasize “should be” as retailers too often love to see overproduction “blood baths” allowing them to buy product cheap, but too often these retailers are very reluctant to pass the savings on to the consumer.
Another good buy should be Chilean grapes. I’ve found the red seedless grapes to be of excellent quality, although often lacking in size. The green seedless grapes I’ve tasted have been a little tart, but not bad.
If you are looking for honeydew, expect to pay a premium as supplies from both Mexico and Central America are light. I find honeydew this time of year too often lacking in taste….Asian pears are a favorite of mine. They are a little pricey anytime, but expect this to be even more so now. Supplies are shifting from the U.S. to Chile, where the crop may be off as much as 15 percent.
My experience thus far with strawberries has been kind of erractic. I have had some fruit that didn’t look that good, but had better taste than some of the berries with great color. It’s hard to figure out.
Produce shipments out of Southern California are entering decent volume for strawberries, but avocado loadings will be limited for awhile. Better weather conditions compared to a year ago have strawberries loadings more than double over 2011 volume. About 25 to 30 percent of California’s total strawberry shipments come from Ventura County and south. Overall, California is forecast to ship 176 million trays of strawberries this year.
As for avocados, Californa expects to move nearly 400 million trays. Loading opportunities from California have been less than normal as many West Coast shippers are holding onto product waiting for big volumes from Mexico and Chile to subside. Expect significant increases in California avocado shipments come April.
From the Bakersfield area, there’s about 300 truckload equivalents of carrots being shipped weekly….There also is fair volume with items such as lettuce, celery, cauliflower and broccoli being loaded from the Coachella and Imperial valleys of the California desert.
Southern California berries, citrus is grossing about $5500 to New York City.
Imperial Valley veggies – about $3600 to Chicago.
There’s been the ongoing political fight involving the trucking aspects of the North American Free Trade Agreement since the Clinton administration. Several months ago the Obama Administration implemented a pilot program whereby Mexican trucking companies could begin operations in the United States.
Apparently about 20 trucking companies from south of the border are awaiting approval from the U.S. to begin operations here. Produce shippers are salavating at the prospects of access to more transportation and cheaper rates to move fruits and vegetables to markets across the U.S. and Canada. Meanwhile, many in the trucking industry are fighting made over the prospects of unsafe Mexican trucks undercutting freight rates.
Among the best loading opportunities for those of you that haul produce this time of year is with West Mexican produce crossing the border at Nogales, AZ. Between now and April is a wide variety of everything from watermelons to mangoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, eggplant, tomatoes and beans, among others. Once these items begin to decline in volume, there will be table grapes beginning sometime around the last half of April. But now is when the biggest volume, and loading opportunities are underway….The bad news is you may have to pick up at more than one warehouse to fill out your trailer. The good news is all the warehouses around Nogales are in close proximity.
Nogales mixed veggies grossing about $5000 to Philly.
February may be the slowest month of the year for produce shipments, and for the most part there’s plenty of trucks for hauling product from most shipping points nationwide. There are a few exceptions. Equipment appears to the tighest in Florida for hauling mixed veggies, tomatoes and strawberries; sweet potatoes out of Eastern portions of North Carolina and with potatoes out of Northwest Washington.
Nationally, it is reported there are four percent more apples remaining in storages compared to a year ago. Best apple loading opportunities are occuring from Yakima, WA and points in western and central Michigan….Mexican melons and mixed vegetables are crossing the border at Nogales, AZ in good volume…In California, December freezes have apparently reduced citrus shipments for the season from around 93 million cartons to about 74 million cartons. Mandarins were hit pretty hard, especially in the northern San Joaquin Valley. Although packinghouses sort out damaged product, it is a good idea to (as always) to watch what is being loaded.
Washington apples – grossing about $6000 to New York City.
North Carolina sweet potatoes – $2250 to Chicago.
Michigan apples – $2400 to Atlanta.