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Strawberry loading opportunities are now available from three regions, 
Florida, Mexico and California. Currently, the heaviest volume, which isn’t that heavy, is out of the Plant City are of Florida, averaging around 250 truck load equivalents per week. Volume is much less right now with strawberries crossing U.S. borders from Mexico, as well as from the Oxnard district of California. Volume is less than half of Florida’s from these other two areas. Strawberries from California’s Santa Maria District is at a trickle, but will be increasing in coming weeks along with its sister district at Oxnard. California shipments should be in good volume leading up to Easter Sunday (April 8), barring unforseen adverse weather. Strawberry shipments tend to pay better than many other produce items due to their perishablity.
Berry and citrus from Southern California – grossing about $6500 to Boston.
Strawberries are one of the coolest items on God’s green earth. They also are 
one the tastiest. Love ’em straight up, on cereal, ice cream, dipped in chocolate, or just about any other imaginable way. The berries in your local supermarket are probably a little pricey right now, but expect better deals as volume increases from California, which has the largest volume and the best quality on just about any given year.
Strawberries also are very healthy. These berries are supposed to reduce constipation and help prevent colon cancer as they enter the intestines and wash away harmful toxins. There are many other healthful pluses to strawberries ranging to improving memory to aiding better eye sight….You can get whiter teeth brushing with strawberries and baking soda by mashing the berries and mixing it with the baking soda!
A large crop of pears should translate into good loading opportunties in the months ahead, especially since there’s also a big apple crop as well.
Pears (and apples) are coming out of Washington state – Yakima and Wanetchee vallies. The quality of the pears are reported good, but my only concern is shippers have had trouble selling the crop, in part because of the holidays where Christmas favorites such as citrus seem to be preferred. While this may change with the New Year, Washington pear shippers will to start having to move the crop one way or the other. If it gets serious enough some consignment shipments are possible. In other words rolling product on a truck to a destination while still looking for a buyer. 
That’s not good for the shipper, whose likely going to take a price beating. It could be just as bad for a trucker hauling it. Imagine you’re told you’re taking the load to Philly, but on the way you’re asked to devert to another city after a buyer is finally found. This could possibily add hundreds of miles to your haul. Then comes the question of getting paid fairly for those additonal miles. Even worse, what if you’ve committed to picking up another load in the original city to which you were destined?
I’m not saying this will happen, but just be aware. Plus, if you’re combining pears with something such as apples (which are in hot demand), it should reduce these chances of something going wrong.
It got pretty nippy January 3 and 4 in Florida and while there apparently was some freeze damage to winter vegetables, it doesn’t sound too serious. Produce truckers do not have great loading opportunties in Florida this time of year anyway due to the light volume. The full extent of damage will not be known for another week or so. Temperatures in the Immokolee area dipped into the mid to upper 20s, affecting some tomatoes, bell peppers and squash….Light loading opportunties should be unaffected until early February, when damaged product would have started maturing. When loading these items starting next month keep an eye out for quality and scarring and make sure your receiver knows what is being loaded, to help avoid claims at destination. Florida tomatoes are among the heaviest volume items this time of year coming out of Southwest Florida and the Homestead areas. Strawberry volume from the Plant City district apparently escaped any freeze damage.
Two Texas produce firms have recently filed for Chapter 11 bankrupty and if they stay in business with this protection from creditors, produce haulers should be extra cautious doing business with them.
The produce companies in San Antonio, TX are in question are Delta Produce LP and Superior Tomato and Avocado. The firms, which are believed to be related, are facing compliants from the Perishable Agriculture Commodities (PACA). As of December 29th around $600,000 in PACA claims have been filed by other produce firms, which are owed monies.
Delta has filed a $100 million lawsuit against H.E. Butt Co. seeking damages against the retail chain alleging coercion by a buyer, according to a filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Western District of Texas. H.E. Butt has denied the claims stating Delta failed to keep up with a changing marketplace.
The PACA comes under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and requires U.S. produce companies buying or selling fresh produce in commercial quanities to be licensed by USDA. This helps to provide protection to the produce industry when dealings between produce companies cannot be resolved between themselves.
Trucking is not afforded these same protections and often have no recourse when monies are owed, except through the courts. This can be costly, not to mention the inconvenience of fighting a company for money who may be located in a different state thousands of miles away. Also, PACA protected produce companies get their monies first, if any is left in a bankruptcy.
Bill Martin of haulproduce.com for decades has been calling for trucker protections under the PACA.
This probably won’t make big news, but head lettuce grown in Arizona fields south of Phoenix and shipped to a few areas in the west have been pulled from the market. The grower and shipper of the lettuce is Growers Express of Salinas, CA. The vegetable company is already receiving high praise as it pulled its product from the market even though there is nothing known to be wrong with it. Apparently a separate lettuce field not too far away was found to have Somenella. As a precauation Growers Express decided to remove it’s lettuce from retail stores, even though none of its lettuce had tested positive for food containmation. In the wake of the Colorado cantaulope debacle last year resulting in several deaths, extra precautions are apparently being taken by some produce companies.
It’s the slowest time of the year for produce shipments, but as usual, California which accounts for about 50% of the nation’s loads a year is your best best. So far, citrus from the San Joaquin Valley (as well as in Florida) have dodged damaging freezes. California has light shipments of strawberries from Oxnard, Santa Maria and Orange County. There also are light loadings of Mexician tomatoes crossing into Southern California….Western Arizona (Yuma area) is providing the best loading opportunities with head lettuce and romaine, and to a lesser extent with broccoli and cauliflower….In the Midwest, the Stevens Point, WI area may be your best bet with potatoes….In the Southeast, it’s pretty slim pickings, but check out mixed veggies from Southeastern Georgia, and citrus and strawberries from Central Florida.
Yuma lettuce – grossing about $6400 to New York City.
Why was haulproduce.com created? Simply put, there is a need. That need is good, accurate, reliable and timely information. This knowledge can be used 
by those who are transportating fresh fruits and vegetable to improve their bottom line, making business operations more profitable.
From pre-cooling melons, to proper loading procedures, maintaining refrigeration temperatures and humidity levels, to timely deliveries of perishable items, hauling produce is a different ballgame.
The harvesting and shipping of fresh produce items in a particular area can range from three to four weeks from year to year, depending on the weather. Likewise, the start and completion of shipments of those same items can vary each year.
Additionally, volume from this same district area can change greatly from one year to the next. Then there is always the concern over quality of the product. It is important that the party to whom you are delivering has no surprises relating to quality, size, color, and taste of the product.
Having this information at your finger tips reduces your chances of having the load rejected, or facing a deduction in your freight rate.
It is important to know where loads will be available from season to season. Loadings of lettuce, for example, come from different shipping areas, depending upon the time of the year. Shifts from one shipping area to another may have gaps in some instances, but may overlap in others. These shipping areas also may vary significant in volume from year to year and even during the season itself.
In addition to all these factors, rates for hauling produce can fluctuate greatly, even from the same area to the same destination depending upon everything from truck availability to produce volume and the perishable nature of the product.
In essence, to be a good produce trucker, it requires being a cut above most of types of other haulers. And being among the best, depends on knowing the business and using the information available. Thus, haulproduce.com is here to help.
HaulProduce.com has a purpose of providing helpful and insightful information first of all to the professionals who haul nearly 100 percent of the nation’s fresh fruits and vegetables to destinations all over the United States, Canada, and now Mexico. There are health related features here as well since truckers are more often becoming health conscious and realize the benefits of eating fresh produce. There also is information on “In-Transit Issues” to help deliver a better product and hopefully reduce the chances of a claim or rejected load. Other issues covered range from trucking equipment to occasional political issues.
Yet, the heart of HaulProduce.com is the produce trucking reports providing information ranging from when shipping areas become active, to when these areas may have shipping gaps, to information relating to volume and quality of produce available for hauling. When produce rates are listed they are based upon being straight loads in 48-foot refrigerated trailers. Rates can also vary on a day-to-day, if not hourly basis, thus quoted rates are to give you a general idea of what is being paid. You should add more to your freight rate when there are multiple pickups and drops, brokerage fees, gate fees, unloading charges and possible other expenses that affect your bottom line…
As HaulProduce.com grows and evolves, look for new features on this site. Wishing you safe travels and profitable hauls. — Bill Martin
Upstate New York state is accounting for more produce shipments than the rest of the Northeast combined. New York’s biggest volume is with apples out of the Hudson Valley, as well as areas in the Central and Western part of the
state. The Western half of New York also is significant for cabbage. Orange County New York has a moderate volume of onions, as does the Oswego area in the Central part of the state….There is also light shipments of apples from the Applachian District of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virgina….Aroostock County Maine is in the far northern part of the state and is shipping around 250 loads of potatoes a week. Overall, the Northeast certainly isn’t a hotbed of loading opportunities, but if you are needing a load, all options should be considered.
Maine potatoes – grossing about $2100 to Philadelphia.
Western New York cabbage – $2200 to Atlanta
Strawberry loading opportunities are now available from three regions, Florida, Mexico and California. Currently, the heaviest volume, which isn’t that heavy, is out of the Plant City are of Florida, averaging around 250 truck load equivalents per week. Volume is much less right now with strawberries crossing U.S. borders from Mexico, as well as from the Oxnard district of California. Volume is less than half of Florida’s from these other two areas. Strawberries from California’s Santa Maria District is at a trickle, but will be increasing in coming weeks along with its sister district at Oxnard. California shipments should be in good volume leading up to Easter Sunday (April 8), barring unforseen adverse weather. Strawberry shipments tend to pay better than many other produce items due to their perishablity.
Berry and citrus from Southern California – grossing about $6500 to Boston.
Strawberries are one of the coolest items on God’s green earth. They also are one the tastiest. Love ’em straight up, on cereal, ice cream, dipped in chocolate, or just about any other imaginable way. The berries in your local supermarket are probably a little pricey right now, but expect better deals as volume increases from California, which has the largest volume and the best quality on just about any given year.
Strawberries also are very healthy. These berries are supposed to reduce constipation and help prevent colon cancer as they enter the intestines and wash away harmful toxins. There are many other healthful pluses to strawberries ranging to improving memory to aiding better eye sight….You can get whiter teeth brushing with strawberries and baking soda by mashing the berries and mixing it with the baking soda!
A large crop of pears should translate into good loading opportunties in the months ahead, especially since there’s also a big apple crop as well.
Pears (and apples) are coming out of Washington state – Yakima and Wanetchee vallies. The quality of the pears are reported good, but my only concern is shippers have had trouble selling the crop, in part because of the holidays where Christmas favorites such as citrus seem to be preferred. While this may change with the New Year, Washington pear shippers will to start having to move the crop one way or the other. If it gets serious enough some consignment shipments are possible. In other words rolling product on a truck to a destination while still looking for a buyer. That’s not good for the shipper, whose likely going to take a price beating. It could be just as bad for a trucker hauling it. Imagine you’re told you’re taking the load to Philly, but on the way you’re asked to devert to another city after a buyer is finally found. This could possibily add hundreds of miles to your haul. Then comes the question of getting paid fairly for those additonal miles. Even worse, what if you’ve committed to picking up another load in the original city to which you were destined?
I’m not saying this will happen, but just be aware. Plus, if you’re combining pears with something such as apples (which are in hot demand), it should reduce these chances of something going wrong.
It got pretty nippy January 3 and 4 in Florida and while there apparently was some freeze damage to winter vegetables, it doesn’t sound too serious. Produce truckers do not have great loading opportunties in Florida this time of year anyway due to the light volume. The full extent of damage will not be known for another week or so. Temperatures in the Immokolee area dipped into the mid to upper 20s, affecting some tomatoes, bell peppers and squash….Light loading opportunties should be unaffected until early February, when damaged product would have started maturing. When loading these items starting next month keep an eye out for quality and scarring and make sure your receiver knows what is being loaded, to help avoid claims at destination. Florida tomatoes are among the heaviest volume items this time of year coming out of Southwest Florida and the Homestead areas. Strawberry volume from the Plant City district apparently escaped any freeze damage.
Two Texas produce firms have recently filed for Chapter 11 bankrupty and if they stay in business with this protection from creditors, produce haulers should be extra cautious doing business with them.
The produce companies in San Antonio, TX are in question are Delta Produce LP and Superior Tomato and Avocado. The firms, which are believed to be related, are facing compliants from the Perishable Agriculture Commodities (PACA). As of December 29th around $600,000 in PACA claims have been filed by other produce firms, which are owed monies.
Delta has filed a $100 million lawsuit against H.E. Butt Co. seeking damages against the retail chain alleging coercion by a buyer, according to a filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Western District of Texas. H.E. Butt has denied the claims stating Delta failed to keep up with a changing marketplace.
The PACA comes under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and requires U.S. produce companies buying or selling fresh produce in commercial quanities to be licensed by USDA. This helps to provide protection to the produce industry when dealings between produce companies cannot be resolved between themselves.
Trucking is not afforded these same protections and often have no recourse when monies are owed, except through the courts. This can be costly, not to mention the inconvenience of fighting a company for money who may be located in a different state thousands of miles away. Also, PACA protected produce companies get their monies first, if any is left in a bankruptcy.
Bill Martin of haulproduce.com for decades has been calling for trucker protections under the PACA.
This probably won’t make big news, but head lettuce grown in Arizona fields south of Phoenix and shipped to a few areas in the west have been pulled from the market. The grower and shipper of the lettuce is Growers Express of Salinas, CA. The vegetable company is already receiving high praise as it pulled its product from the market even though there is nothing known to be wrong with it. Apparently a separate lettuce field not too far away was found to have Somenella. As a precauation Growers Express decided to remove it’s lettuce from retail stores, even though none of its lettuce had tested positive for food containmation. In the wake of the Colorado cantaulope debacle last year resulting in several deaths, extra precautions are apparently being taken by some produce companies.
It’s the slowest time of the year for produce shipments, but as usual, California which accounts for about 50% of the nation’s loads a year is your best best. So far, citrus from the San Joaquin Valley (as well as in Florida) have dodged damaging freezes. California has light shipments of strawberries from Oxnard, Santa Maria and Orange County. There also are light loadings of Mexician tomatoes crossing into Southern California….Western Arizona (Yuma area) is providing the best loading opportunities with head lettuce and romaine, and to a lesser extent with broccoli and cauliflower….In the Midwest, the Stevens Point, WI area may be your best bet with potatoes….In the Southeast, it’s pretty slim pickings, but check out mixed veggies from Southeastern Georgia, and citrus and strawberries from Central Florida.
Yuma lettuce – grossing about $6400 to New York City.
Why was haulproduce.com created? Simply put, there is a need. That need is good, accurate, reliable and timely information. This knowledge can be used by those who are transportating fresh fruits and vegetable to improve their bottom line, making business operations more profitable.
From pre-cooling melons, to proper loading procedures, maintaining refrigeration temperatures and humidity levels, to timely deliveries of perishable items, hauling produce is a different ballgame.
The harvesting and shipping of fresh produce items in a particular area can range from three to four weeks from year to year, depending on the weather. Likewise, the start and completion of shipments of those same items can vary each year.
Additionally, volume from this same district area can change greatly from one year to the next. Then there is always the concern over quality of the product. It is important that the party to whom you are delivering has no surprises relating to quality, size, color, and taste of the product.
Having this information at your finger tips reduces your chances of having the load rejected, or facing a deduction in your freight rate.
It is important to know where loads will be available from season to season. Loadings of lettuce, for example, come from different shipping areas, depending upon the time of the year. Shifts from one shipping area to another may have gaps in some instances, but may overlap in others. These shipping areas also may vary significant in volume from year to year and even during the season itself.
In addition to all these factors, rates for hauling produce can fluctuate greatly, even from the same area to the same destination depending upon everything from truck availability to produce volume and the perishable nature of the product.
In essence, to be a good produce trucker, it requires being a cut above most of types of other haulers. And being among the best, depends on knowing the business and using the information available. Thus, haulproduce.com is here to help.
HaulProduce.com has a purpose of providing helpful and insightful information first of all to the professionals who haul nearly 100 percent of the nation’s fresh fruits and vegetables to destinations all over the United States, Canada, and now Mexico. There are health related features here as well since truckers are more often becoming health conscious and realize the benefits of eating fresh produce. There also is information on “In-Transit Issues” to help deliver a better product and hopefully reduce the chances of a claim or rejected load. Other issues covered range from trucking equipment to occasional political issues.
Yet, the heart of HaulProduce.com is the produce trucking reports providing information ranging from when shipping areas become active, to when these areas may have shipping gaps, to information relating to volume and quality of produce available for hauling. When produce rates are listed they are based upon being straight loads in 48-foot refrigerated trailers. Rates can also vary on a day-to-day, if not hourly basis, thus quoted rates are to give you a general idea of what is being paid. You should add more to your freight rate when there are multiple pickups and drops, brokerage fees, gate fees, unloading charges and possible other expenses that affect your bottom line…
As HaulProduce.com grows and evolves, look for new features on this site. Wishing you safe travels and profitable hauls. — Bill Martin
Upstate New York state is accounting for more produce shipments than the rest of the Northeast combined. New York’s biggest volume is with apples out of the Hudson Valley, as well as areas in the Central and Western part of the state. The Western half of New York also is significant for cabbage. Orange County New York has a moderate volume of onions, as does the Oswego area in the Central part of the state….There is also light shipments of apples from the Applachian District of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virgina….Aroostock County Maine is in the far northern part of the state and is shipping around 250 loads of potatoes a week. Overall, the Northeast certainly isn’t a hotbed of loading opportunities, but if you are needing a load, all options should be considered.
Maine potatoes – grossing about $2100 to Philadelphia.
Western New York cabbage – $2200 to Atlanta