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We are still four months away from Florida’s heaviest time of the year with spring produce loadings, but here are your best bets if in the Sunshine State. 
Central Florida tomatoes, whether mature greens, cherry, or grape tomatoes are averaging about 1,000 truck loads a week. Strawberry volume out of the Plant City area are increasing in volume. There’s also citrus ranging from oranges, to grapefruit, tangerines and tangelos. Potatoes from south Florida are still several weeks away from diggings and shipments…..Don’t necessarily be looking for freight to Florida this time of year, because overall loadings are scarace out of Florida. If it helps, South Georgia is shipping a few mixed veggies to help fill your load.
Central Florida Produce – about $1700 to New York City
The recession of the past four years has presented its challenges for produce haulers, as well as the trucking industry in general. Hopefully 2012 will result in the economy headed in the right direction, but no one is predicting a rousing rebound. When economic conditions start to improve, freight movement increases, resulting in a demand for more equipment and drivers to move it. The U.S. needs to take actions to become less dependent on foreign oil (how long have we been saying that) to avoid those wild fluctuations in the cost of No. 2 diesel and other fuels. Meanwhile a new year is upon us, it’s time to dig deep into the well of optimism, reflect on what could have been done differentlt, and vow to make 2012 a year of not only of hope, but progress in making not only our own business better, but contribute to the betterment of this great country. This is wishing each of you the best of health, happiness and prosperity in the New Year.
Growing up as the eldest among 15 kids in a Mennonite family in Ephrata, PA, Lance Zimmerman has probably grown up faster than a lot of children, although he was, and still is considered to a certain extent, a
bit of a renegade amongst his conservative family.
. In the fall of 1982 he started trucking. He drove a dump bucket for a couple of years, followed by a “bull wagon,” dry vans and reefers. Lance, 50, became an owner operator in 1995 and since then has mostly been hauling oversized loads. Last May he bought a 2004 Freightliner XL Classic with a 12.7 Detroit Diesel with 600 h.p. It has a nine speed transmission, but an 18-speed tranny 
is on order. The previous owner had a glider kit installed and had it certified. When Lance picked up the seven-year-old truck last spring the only mileage on it was the 68 miles the owner had driven to and from the inspection shop.
HaulProduce.com caught up with Lance recently when he was delivering a model 730 Cat off road dump truck to a Tulsa, OK dealership. He had picked up the 49,000-pound Cat at Port Dundalk in Baltimore. He loaded the dump truck himself onto his 7007 Fontaine Renegade, 48-foot double drop RGN.
“I like what I’m hauling now (oversized loads) better than anything I’ve ever done,” Lance says. “I don’t have to run as hard to maintain my lifestyle and I get to sleep every night.” This is because oversized loads are only allowed to be moved during daylight hours. 70 percent of his loads are for the U.S. military.
“When the military has a platoon training, that equipment goes with them. On a major move by a platoon it can take up to 80 trucks to move that equipment”, he says. The military wants delivery on a certain day, but the allow time for you to run legally. The loads also include a good freight rate.
“If it pays well enough, I’ll haul it,” notes Lance, who is leased to J.R. Martin Transport LLC of Mill Hall, PA. Noting there is no forced dispatch with J.R. Martin, he has been working with the company long enough that his dispatcher knows pretty much what Lance will and will not haul. He averages being on the road two to two and one-half weeks at a time.
“If I get a $3 to $4 (per mile) paying load I’ll go anywhere, even if it is someplace like Montana where you can’t get another load without deadheading 300 to 400 miles. It is still worth it,” he notes.
Lance says his westbound loads normally pay better than eastbound trips, which is pretty much the opposite of what truckers pulling refrigerated loads experience. Much of it comes down to availability of trucks for certain types of equipment going in a particular direction.
If Lance has one piece of advice for successfully making it as an owner operator, he states, “Find a decent company to lease to. Also, today with the internet you can get loads from about anywhere in the country. You have got to go where higher paying loads go. If you want to be home every week then your loads will be for less money. Sometimes those good paying loads don’t go where you want to be.”
Lance has reached the point in his trucking career where he averages about 100,000 miles a year, which still allows time off for one of his two favorite pastimes, elk hunting in Colorado, and bike riding. He owns a 2009 Road Glider Harley Davidson. Every year or two Lance and one or two of his friends will hit the road on their hogs. During his last “vacation” the guys logged 9,500 miles in 21 days. In past years they have traveled to Nova Scotia, Florida, the western United States and many points in between from their Lancaster County, PA base.
“My wife Lori says if I’m not moving I’m not happy,” Lance concludes.
Twenty years ago produce volume this time of the year was a shadow of what it is today, and no country has contributed more to this than Chile. Not only do consumers have more choices in supermarkets, but produce haulers have more loading opportunities. Imports from Chile, mostly by boat, are arriving on both the East and West Coasts of the U.S. Biggest volumes are coming in at ports in Philadelphia and Wilimington, NC in the east, and at Long Beach, CA. Items range from blueberries to cherries and avocados, stone fruit and table grapes. The grape volume is still relatively light, but peak arrivals of should start occurring by late January and continue until May. Chile now provides about 25% of the world’s table grapes. Boat arrivals also include stone fruit, which will be available through March.
Fresh fruit and veggies shipments from South Texas continues to increase, although for a number of years now it is primarily due to more loads crossing the border from Mexico. Of the total loads by truck leaving the Rio Grande Valley, about 60% of that produce was grown south of the border. While Nogales, AZ for years has been known as the principal import point for Mexican produce into the U.S., last year for the first time imports in the Lower Rio Grande Valley exceeded those of Nogales. This trend is expected to continue when a year from now a new highway in Mexico is expected to be completed. The 143-mile long Autopista Durango-Maztlan is the east-west highway being built. More West Mexican produce shipments that normally go through Nogales, will instead be channeled through South Texas, because it will reduce freight rates for loads destined to the Eastern United States…Currrently your best South Texas loading opportunities are with cabbage, just south of San Antonio, plus grapefruit further south in the valley.
December is one of the slowest months of the year in terms of produce volume and shipments, despite the holidays. Citrus, led by oranges and grapefruit tend to provide some of the best loading opportunities. Florida easily leads the orange tonnage, although a large percentage of this citrus is processed for juice, unlike in California. Florida should ship about 150 million boxes of oranges this season, compared to around 57.5 million from California, the latter coming from central and southern areas. Florida also easily leads in shipments of grapefruit, with about 19.4 million boxes forecast this season. Second is the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas with around 5.1 million boxes and followed by California with 3.4 million cartons.
Texas grapefruit grossing about $1300 to Tulsa and Oklahoma City
Heading into the Christmas weekend, it is my hope as you are reading this you’ll be home with family and friends for Christmas. Thinking of all the beautifully wrapped gifts under my tree, virtually all them, just like millions of others around America, were delivered by truck. Over 95% of the fresh fruits and vegetables available in our favorite supermarket are there because of the trucking industry. As Christians across this great land celebrate the birth of Christ, this is wishing you a joyful holiday season beyond your greatest expections. It also is a wish for more kindness, peace and love in the world. God Bless – and Merry Christmas.
There’s good news for truckers, your loading opportunities, plus on the home front when comes to buying fresh produce at your local supermarket.
For the second consecutive month, a leading recent indicator in retail food inflation shows prices for fresh fruits and veggies fell in November. However, prices ares still on track to post among the largest increases over the past decade, according to government data.
Supermarket prices for fresh fruits and vegetables fell in November. Average retail fresh fruit and vegetable prices fell 1.2% last month from October levels, according to updated Consumer Price Index data released Dec. 16 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. October prices were down 2.7% from September.
Compared with a year ago, fresh fruit and vegetable prices were up 3.8% for the first 11 months of 2011 and posted average year-over-year increases of 4.8%, placing the category on a pace for the biggest annual increase since a 5.2% jump in 2008.
Fresh produce prices declinedl in recent months amid increased production of apples, pears and other crops. Prices for many items surged earlier this year after cold weather that cut production of tomatoes, oranges and other crops. More recently, apple supplies have risen over 2010 levels in part because of a strong crop from Michigan.
Rising volume with produce items, combined with lower prices should help spur consumer buying, resulting in more demand at shipping point. This should translate into increase loading opportunities for haulers of fresh fruits and vegetables. Of course, there’s many other factors, depending upon the economy, unemployment, etc.
Unless you are picking up pallets of New York upstate apples, onions from Orange County, cabbage from the state’s central or western areas; or perhaps New England or Pennsyvlania apples, Christmas shipments are pretty much finished….I guess you could still make a last minute delivery for something such as Aroostrock County, Maine potaotes, but that’s a stretch….Florida doesn’t offer a lot this time of the year. In the case of tomatoes, it is even less probable due to fall rains and heat smacking the crop by as much as 30%. Still, mature green tomato loadings are taking place from areas such as Palmetto, Immakolee and Homestead….Imported produce volume also is increasing with arrivals at various ports on the East Coast.
Maine potatoes – grossing around $2200 to Baltimore
Western New York cabbage – $1800 to New York City
South Flrida tomatos – $2400 to New York
Light to moderate loading opportunities are available from Texas to North Dakota. Grapefruit and Oranges are coming out of the the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, while sweet potatoes are coming from Louisiana and Mississippi…In Wisconsin, the Stevens Point area is shipping potatoes in good volume, while fair volume with onions is available from Northeastern Colorado….In the Red River Valley red potatoes in North Dakota storages down 10% from a year ago and off 5% in Minnesota.
South Texas Citrus – grossing about $2,000 to St. Louis
NE Colorado onions – $1700 to Dallas
Red River Valley Potatoes – $1800 to Chicago
We are still four months away from Florida’s heaviest time of the year with spring produce loadings, but here are your best bets if in the Sunshine State. Central Florida tomatoes, whether mature greens, cherry, or grape tomatoes are averaging about 1,000 truck loads a week. Strawberry volume out of the Plant City area are increasing in volume. There’s also citrus ranging from oranges, to grapefruit, tangerines and tangelos. Potatoes from south Florida are still several weeks away from diggings and shipments…..Don’t necessarily be looking for freight to Florida this time of year, because overall loadings are scarace out of Florida. If it helps, South Georgia is shipping a few mixed veggies to help fill your load.
Central Florida Produce – about $1700 to New York City
The recession of the past four years has presented its challenges for produce haulers, as well as the trucking industry in general. Hopefully 2012 will result in the economy headed in the right direction, but no one is predicting a rousing rebound. When economic conditions start to improve, freight movement increases, resulting in a demand for more equipment and drivers to move it. The U.S. needs to take actions to become less dependent on foreign oil (how long have we been saying that) to avoid those wild fluctuations in the cost of No. 2 diesel and other fuels. Meanwhile a new year is upon us, it’s time to dig deep into the well of optimism, reflect on what could have been done differentlt, and vow to make 2012 a year of not only of hope, but progress in making not only our own business better, but contribute to the betterment of this great country. This is wishing each of you the best of health, happiness and prosperity in the New Year.
Growing up as the eldest among 15 kids in a Mennonite family in Ephrata, PA, Lance Zimmerman has probably grown up faster than a lot of children, although he was, and still is considered to a certain extent, a bit of a renegade amongst his conservative family.
. In the fall of 1982 he started trucking. He drove a dump bucket for a couple of years, followed by a “bull wagon,” dry vans and reefers. Lance, 50, became an owner operator in 1995 and since then has mostly been hauling oversized loads. Last May he bought a 2004 Freightliner XL Classic with a 12.7 Detroit Diesel with 600 h.p. It has a nine speed transmission, but an 18-speed tranny is on order. The previous owner had a glider kit installed and had it certified. When Lance picked up the seven-year-old truck last spring the only mileage on it was the 68 miles the owner had driven to and from the inspection shop.
HaulProduce.com caught up with Lance recently when he was delivering a model 730 Cat off road dump truck to a Tulsa, OK dealership. He had picked up the 49,000-pound Cat at Port Dundalk in Baltimore. He loaded the dump truck himself onto his 7007 Fontaine Renegade, 48-foot double drop RGN.
“I like what I’m hauling now (oversized loads) better than anything I’ve ever done,” Lance says. “I don’t have to run as hard to maintain my lifestyle and I get to sleep every night.” This is because oversized loads are only allowed to be moved during daylight hours. 70 percent of his loads are for the U.S. military.
“When the military has a platoon training, that equipment goes with them. On a major move by a platoon it can take up to 80 trucks to move that equipment”, he says. The military wants delivery on a certain day, but the allow time for you to run legally. The loads also include a good freight rate.
“If it pays well enough, I’ll haul it,” notes Lance, who is leased to J.R. Martin Transport LLC of Mill Hall, PA. Noting there is no forced dispatch with J.R. Martin, he has been working with the company long enough that his dispatcher knows pretty much what Lance will and will not haul. He averages being on the road two to two and one-half weeks at a time.
“If I get a $3 to $4 (per mile) paying load I’ll go anywhere, even if it is someplace like Montana where you can’t get another load without deadheading 300 to 400 miles. It is still worth it,” he notes.
Lance says his westbound loads normally pay better than eastbound trips, which is pretty much the opposite of what truckers pulling refrigerated loads experience. Much of it comes down to availability of trucks for certain types of equipment going in a particular direction.
If Lance has one piece of advice for successfully making it as an owner operator, he states, “Find a decent company to lease to. Also, today with the internet you can get loads from about anywhere in the country. You have got to go where higher paying loads go. If you want to be home every week then your loads will be for less money. Sometimes those good paying loads don’t go where you want to be.”
Lance has reached the point in his trucking career where he averages about 100,000 miles a year, which still allows time off for one of his two favorite pastimes, elk hunting in Colorado, and bike riding. He owns a 2009 Road Glider Harley Davidson. Every year or two Lance and one or two of his friends will hit the road on their hogs. During his last “vacation” the guys logged 9,500 miles in 21 days. In past years they have traveled to Nova Scotia, Florida, the western United States and many points in between from their Lancaster County, PA base.
“My wife Lori says if I’m not moving I’m not happy,” Lance concludes.
Twenty years ago produce volume this time of the year was a shadow of what it is today, and no country has contributed more to this than Chile. Not only do consumers have more choices in supermarkets, but produce haulers have more loading opportunities. Imports from Chile, mostly by boat, are arriving on both the East and West Coasts of the U.S. Biggest volumes are coming in at ports in Philadelphia and Wilimington, NC in the east, and at Long Beach, CA. Items range from blueberries to cherries and avocados, stone fruit and table grapes. The grape volume is still relatively light, but peak arrivals of should start occurring by late January and continue until May. Chile now provides about 25% of the world’s table grapes. Boat arrivals also include stone fruit, which will be available through March.
Fresh fruit and veggies shipments from South Texas continues to increase, although for a number of years now it is primarily due to more loads crossing the border from Mexico. Of the total loads by truck leaving the Rio Grande Valley, about 60% of that produce was grown south of the border. While Nogales, AZ for years has been known as the principal import point for Mexican produce into the U.S., last year for the first time imports in the Lower Rio Grande Valley exceeded those of Nogales. This trend is expected to continue when a year from now a new highway in Mexico is expected to be completed. The 143-mile long Autopista Durango-Maztlan is the east-west highway being built. More West Mexican produce shipments that normally go through Nogales, will instead be channeled through South Texas, because it will reduce freight rates for loads destined to the Eastern United States…Currrently your best South Texas loading opportunities are with cabbage, just south of San Antonio, plus grapefruit further south in the valley.
December is one of the slowest months of the year in terms of produce volume and shipments, despite the holidays. Citrus, led by oranges and grapefruit tend to provide some of the best loading opportunities. Florida easily leads the orange tonnage, although a large percentage of this citrus is processed for juice, unlike in California. Florida should ship about 150 million boxes of oranges this season, compared to around 57.5 million from California, the latter coming from central and southern areas. Florida also easily leads in shipments of grapefruit, with about 19.4 million boxes forecast this season. Second is the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas with around 5.1 million boxes and followed by California with 3.4 million cartons.
Texas grapefruit grossing about $1300 to Tulsa and Oklahoma City
Heading into the Christmas weekend, it is my hope as you are reading this you’ll be home with family and friends for Christmas. Thinking of all the beautifully wrapped gifts under my tree, virtually all them, just like millions of others around America, were delivered by truck. Over 95% of the fresh fruits and vegetables available in our favorite supermarket are there because of the trucking industry. As Christians across this great land celebrate the birth of Christ, this is wishing you a joyful holiday season beyond your greatest expections. It also is a wish for more kindness, peace and love in the world. God Bless – and Merry Christmas.
There’s good news for truckers, your loading opportunities, plus on the home front when comes to buying fresh produce at your local supermarket.
For the second consecutive month, a leading recent indicator in retail food inflation shows prices for fresh fruits and veggies fell in November. However, prices ares still on track to post among the largest increases over the past decade, according to government data.
Supermarket prices for fresh fruits and vegetables fell in November. Average retail fresh fruit and vegetable prices fell 1.2% last month from October levels, according to updated Consumer Price Index data released Dec. 16 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. October prices were down 2.7% from September.
Compared with a year ago, fresh fruit and vegetable prices were up 3.8% for the first 11 months of 2011 and posted average year-over-year increases of 4.8%, placing the category on a pace for the biggest annual increase since a 5.2% jump in 2008.
Fresh produce prices declinedl in recent months amid increased production of apples, pears and other crops. Prices for many items surged earlier this year after cold weather that cut production of tomatoes, oranges and other crops. More recently, apple supplies have risen over 2010 levels in part because of a strong crop from Michigan.
Rising volume with produce items, combined with lower prices should help spur consumer buying, resulting in more demand at shipping point. This should translate into increase loading opportunities for haulers of fresh fruits and vegetables. Of course, there’s many other factors, depending upon the economy, unemployment, etc.
Unless you are picking up pallets of New York upstate apples, onions from Orange County, cabbage from the state’s central or western areas; or perhaps New England or Pennsyvlania apples, Christmas shipments are pretty much finished….I guess you could still make a last minute delivery for something such as Aroostrock County, Maine potaotes, but that’s a stretch….Florida doesn’t offer a lot this time of the year. In the case of tomatoes, it is even less probable due to fall rains and heat smacking the crop by as much as 30%. Still, mature green tomato loadings are taking place from areas such as Palmetto, Immakolee and Homestead….Imported produce volume also is increasing with arrivals at various ports on the East Coast.
Maine potatoes – grossing around $2200 to Baltimore
Western New York cabbage – $1800 to New York City
South Flrida tomatos – $2400 to New York
Light to moderate loading opportunities are available from Texas to North Dakota. Grapefruit and Oranges are coming out of the the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, while sweet potatoes are coming from Louisiana and Mississippi…In Wisconsin, the Stevens Point area is shipping potatoes in good volume, while fair volume with onions is available from Northeastern Colorado….In the Red River Valley red potatoes in North Dakota storages down 10% from a year ago and off 5% in Minnesota.
South Texas Citrus – grossing about $2,000 to St. Louis
NE Colorado onions – $1700 to Dallas
Red River Valley Potatoes – $1800 to Chicago