Author Archive
As we move further into spring and there are shipping gaps with some fruits 
and vegetables, one of the most consistent items on a year around basis are potatoes. They certainly don’t always pay the highest of freight rates, but they are dependable, and usually less perishable; meaning less risk to the hauler and hopefully less chance of dealing with “claim happy” receivers looking to shaft you with a unfair deduction or rejection.
All potato shipping areas combined around the country are loading over 4,700 trucklload equivalents of spuds on average per week right now. Idaho is accounting for around 1750 truckload equivalents weekly. Other leading states currently shipping spuds are Colorado’s San Luis Valley, the Columbia Basin in Washington state and the nearby Umatilla Basin in Oregon, as well as South Florida and Central Wisconsin. Much fewer shipments are occurring from Western Michigan, Aroostrock County, Maine, as well as from the Imperial and O’Neill areas of Nebraska and the Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnestoa.
Twin Falls Idaho area – grossing about $5300 to New York City
San Luis Valley – $1600 to Dallas.
South Florida – $2700 to Baltimore
NOTE: The new U.S. potato season usually kicks off around late July or August. A peek at the upcoming year for potatoes shows potentially good news if you haul the product, or if you are a consumer. Potato farmers in the Northwest once again can’t resist the urge (or is it greed?) to plant an additional 30,000 acres of spuds for the 2012-13 season. That will probably more loading opportunities and lower retail prices. It could also mean a disasterous season for growers if too many spuds end up in the distribution pipeline.
Volume and shipments continue to seasonally build in California, resulting in 
more demand for refrigerated equipment. This means rising freight rates, which have increased five to 10 percent and more recently.
There will be huge increase in avocado shipments this year — as much as 25 percent more out of Southern California. Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican festival widely celebrated in the U.S. May 5 will mean big shipments of the fruit. The amount of avocados shipped to U.S. markets with be split about evenly from those loaded in California, and with avocado border crossings from Mexico. Southern California also will be loading berries and citrus.
Various types of lettuce shipments are increasing from the Huron District in the San Joaquin Valley. Broccoli and cauliflower loadings have started from the Salinas Valley. Light volume with strawberries, broccoli and cauliflower has got underway from Santa Maria.
There have actually been a few $7000 freight rates from California to the East Coast. It’s going to be interesting in another month of so to see how high freight rates have risen as produce volume and demand for refrigerated equipment builds.
Southern California produce – grossing about $6700 to Boston.
NOTE: Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of a much smaller, less trained Mexican military unit that defeated the French in battle in 1862.
Texas is among the top one-half dozen states when it comes to fresh produce 
shipments. Although it has lost acreage and production over the years as more growing operations were shifted to Mexico, the Lone Star State still remains an important piece in the nation’s food supply chain. Although the production/acrerage may not necessarily increase in coming years, the amount of produce coming in from Mexico should increase significantly starting in 2013 with the completion of a Mexican highway connecting production areas in Western Mexico with the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Onion shipments have started from South Texas, which is the state’s leading vegetable item in volume, coming off of 20,000 acres. Other leading veggies from the state is cabbage, carrots and spinach, although there’s dozens of other veggies.
However, there were heavy rains and hail in Hidalgo County on March 29th, and we’re still waiting on damage assessments to see how much truck loadings will be affected. This includes another big item from Texas, watermelons. The good news is hail storms are usually localized, meaning some fields may have been hit, while others may escape damage altogether.
By the end of this year, a 143-mile cross-continental highway known as the Autopista Durango-Mazatlan is scheduled for completion. It will reduce travel time from West Mexican growing regions to ports in Texas. This won’t mean the closing or reduced importance of the major Mexican crossing at Nogales, AZ. It could mean more loading opportunities for U.S. truckers for Mexican produce crossing the border into the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Texas vegetables grossing – about $2500 to Atlanta.
By Larry Oscar
A great American from Fritch, Texas once said, “You can’t fix stupid.” Perhaps 
that has never been more true than in today’s global political arena. It’s hard to imagine more glaring examples of stupidity than we have witnessed in government leaders over the past few years. It was Forrest Gump’s mother that said “Stupid is as stupid does.”
That too has been duly noted in the actions of such leaders as Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi. The stupidity of Saddam was astounding. He would still be alive and the leader in Iraq if he had just let the UN inspectors back into his country, thrown them a party, and let them inspect and visit anything in the country 
their heart desired. In fact, he should have invited George Bush and Bill Clinton over for a bunga-bunga party. Instead he had to act tough and thumb his nose at the world. The result was he ended up swinging from a rope Texas style.
Now we have that little runt with a huge nose from Iran threatening to “Wipe Israel off of the face of the Earth.” And at the same time celebrating his country’s march toward nuclear technology that will ultimately end in nuclear weapons. What a complete fool. What would you do if your neighbor down the street threatened to “wipe you off of the face of the Earth,” and then proceeded to build a bomb in his garage. Would you wait until his bomb was complete before taking action? Would you sit idly by like the Jews did in World War II and just let him exterminate you? Or would you learn from history and defend yourself while you still had the power to do so?
It’s hard to imagine what goes through these bozo’s little minds. There are many roads to Rome. And if you want to accomplish things in life you need to study the roads toward your goal with some thought and circumstance. Emotions will be your worst enemy. The emotional route will almost certainly be the most costly for you. For example, the best way for the Muslim countries to deal with Israel is through friendship and trade and not through religious emotionalism. Take a look at Europe for example. Germany fought WWII to conquer Europe and what was the result? Their own destruction. However, by working hard as capitalists and establishing free trade, they now own Europe. They have now accomplished through Capitalism what they were unable to accomplish through the forces of war.
We are now at another crossroads in the world. We still have leaders that do not understand the power of capitalism or how it works. They are still preaching the failed promises of Socialism-Marxism and ignoring the historical failures of this philosophy such as the Soviet Union, East Germany, North Korea, Greece, and Cuba. The only conclusion you can come to is that they are blinded by their own stubborn stupidity. No system is perfect. And all systems of government will leave some people behind, but only Capitalism lets the people use their creative talents to the fullest, and that generates the greatest wealth for the greatest numbers.
Without Capitalism we would not have had Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Tiger Woods, or Oprah Winfrey. We are now facing a critical election; one that will determine if we are to retain a Socialist-Marxist leaning President who thinks that we should all have equal amounts of “stuff,” and that the government should tell us what to eat and how to live our lives.
Or do we move forward and choose a new President that will remove the burdensome weight of this government from our backs, and let us live free creative lives according to our own abilities as the founding fathers of this country envisioned. There are always risks in life. None of us has a guaranty that we will even be alive tomorrow, but one thing is for sure, if we are not free to develop the talents that are given to us by God, then we will pay a price far greater than life itself.
This nation has the richest poor on the face of the Earth. We have the only poor people with big screen TVs, cell phones, cars, and air conditioned housing. We will always have the poor, and it is Capitalism that will keep them from living in mud huts like they do in other countries! The best way to redistribute wealth is with a paycheck, and not a welfare check. If you want tomatoes you have to grow healthy tomato plants. If you want jobs you must grow healthy corporations, and not a bloated overgrown government that is funded with borrowed money!
I’m in Central and Southern Georgia this week checking out everything from peaches, to vegetable and pecan shipments for 2012.
As with much of the country, it has been a mild winter in the south, which is resulting in crops — and shipments occurring one to two weeks earlier than normal.
The Georgia peach harvest should kick off around May 8 – 10, with shipments by truck picking up by mid-May. Georgia is the third largest shipper of peaches in the nation, behind California and South Carolina. Georgia ships about two million boxes of peaches in an average year.
As for vegetables, I was standing in a field of kale that was being harvested yesterday and the field foreman said kale will be shipping for another six months. Similar accounts can be said for many other vegetables as Georgia will be shipping good volume through the summer and into the fall.
Georgia Greens from the southern areas of Georgia – grossing about $2800 to New York City.
Eating more blueberries, apples and pears may be linked to lower risk of 
diabetes, according to a new U.S. study.
These fruits are loaded with flavonoids, a natural compound present in certain fruits, vegetables and grains, which some research has tentatively tied to heath benefits such as a lower risk of heart disease or cancer.
“People who ate a higher amount of “blues” or apples, they tended to have a low risk of type 2 diabetes,” said An Pan, a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health who worked on the study.
The findings show an association, he added, but don’t prove the fruits, themselves, prevent diabetes.
Very light shipments of California lettuce got underway last week from the 
Huron District of the San Joaquin Valley. Shipments are increasing this week, but full volume isn’t expected until around Easter (April 8). Lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower shipments from the Imperial Valley and Yuma District are finished.
Broccoli and cauliflower shipments have now seasonally transitioned from the California and Arizona deserts to the Salinas Valley. Lettuce loadings should start from Salinas in late April.
Salinas vegetables – grossing about $4200 to Chicago.
Overall, there should be excellent quality vegetables coming out of the Salinas Valley this spring due to excellent growing conditions. This should translate into a huge demand for trucks, especially as we enter May and the big volumes of veggies start coming out of the fields.
When the price of gasoline, diesel fuel and other energy products go up, it 
affects everything else in our economy. Fuel prices are killing consumers — and truckers. It is devastating to those involved in transportation because it costs more to deliver products, including produce from shipping points to warehouses, and warehouses to your supermarket.
Consumers also get a double whammy on buying fresh fruits and vegetables. Not only does it cost farmers more in fertilizers, pesticides, etc., but everyone is passing their costs on to cover their increased costs. Produce prices also are affected more by weather conditions than many products.
Just about everything in your local produce department is costing more. Just two examples are potatoes and blueberries, but for different reasons.
Why is there a good chance potatoes in your local produce department will be costing more? Primarily due to poor eating habits. The demand is up for potatoes from the folks that process them for french fries in the U.S. and for dehydrated potatoes being exported to other countries. Thus, the processors are buying up potatoes that would normally be destined for the fresh market. With reduced amounts of fresh potatoes in your favorite supermarket, expect prices to rise and be higher than they normally would be until the new crop of potatoes begin appearing around August.
However, do not despair. One thing you can count on with potatoes is the irresistable urge of potato farmers to over produce. Potatoes are known for bringing financial “feasts” or “famine” to the growers. They’ll make a bundle one year when the crop is in short supply (and retail prices are high), then the next year the farmers and other investors will pump money into acreage increases. Unless Mother Nature takes care of things through inclement weather, disease etc., there will be too many potatoes on the market, which is good for consumers because of the lower prices.
Now for blueberries. Highly perishable, unlike potatoes, these berries are much more susceptable to freeze damage and other “acts of God” activities. Freezes several weeks ago ranging from Florida to Georgia and North Carolina are expected to reduce blueberry production from those areas, which means higher prices for “blues” at retail.
Late season blueberries from Chile are having quality problems as the season ends in early April. Florida “blues” are now available, but lighter supplies mean higher supermarket prices. To help cover the shortage, you’ll be seeing 4.4 ounce containers of bluesberries offered in stores, instead of 6 ounce containers when supplies are more readily available.
Here’s a word of caution to produce haulers that even the most perishables of 
perishable are not necessarily safe from thieves. Whoever stole this load of berries must have had a quick outlet to sell it, or are very, very stupid.
A load of blackberries was stolen March 17 in Milton, Ontario from C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc.
The blackberries were shipped from Laredo, Texas and were packed in 6-ounce clamshells under the Berry Lovers label, according to a press release from the Ottawa, Ontario-based Fruit and Vegetable Dispute Resolution Corp (DRC). The DRC mediates disputes between parties in the Canadian produce industry.
The Trading Assistance office of the DRC is helping C.H. Robinson notify industry members about the theft.
Those with information can contact the Halton Regional Police Service, at (905) 825-4747, ext. 5155; or Diego Lettari in C.H. Robinson’s Montreal office, at (514) 381-7404.
Produce shipments from the eastern portions of the United States continue to 
be seasonally light. Florida is still one of the better places for loading produce right now, although it’s biggest volume in spring shipments are still ahead of us. South Florida potato shipments continue to increase, but still are light. Tomatoes are among the volume leaders with about 750 truckloads a week. Plant City strawberry volume is in a seasonal decline. There’s also varying amounts of citrus and vegetables. Blueberries have started in light in volume, but increasing from Central and Northern Florida.
Central and Southern Georgia has light volume with mixed greens…North Carolina sweet potatoes continue steady shipments. The state has 65,000 acres of sweet potatoes and ships about 50 percent the volume in the United States.
Truck availability has been tightening some in North Carolina and Florida, with rates from Florida showing a little strength.
New York state has light to moderate shipments of apples and cabbage from Western and Central areas. Apples addionally are being shipped from the Hudson Valley. The Empire State also is loading about 150 truckloads of storage onions per week, primarily from Orange County. Of course, apples, cabbage and onions are not compatible on the same load and can result in quality issues due to oder absorption, etc., especially on longer hauls.
New York cabbage is grossing – about $200o to Boston.
North Carolina sweet potatoes – about $2750 to Boston.
Florida vegetables – about$3000 to New York City.
As we move further into spring and there are shipping gaps with some fruits and vegetables, one of the most consistent items on a year around basis are potatoes. They certainly don’t always pay the highest of freight rates, but they are dependable, and usually less perishable; meaning less risk to the hauler and hopefully less chance of dealing with “claim happy” receivers looking to shaft you with a unfair deduction or rejection.
All potato shipping areas combined around the country are loading over 4,700 trucklload equivalents of spuds on average per week right now. Idaho is accounting for around 1750 truckload equivalents weekly. Other leading states currently shipping spuds are Colorado’s San Luis Valley, the Columbia Basin in Washington state and the nearby Umatilla Basin in Oregon, as well as South Florida and Central Wisconsin. Much fewer shipments are occurring from Western Michigan, Aroostrock County, Maine, as well as from the Imperial and O’Neill areas of Nebraska and the Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnestoa.
Twin Falls Idaho area – grossing about $5300 to New York City
San Luis Valley – $1600 to Dallas.
South Florida – $2700 to Baltimore
NOTE: The new U.S. potato season usually kicks off around late July or August. A peek at the upcoming year for potatoes shows potentially good news if you haul the product, or if you are a consumer. Potato farmers in the Northwest once again can’t resist the urge (or is it greed?) to plant an additional 30,000 acres of spuds for the 2012-13 season. That will probably more loading opportunities and lower retail prices. It could also mean a disasterous season for growers if too many spuds end up in the distribution pipeline.
Volume and shipments continue to seasonally build in California, resulting in more demand for refrigerated equipment. This means rising freight rates, which have increased five to 10 percent and more recently.
There will be huge increase in avocado shipments this year — as much as 25 percent more out of Southern California. Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican festival widely celebrated in the U.S. May 5 will mean big shipments of the fruit. The amount of avocados shipped to U.S. markets with be split about evenly from those loaded in California, and with avocado border crossings from Mexico. Southern California also will be loading berries and citrus.
Various types of lettuce shipments are increasing from the Huron District in the San Joaquin Valley. Broccoli and cauliflower loadings have started from the Salinas Valley. Light volume with strawberries, broccoli and cauliflower has got underway from Santa Maria.
There have actually been a few $7000 freight rates from California to the East Coast. It’s going to be interesting in another month of so to see how high freight rates have risen as produce volume and demand for refrigerated equipment builds.
Southern California produce – grossing about $6700 to Boston.
NOTE: Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of a much smaller, less trained Mexican military unit that defeated the French in battle in 1862.
Texas is among the top one-half dozen states when it comes to fresh produce shipments. Although it has lost acreage and production over the years as more growing operations were shifted to Mexico, the Lone Star State still remains an important piece in the nation’s food supply chain. Although the production/acrerage may not necessarily increase in coming years, the amount of produce coming in from Mexico should increase significantly starting in 2013 with the completion of a Mexican highway connecting production areas in Western Mexico with the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Onion shipments have started from South Texas, which is the state’s leading vegetable item in volume, coming off of 20,000 acres. Other leading veggies from the state is cabbage, carrots and spinach, although there’s dozens of other veggies.
However, there were heavy rains and hail in Hidalgo County on March 29th, and we’re still waiting on damage assessments to see how much truck loadings will be affected. This includes another big item from Texas, watermelons. The good news is hail storms are usually localized, meaning some fields may have been hit, while others may escape damage altogether.
By the end of this year, a 143-mile cross-continental highway known as the Autopista Durango-Mazatlan is scheduled for completion. It will reduce travel time from West Mexican growing regions to ports in Texas. This won’t mean the closing or reduced importance of the major Mexican crossing at Nogales, AZ. It could mean more loading opportunities for U.S. truckers for Mexican produce crossing the border into the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Texas vegetables grossing – about $2500 to Atlanta.
By Larry Oscar
A great American from Fritch, Texas once said, “You can’t fix stupid.” Perhaps that has never been more true than in today’s global political arena. It’s hard to imagine more glaring examples of stupidity than we have witnessed in government leaders over the past few years. It was Forrest Gump’s mother that said “Stupid is as stupid does.”
That too has been duly noted in the actions of such leaders as Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi. The stupidity of Saddam was astounding. He would still be alive and the leader in Iraq if he had just let the UN inspectors back into his country, thrown them a party, and let them inspect and visit anything in the country their heart desired. In fact, he should have invited George Bush and Bill Clinton over for a bunga-bunga party. Instead he had to act tough and thumb his nose at the world. The result was he ended up swinging from a rope Texas style.
Now we have that little runt with a huge nose from Iran threatening to “Wipe Israel off of the face of the Earth.” And at the same time celebrating his country’s march toward nuclear technology that will ultimately end in nuclear weapons. What a complete fool. What would you do if your neighbor down the street threatened to “wipe you off of the face of the Earth,” and then proceeded to build a bomb in his garage. Would you wait until his bomb was complete before taking action? Would you sit idly by like the Jews did in World War II and just let him exterminate you? Or would you learn from history and defend yourself while you still had the power to do so?
It’s hard to imagine what goes through these bozo’s little minds. There are many roads to Rome. And if you want to accomplish things in life you need to study the roads toward your goal with some thought and circumstance. Emotions will be your worst enemy. The emotional route will almost certainly be the most costly for you. For example, the best way for the Muslim countries to deal with Israel is through friendship and trade and not through religious emotionalism. Take a look at Europe for example. Germany fought WWII to conquer Europe and what was the result? Their own destruction. However, by working hard as capitalists and establishing free trade, they now own Europe. They have now accomplished through Capitalism what they were unable to accomplish through the forces of war.
We are now at another crossroads in the world. We still have leaders that do not understand the power of capitalism or how it works. They are still preaching the failed promises of Socialism-Marxism and ignoring the historical failures of this philosophy such as the Soviet Union, East Germany, North Korea, Greece, and Cuba. The only conclusion you can come to is that they are blinded by their own stubborn stupidity. No system is perfect. And all systems of government will leave some people behind, but only Capitalism lets the people use their creative talents to the fullest, and that generates the greatest wealth for the greatest numbers.
Without Capitalism we would not have had Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Tiger Woods, or Oprah Winfrey. We are now facing a critical election; one that will determine if we are to retain a Socialist-Marxist leaning President who thinks that we should all have equal amounts of “stuff,” and that the government should tell us what to eat and how to live our lives.
Or do we move forward and choose a new President that will remove the burdensome weight of this government from our backs, and let us live free creative lives according to our own abilities as the founding fathers of this country envisioned. There are always risks in life. None of us has a guaranty that we will even be alive tomorrow, but one thing is for sure, if we are not free to develop the talents that are given to us by God, then we will pay a price far greater than life itself.
This nation has the richest poor on the face of the Earth. We have the only poor people with big screen TVs, cell phones, cars, and air conditioned housing. We will always have the poor, and it is Capitalism that will keep them from living in mud huts like they do in other countries! The best way to redistribute wealth is with a paycheck, and not a welfare check. If you want tomatoes you have to grow healthy tomato plants. If you want jobs you must grow healthy corporations, and not a bloated overgrown government that is funded with borrowed money!
I’m in Central and Southern Georgia this week checking out everything from peaches, to vegetable and pecan shipments for 2012.
As with much of the country, it has been a mild winter in the south, which is resulting in crops — and shipments occurring one to two weeks earlier than normal.
The Georgia peach harvest should kick off around May 8 – 10, with shipments by truck picking up by mid-May. Georgia is the third largest shipper of peaches in the nation, behind California and South Carolina. Georgia ships about two million boxes of peaches in an average year.
As for vegetables, I was standing in a field of kale that was being harvested yesterday and the field foreman said kale will be shipping for another six months. Similar accounts can be said for many other vegetables as Georgia will be shipping good volume through the summer and into the fall.
Georgia Greens from the southern areas of Georgia – grossing about $2800 to New York City.
Eating more blueberries, apples and pears may be linked to lower risk of diabetes, according to a new U.S. study.
These fruits are loaded with flavonoids, a natural compound present in certain fruits, vegetables and grains, which some research has tentatively tied to heath benefits such as a lower risk of heart disease or cancer.
“People who ate a higher amount of “blues” or apples, they tended to have a low risk of type 2 diabetes,” said An Pan, a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health who worked on the study.
The findings show an association, he added, but don’t prove the fruits, themselves, prevent diabetes.
Very light shipments of California lettuce got underway last week from the Huron District of the San Joaquin Valley. Shipments are increasing this week, but full volume isn’t expected until around Easter (April 8). Lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower shipments from the Imperial Valley and Yuma District are finished.
Broccoli and cauliflower shipments have now seasonally transitioned from the California and Arizona deserts to the Salinas Valley. Lettuce loadings should start from Salinas in late April.
Salinas vegetables – grossing about $4200 to Chicago.
Overall, there should be excellent quality vegetables coming out of the Salinas Valley this spring due to excellent growing conditions. This should translate into a huge demand for trucks, especially as we enter May and the big volumes of veggies start coming out of the fields.
When the price of gasoline, diesel fuel and other energy products go up, it affects everything else in our economy. Fuel prices are killing consumers — and truckers. It is devastating to those involved in transportation because it costs more to deliver products, including produce from shipping points to warehouses, and warehouses to your supermarket.
Consumers also get a double whammy on buying fresh fruits and vegetables. Not only does it cost farmers more in fertilizers, pesticides, etc., but everyone is passing their costs on to cover their increased costs. Produce prices also are affected more by weather conditions than many products.
Just about everything in your local produce department is costing more. Just two examples are potatoes and blueberries, but for different reasons.
Why is there a good chance potatoes in your local produce department will be costing more? Primarily due to poor eating habits. The demand is up for potatoes from the folks that process them for french fries in the U.S. and for dehydrated potatoes being exported to other countries. Thus, the processors are buying up potatoes that would normally be destined for the fresh market. With reduced amounts of fresh potatoes in your favorite supermarket, expect prices to rise and be higher than they normally would be until the new crop of potatoes begin appearing around August.
However, do not despair. One thing you can count on with potatoes is the irresistable urge of potato farmers to over produce. Potatoes are known for bringing financial “feasts” or “famine” to the growers. They’ll make a bundle one year when the crop is in short supply (and retail prices are high), then the next year the farmers and other investors will pump money into acreage increases. Unless Mother Nature takes care of things through inclement weather, disease etc., there will be too many potatoes on the market, which is good for consumers because of the lower prices.
Now for blueberries. Highly perishable, unlike potatoes, these berries are much more susceptable to freeze damage and other “acts of God” activities. Freezes several weeks ago ranging from Florida to Georgia and North Carolina are expected to reduce blueberry production from those areas, which means higher prices for “blues” at retail.
Late season blueberries from Chile are having quality problems as the season ends in early April. Florida “blues” are now available, but lighter supplies mean higher supermarket prices. To help cover the shortage, you’ll be seeing 4.4 ounce containers of bluesberries offered in stores, instead of 6 ounce containers when supplies are more readily available.
Here’s a word of caution to produce haulers that even the most perishables of perishable are not necessarily safe from thieves. Whoever stole this load of berries must have had a quick outlet to sell it, or are very, very stupid.
A load of blackberries was stolen March 17 in Milton, Ontario from C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc.
The blackberries were shipped from Laredo, Texas and were packed in 6-ounce clamshells under the Berry Lovers label, according to a press release from the Ottawa, Ontario-based Fruit and Vegetable Dispute Resolution Corp (DRC). The DRC mediates disputes between parties in the Canadian produce industry.
The Trading Assistance office of the DRC is helping C.H. Robinson notify industry members about the theft.
Those with information can contact the Halton Regional Police Service, at (905) 825-4747, ext. 5155; or Diego Lettari in C.H. Robinson’s Montreal office, at (514) 381-7404.
Produce shipments from the eastern portions of the United States continue to be seasonally light. Florida is still one of the better places for loading produce right now, although it’s biggest volume in spring shipments are still ahead of us. South Florida potato shipments continue to increase, but still are light. Tomatoes are among the volume leaders with about 750 truckloads a week. Plant City strawberry volume is in a seasonal decline. There’s also varying amounts of citrus and vegetables. Blueberries have started in light in volume, but increasing from Central and Northern Florida.
Central and Southern Georgia has light volume with mixed greens…North Carolina sweet potatoes continue steady shipments. The state has 65,000 acres of sweet potatoes and ships about 50 percent the volume in the United States.
Truck availability has been tightening some in North Carolina and Florida, with rates from Florida showing a little strength.
New York state has light to moderate shipments of apples and cabbage from Western and Central areas. Apples addionally are being shipped from the Hudson Valley. The Empire State also is loading about 150 truckloads of storage onions per week, primarily from Orange County. Of course, apples, cabbage and onions are not compatible on the same load and can result in quality issues due to oder absorption, etc., especially on longer hauls.
New York cabbage is grossing – about $200o to Boston.
North Carolina sweet potatoes – about $2750 to Boston.
Florida vegetables – about$3000 to New York City.