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Troy Pecka has been in the trucking business for nearly a quarter of a century 
and has pretty much seen it all, or at least come fairly close to it. There is something to be said for someone who started out trucking out as a 19-year-old, and now owns his own small fleet at the “ripe” old age of 43.
The owner of Troy Pecka Trucking Inc. doesn’t have the time to get behind the wheel of a big rig anymore as much as he’d like, in part because he’s dealing with all the rules and regulations to keep the drivers of his 15 trucks and three leased owner operators doing what they do best – truck.
Troy is following in the footsteps of his dad who started trucking at age 18 and didn’t stop until his was 76.
Troy’s small fleet, based in East Grand Forks, MN, specializes in hauling a lot of loads of frozen foods and fresh red potatoes to the Southwestern and Southeastern USA. Return trips lean heavily towards mixed fresh produce going into Edmonton, Alberta.
When asked what rules and regulations in trucking he disliked most, Troy would not commit to any particular ones. “All of these things increase your cost of operation,” he notes.
There could be the refusal of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to delete inspection reports from a driver’s record, even after that driver is found not guilty by the courts.
Or how about the FMCSA’s flawed enforcement program in CSA’s Safety Management Systems. There have been reports of safe drivers being listed as unsafe in the system.
Another example, could be the Federal highway legislation passed last July. It calls for the FMCSA to require electric on-board recorders (EOBRs) in all heavy duty trucks. Many in trucking are concerned it will lead to driver harrasment by authorities. This could involve electronic recording of a driver’s hours of service, vehicle location (through a GPS), with information available to law enforcement.
It is examples such as these which makes it more difficult to get good qualified drivers. He says the older drivers are leaving the industry and there are not nearly enough young drivers coming on board. After all, long haul trucking certainly is not an 8 to 5 job.
Despite all the government red tape, Troy still enjoys the business. He just doesn’t have the time to truck as much as he used to, although taking command of one of his big rigs to someplace like Fargo isn’t out of the question.
“I just can’t get it (driving) out of my blood,” he states.
One of his favorite trucks (pictured) is a 2007 red conventional Kenworth. It houses a 475 hp Caterpillar diesel, riding on a 260-inch wheelbase with a 13-speed transmission. He also like the 72- sleeper featuring all the amenities. It pulls a 53-foot Utility trailer housing a Thermo King reefer unit.
On any given day there will 100 or more trucks either loading or unloading on the Atlanta State Farmers Market. Most of those loads involve fresh fruits and vegetables.
The original market was actually located on Atlanta’s West End district in 1939 before moving to its current location in 1959. It has since expanded into a 150-acre compound housing everything from cold storages, docks, offices for wholesalers, brokers and others, as well having a resturant, police force and other agencies and facilities.
The Atlanta produce market is owned by the state of Georgia and operated by the Georgia Department of Agriculture Markets Division. It is located a middle-class industrial district about 10 miles south of downtown Atlanta and only a couple of miles from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Rail lines crisscross the property. The complex is just off the east side of Interstate 75 and only a couple of blocks south of Interstates 85 and 20, providing easy access from the to the Southeastern USA.
The market’s Oak Room restaurant has a large, varied menu with good food, which of course serves produce fresh from the marketplace.
Georgia has about a dozen state farmers scattered around the state, which are home to more than 150 companies employing 3,700 farmers, packers, retailers, receivers, and staff with an estimated payroll over $75 million. The Atlanta market is home to 85 percent of those businesses. In 2009, those markets brought in receipts totaling almost $1 billion. The Atlanta market brought in more than half that amount and operates in the black with revenues of almost $6 million last year.
Georgia ranks number on in USA pecan pecan shipments and the loads should just keep increasing in coming years. Georgia 
growers have enough new trees in the ground to increase production by about 50 percent between now and 2020.
The state shipped 125 million pounds last season. This year it was thought volume would be around 70-75 million , but that figure has now been revised to least 100 million pounds. Enough new pecan trees are now planted in Georgia to increase loads to 150 million pounds by 2020.
Shipments this year have started 10 days to two weeks earlier thanks to a mild winter, followed by a mild summer.
In May, Georgia pecans were added to the American Heart Association list of certified heart-healthy foods, earning the right to display the AHA Heart-Check mark
The on-again, off-again exclusive lease negotiations between the city and the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market have been extended for the third time, this time through October 31st, according to a recent article on Crain’s New York Business.com.
Hunts Point is the world’s largest wholesale terminal market. Located in New York City’s, South Bronx, it is a cooperative with 115 merchants. Thousands of refrigerated big rigs deliver loads of fresh fruits and vegetables to the market each week from across the USA, as well as from Canada and Mexico.
The extended negotiations are between the Economic Develpment Corp. and the Hunts Point co-op. Hunts Point officials have been threatening to move the humongus facilty to New Jersey for years.
The incentive is a public hearing the merchants requested of city council members to discuss the city’s Business Integrity Commission, which has regulatory authority over the market. The hearing is set for Oct. 23.
Last June the federal government offered $10 million to help modernize Hunts Point. The market, which opened in 1967, faces many challenges ane the one state-of-the-art terminal is now showing its age.
Buildings are in need of renovation and a shortage of cold storage has many companies storing fresh produce in trailers parked in front and/or in back of their units. Loading docks are not refrigerated.
There are complaints trucker access into and out of the market is poor and that roads are in disrepair or just cannot handle the heavy traffic.
Everyone agrees on one thing: something has to be done. Numerous negotiations, talks, meetings, task forces and committees over the years failed to come to a solution. Politics. governments and red tape all contributed to a slow moving process.
New Jersey has aggressively made bids to move Hunts Point to the Garden State. However, the Hunts Point co-op continues negotiating with New York City on rebuilding the facility at its current location. In reality, most Hunts Point tenants prefer remain right where they are.
The current 10-year lease on the market expired in May 2011, and on June 19, 2012, the federal government offered $10 million to help modernize the large market, but first the market’s merchants and the city must agree to a new lease.
The merchants in reality have little use for New York City’s Business Integrity Commission stating the agency is assessing needless fees and penalties for various infractions, including parking violations within the market. The situation reached an impasse in late August when the merchants decided not to renew their exclusivity agreement to negotiate a new lease with the city, citing their differences with the commission as the reason.
But don’t hold your breath, it will probably be a cold day in hell before Hunts Point uproots to New Jersey, or anyplace else.
While Texans tend to boast about how big everything is in the Lone Star State, it is a major shipper of fresh produce, ranking in the top 10 for its volume with fresh fruits and vegetables. Many Texas produce shippers also have invested in farming operations in Mexico, and a lot of the product crosses the border into the Lower Rio Grande Valley for distribution throughout the USA and Canada.
The valley, and more specifically, Pharr, TX will be even more important in the future as a distribution point for Mexican grown produce. It is located on Highway 281 which runs north all the way into Canada. Also of importance is the 3.2-mile-long Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge connecting Mexico and south Texas. It is the longest port-of-entry bridge.
While Pharr remains relatively small with a population of 75,000 residents, the city has purchased 90 acres just west of the bridge with aim of developing a produce district with warehouses for produce destined for shipping throughout North America.
Pharr also will gain importance with the completion of the Autopista Durango-Mazatlan cross continental Mexican highway. It is a 143-mile-long stretch of highway scheduled for completion by the end of this year. It was built with the intention of trucks hauling West Mexican produce to ports of entry in Texas. The new highway ends very near Pharr.
The new road is supposed to reduce transit times of trucks from West Mexico by a full day to points in the eastern half of the USA and Canada.
The state of Texas, not including Mexico, grows and ships over 70 different fruits, vegetables and nuts. It is the fourth ranking shipper of watermelons in the USA, accounting for 15 percent of the country’s watermelons. This time of the year Lower Rio Grande Valley grapefruit becomes a major item for loads.
The Lone Star State also is a major grower/shipper of onions, cabbage, spinach, and carrots.
A huge Idaho potato on a flat-bed truck is once again hitting the road this year as part of the Idaho Potato Commission’s (IPC) television advertising campaign.
The Kenworth is pulling a giant tator that weighs 12,130 pounds, which the IPC claims equals 32,346 medium sized potatoes.
Additionally, the famous fitness guru Denise Austin will once again be the celebrity spokesperson for Idaho potatoes.
The IPC big Idaho potato truck, on its seven-month national tour will conclude its trip just in time for the Produce Marketing Association’s (PMA)annual convention and trade show in Anaheim, CA late October.
The IPC’s new ad campaign premiered on national television on ESPN during the recent Boise State vs. Michigan State game (MSU won 17-13).
The IPC ad program will be on national cable television beginning in mid-October” and continuing through February. the campaign will be carried on a variety of news programs such ase CNN and FOX News, as well as the Food Network, The Cooking Channel, HGTV, and The History Chanel among others.
By the end of the tour, the truck will have travelled over 15,000 miles, visited some 150 cities in 35 states across the country
In other activities, Denise Austin “will be doing two different public service radio announcements” for the commission.
Thanksgiving will be here before you know it (November 22) and that means a lot of fresh cranberries will be shipped in the weeks ahead.
Wisconsin accounts for about 55 to 60 percent of the nation’s cranberry shipments, which includes not only fresh, but
Ray E. Habelman and Ray J. Habelman
processed, juices, etc. The Badger state has about 20,000 acres of cranberry bogs.
Wisconsin produces over 4.3 million 100-pound barrels, while the nation as whole with produces over 7.2 million 100-pound barrels.
The fresh fruit side of the market is still a relatively small portion of the overall USA shipments, accounting for about 300,000 barrels.
A truckload of fresh cranberries typically amounts to about 42,000 pounds in a 53-foot refrigerated trailer, according to Nate Voit, general manager of Service Trans Inc., of Bancroft, WI.
Service Trans arranges about 7,800 loads per year, with about 99 percent of those loads requiring refrigeration. Nate says the company specializes in time sensitive shipments. Of those 7,800 loads, about 800 are with cranberries. Concerning the transportation of fresh cranberries, he describes it as different from most items.
“The cranberry shipments usually come on short notice, and it is high volume for a short period of time,” Nate says.
There are about a dozen growers in Wisconsin producing cranberries for the fresh market. While cranberry shipments from Wisconsin have been underway for a few weeks, the real push will come about November 1st for Thanksgiving, according to Nigel Cooper, a principal in The Cranberry Network of Wisconsin Rapids, WI, who markets cranberrys for the nation’s largest fresh shipper, Habelman Bros. Co.
Although the big push is before Thanksgiving, the company started the tradition of extending the season to include fruit for the Christmas holidays.
Canadians celebrate their Thanksgiving each year in October (this year its October 8) and cranberry loadings destined for Candian markets are among the first each year.
The California coastal valleys of Salinas and Santa Maria typically remain the 
major sources of supply of lettuce through mid-October. Huron, which is located on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, usually fills the lettuce supply gap in late October through much of November before harvest switches to the desert in California and Arizona. Some of the hardier items, such as broccoli and cauliflower, will continue in the Salinas area until the shift to the desert (California’s Imperial Valley and the Yuma, AZ area) around Thanksgiving.
There has been strong shipments of California vegetables since early summer. A primary reason is the extreme drought in the Midwest and the upper Midwest, which knocked out some home-grown crops.
Additionally, there was the hurricane that hit New Orleans and continued on through the South hitting Kentucky and Tennessee and knocking out some of those local tomato harvests. It all helped to benefit shipments of California tomatoes.
Berries
Blackberry shipments are winding down on California’s Central Coast, but raspberries could go through the end of October.
Blackberries loadings tend to decline by the end of September and are finished by mid-October as the shipments out of Mexico pick up.
California strawberry and raspberry shipments have provided some problems for haulers over the summer. Both are more delicate fruit, especially raspberries. Much of this can be blamed on the horrendous summer heatthan began in June and continued through most of August. Good quality fruit results in more shipments (due to consumer demand), plus truckers deal with fewer rejections. Obviously the quality of the fruit has improved since the heat has subsided. The fruit holds up better when shipped.
Salinas area vegetables and berries – grossing about $4700 to Chicago.
There will be a half dozen fresh potato shippers up and running in the Red 
River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota by the end of this week. That is a few more than typically run in mid-September, but with an early wrap-up in Big Lake, MN, demand is quickly shifting to the Red River Valley. Cooler temperatures this week should speed the harvest even more.
In North Carolina, the earliest shipping of cured sweet potatoes got underway September 17 from the new crop. However, some shippers will be shipping the old sweet potato crop through September….North Carolina leads the nation in sweet potato volume, which comes off of 64,000 acres from various parts of the state.
Sweet onions from Peru are arriving at various USA ports. Arrival of asparagus from Peru also are occurring, and should peak between now and into October.
Washington state is now shipping its second largest apple crop on record, estimated to be nearly 109 million boxes.
In California, pomegrante shipments are underway. It joins a host of more common produce items ranging from table grapes and stone fruit in the San Joaquin Valley, to veggies from the Salinas area…..The Santa Maria district is shipping a wide variety of berries and vegetables, although not in the volume found around Salinas. Freight rates fromt he Santa Maria district have risen slightly, while most other areas of the state are showing much change in rates, indicating adequate truck supplies.
Salinas Valley produce – grossing about $7200 to New York City.
Washington state fruit – about $4000 to Dallas.
Eastern North Carolina sweet potatoes – about $2250 to Chicago.
“When I started trucking 30 years ago, I was making similar wages to what 
these guys are making today,” states Randy Boushey, who used to truck a lot and still owns three older Freightliners he uses when in a pinch.
Randy still has his CDL, still trucks on occasion, but focuses more on being president of A & L Potato Co., a 71-year-old company that packs and ships potatoes out of East Grand Forks, MN.
He recalls making “big money” by comparison to what drivers are receiving today.
“I wish I’d put some of it away. What’s the farmer’s prayer?” he asks himself. “Please God let me make lots of money this year, and I promise I won’t piss it away this time.”
Randy still has fond memories of the days when he spent more driving a big rig. In fact, he claims he would put another newer models on the road if getting and keeping good, qualified drivers wasn’t such a challenge.
He ships a lot of red potatoes out of the Red River of North Dakota and Minnesota.
Randy has seen scenario from both sides of the fence; as a produce trucker and as a produce shipper. He realizes how important trucking is to the equation.
“Customers don’t want to hear excuses because they didn’t receive their potatoes because you couldn’t get a truck,” Randy says. “Getting trucks to come into the valley has been a challenge early in the potato season, because there hasn’t been a lot of outbound loads here.”
Randy points out a number of changes in transportation are occurring in the Red River Valley. For example, Britton Transport of Grand Forks, ND recently acquired Scott’s Inc., a truck brokerage. Pardee Transportation of Brooks, MN has bought out Prairie Line, a small fleet based in Fargo, ND. Plus, there was another trucking that recently filed bankruptcy.
“It is not going to get any easier. As good as our freight rates are on our commodities leaving here, that is only half of the puzzle. We’ve got to be able to load the trucks back into here. With $4-plus per gallon diesel fuel, it is imperative there is a decent rate for the truck,” Randy concludes.