Archive For The “News” Category
Fred Plotsky and his staff at Cool Runnings arrange about 8,000 loads a year. 
He sees the biggest issue facing trucker is financing, followed by the rules and regulations on the trucking industry.
“However,” he adds, “If you can’t get the financing, the rules and regulations don’t matter.”
The president of Cool Runnings, based in Kenosha, WI, says truckers are facing rising costs with everything from tires to fuel and labor. An engine overhaul that was $13,000 two years ago now costs $20,000 to $21,000. The mechanics who work on those diesel engines have hourly rates that have increased from $60 to $100 per hour.
While the produce rates have gone up in recent weeks, the price of disel fuel remains high as well. For example, Fred says a truck averaging five miles per gallon, running 3,700 miles per week, at today’s diesel prices, that is costing $3,000 a week, which is hard to finance.
While Cool Runnings charges a two percent fee for advances on loads, Fred points out a lot of truck brokers charge three to five percent.
“The broker has to borrow to finance advance loads. The bank is not loaning you that money for free,” Fred states. “Financing is tight. You either pay the bank, or the broker for the cash advance. It is going to cost you more either way.”
It used to be the average cash advance was around $500 to $700 for the fuel to cover a trip from Idaho to Chicago. The advances are around $1,500.
“You are talking two percent of $1,500 when it used to be two percent of $700. The truckers have to find a way to finance this themselves, while the others who do not figure it out fall by the wayside,” Fred says.
Cool Runnings works with a lot of owner operators and small fleet operations. “The guys who used to have 20 trucks now own eight or 10. If he had 10 trucks, now he only has three or four trucks,” Fred says. “They just don’t care anymore. They’ll say, `I’m tired of fighting the rules and regulations and everything else.'”
One example of excessive government interference, Fred notes, are the CARB (California Air Resources Board) rules in California. The requirements, some of which have to do with reducing emissions, increase the costs of operation and is make it very difficult for truckers to comply, much less continue to operate profitably.
He knows one trucker who delivers freight to Utah and runs to Idaho and to pick up potatoes and French fries for delivery to Chicago. That trucker receives a consistent, steady fair rate. The trucker also does not have to comply with California’s CARB rules.
“Now that those rules are stabilized, just don’t keep changing them,” Fred states.
Cool Runnings History
Although it has been nearly 26 years, it seems almost like yesterday when I first met Fred Plotsky. I was riding in a car with a friend and business associate named Gary Robinson in Highland Park, IL during a week I was working in Chicago. Gary had just sold his truck brokerage, Cool Runnings.
How would you like to meet the new owner of Cool Runnings? He’s really a great guy,” Gary asked me. In a moment, Gary had Fred dialed up on his car phone. I met up with Fred later that day and the rest is history. We have been friends ever since.
Fred and I immediately found a few things in common. We both had an interest in produce trucking for starters. Both of us loved to fish. Fred goes after northern pike, especially on fishing expeditions to Canada, while this southern boy prefers the warmer climates and large mouth (you might find Fred reporting to work at the Cool Runnings offices in Kenosha, WI, wearing shorts in January).
Fred also has love for listening to radio, and only a few months earlier in 1986 I had launched the Produce Truckers Network and had two radio stations airing it — WRVA in Richmond, VA with Big John Trimble and WMAQ in Chicago with Fred Sanders.
Both of us are sports fans with Fred a great follower of the Chicago White Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers. He is forgiving of my support of St. Louis Cardinals.
Over the years I’ve learned to respect Fred as a loving husband, great father, little league baseball coach — and a fair and honest businessman.
It has sort of become a tradition with Fred and I to occasionally have lunch together — usually involving chicken wings and root beer. It was during such a recent visit, Fred shared some thoughts on Cool Runnings, which he has owned since July 1986, as well as what is happening with the trucking industry, and what he views as the major concerns and issues with the professionals driving the big rigs. — By Bill Martin
The strong, but seasonal produce trucking rates off the West Coast sound 
pretty good, until one starts to consider what it takes to get a Westbound freight haul. The hard economic times in the USA has taken its toll on many truckers. Some in trucking report dry freight grossing as little as $2000 from the Mid-west to California.
Bradley Cook drives a truck for Frank’s Transport, a one-truck operation out of North Miami Beach, FL. HaulProduce.com recently caught up with him at a Flying J Truck Stop, after delivering a load of juice. He was hoping to get a load of freight out of Tulsa, OK for the West Coast to pick up a load of produce.
The 35-year-old has been trucking either long haul or locally since 1998, and this is about as tough as he has seen it.
“I’m working this truck like a dog trying to make ends meets,” he says, pointing to the conventional Peterbilt he is driving. The owner operator he is driving for once had three trucks, but now it is down this single tractor.
It is not easy when outbound dry freight is paying only $1.35 to $1.40 per mile, while eastbound produce loads are grossing about $2.25 per mile, “if you are lucky. The people paying for the East bound (produce) want to pay you the Westbound rates,” he says, “although they pay the better rates because they have little choice.”
It also does not help that other produce shipping areas often do not pay that well. He cites per mile rates of out of Florida being $1.25, while Texas loads are averaging about $1.50 per mile. The high cost of number 2 diesel fuel only makes it worse.
“The price of fuel is so high the produce people and everyone else are relying on the freight charges of 20 years to help make up for it (cost of deliveries),” Bradley says.
Adding to the challenges of hauling produce are the delays in loading and unloading the often occur.
“With produce, I often face delays anywhere from one to eight hours. The product may still be in fields, even though I’m at the facility on time to load,” Bradley states. “I am picking up in California and supposed to deliver in Massachusetts. If I am late for delivery (because of loading delays), that Massachusetts receiver will not pay full price for that load upon arrival.”
Another primary “beef” with Bradley is dealing with four wheelers, and particularly those driving cars who cut off big rigs.
If a wheeler cuts me off then hits the brakes, I’m going to hit my brakes, but I can’t stop on a dime. I’ll end up going five truck lengths through that guy’s vehicle,” Bradely states.
In some Western states he notes speed limits on some highways are 80 mph. “You can cut me off, and I’m going to end up killing you (with my truck, which can’t stop),” he says.
Bradley believes as part of obtaining a driver’s license four wheelers should have to ride in big rig for three weeks to get a better understanding of what it is like to operate an 18 wheeler and “experience the centrifical forces of nature.”
Similar problems exist with four wheelers who tail gate big rigs and when the trucker hits the brakes, if the other driver is not paying close enough attention he can end up “going through your DOT approved trailer bumper — and die.”
By the United Fresh Produce Association
The North American Produce Transportation Working Group (NAPTWG) will 
host a webinar on produce transportation best practices on Wednesday, July 18 at 11:00 am PT/2:00 pm ET. The session will give an overview of the best practices and delve into the roles and responsibilities of the shipper, carrier and receiver in facilitating a seamless, safe, and sustainable global supply-chain. Speakers include industry veterans with varied perspectives: Dan Vaché, vice president of supply chain management, United Fresh; Doug Stoiber, vice president, L&M Transportation Services, Inc.; Jim Gordon, operations manager, Ippolito Fruit & Produce LTD.; and Doug Nelson, special services manager, Blue Book Services, Inc. A question and answer period will follow the presentation and the session will be posted on the website as a resource.
“As summer quickly approaches, the webinar will be especially valuable to anyone involved in the movement of perishables and refrigerated cargo via truck,” said Dan Vaché, vice president of supply chain management for United Fresh. “It’s vital that the entire industry be on the same page when dealing with the movement of fresh fruits and vegetables. We need to ensure the cold chain remains intact and to prevent complications in the distribution and delivery of our fresh and wholesome products.”
Registration is complimentary to all interested parties. Register now!
This is the first in a series of educational webinars the NAPTWG will hold. For more information, please visit the NAPTWG website, or contact Dan Vaché, vice president of supply chain management, at 425-629-6271.
The North American Produce Transportation Working Group (NAPTWG) is comprised of more than 25 national and regional produce industry associations, transportation service providers, grower/shippers and perishable receivers. In cooperation with United Fresh Produce Association, NAPTWG works to provide best practice resources to those involved in the fresh produce supply chain.
If you haul produce for the supermarket chain Safeway, you may have noticed 
fresh fruits and vegetable being hauled are loaded into your refrigerated trailer using reusable product containers (RPCs). The chain’s press release states it allows more product to be loaded into the trailer. It does not address the question of whether this adds more weight to the load, and if so, whether the truck is paid more for that additional weight (yeah, right!). Regardless RPCs are good for the envirnoment. Here’s the Safeway press release and you can decide for yourself.
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Safeway Inc. announced that it has transitioned to using reusable product containers rather than corrugated boxes to ship many types of produce from the farm fields, through the distribution channel and to final store destination. This transition eliminated the use of over 17 million pounds of corrugated boxes.
RPCs can be stacked higher and more densely than traditional boxes, allowing for more efficient shipping and requiring fewer trips to transport the same amount of product. This, in turn, decreases trucking emissions and traffic volume.
Safeway, which has introduced a broad range of successful sustainability practices across its operations, has used RPCs for decades on many of its consumer brand categories, including bread, milk and soda. The company began testing RPCs in its distribution system for fresh wet-pack produce — fruits and vegetables kept on ice until they reach the store — in early 2010.
Making the transition for produce was a more complicated process than for other products because, to make it effective and decrease cardboard usage, Safeway’s distributors and grower partners also had to commit to the switch. The transition continued throughout 2011.
Today, many types of produce travel from the field to the distributor to Safeway’s product distribution centers and to the final store location in RPCs. The company’s major supplier of RPCs, IFCO Systems, said that Safeway’s implementation of RPC usage to decrease waste was the fastest and most aggressive program rollout to date.
Safeway’s vice president of transportation, Tom Nartker, said that employing environmentally friendly methods of product distribution is part of Safeway’s overall commitment to sustainable business practices.
“This expansion into produce is a natural extension of best practices in logistics,” Mr. Nartker said in a press release. “Safeway will continue to look for opportunities to expand the usage of RPCs into additional categories to have an even greater positive environmental impact.”
The use of reusable, sustainable containers not only keeps non-recyclable shipping containers out of the supply chain, but it also has an even greater positive environmental impact.
According to Safeway, the positive environmental effects include eliminating the use of over 17 million pounds of corrugated boxes, avoiding the harvesting of approximately 114,000 trees and reduced emissions of 37,518 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from the environment, equivalent to removing 6,872 passenger cars off the road.
Refrigerated equipment is in tight supply in a number of areas around the 
country, but it could be much worse. Less than bumper sized crops in several areas is easing some of the pressure for trucks. California’s San Joaquin Valley stone fruit crop is down from a year ago. Central and southern Georgia fruits and vegetables were hit hard by inclement weather during the spring. Watermelons in Texas and some parts of the east coast were also victims of bad weather.
The new apple season will be launched in only a few weeks and crops were decimated in Michigan, Ontario and parts of New York state.
Thus, when folks complain about California rates hitting $6,000 to the Mid-west and $9,000 to the East Coast, with a little more favorable weather conditions in various parts of the USA and Canada, demand for refrigerated equipment could have been worse – resulting in even higher rates on produce hauls. Still, there comes a point when rates reach a certain point, that retail prices for fruits and vegetables rise, and at a certain there is consumer resistance to high the costs.
Whether talking availablity of equipment, volume of fruits and vegetables, as well as the quality of the product — and let’s not forget the availability of professional drivers – many factors can result in the final equasion for supply and demand….If and when this economy ever turns around, produce shipments will be receiving a lot more competition as many drivers will choose to haul other things, which is not as demanding and risky as loads of fresh produce.
Southern Californa citrus and fruit – grossing about $9000 to Boston, sometimes more.
Salinas Valley vegetables and berries – about $6200 to Chicago.
Salinas, CA – The mission to create a connection between the agricultural 
community and food assistance programs just got a little easier for the local nonprofit Ag Against Hunger. Due to a generous $50,000 grant from Walmart, along with discounts from ThermoKing, Utility Trailer, and Central Coast Sign Factory, Ag Against Hunger was able to purchase a beautiful brand new 53’ refrigerated trailer. The new trailer will replace an older model that will now be used as additional cold storage during the season when their cooler is at capacity. In 2011, the organization distributed 13.9 million lbs. of fresh nutritious produce to food banks in need, feeding over 3 million people. Executive Director Karen DeWitt says that she hopes the new trailer will help increase that amount by an additional 250,000 lbs. equaling 1.25 million servings.
Press release by Ag Against Hunger
Fred Plotsky, who with his staff at Cool Runnings, arrange about 8,000 loads 
a year, sees the biggest issue facing truckers is financing, followed by the rules and regulations on the industry. “However, he adds, “If you can’t get the financing, the rules and regulations don’t matter.”
The president of Cool Runnings, based in Kenosha, WI, says truckers are facing rising costs with everything from tires to fuel and labor. An engine overhaul that was $13,000 two years ago now costs $20,000 to $21,000. The mechanics who work on those diesel engines have hourly rates that have increased from $60 to $100 per hour.
While the produce rates have gone up in recent weeks, the price of diesel fuel remains high as well. For example, Fred says a truck averaging five miles per gallon, running 3,700 miles per week, at today’s diesel prices, that is costing $3,000 a week, which is hard to finance.
While Cool Runnings charges a two percent fee for advances on loads, Fred points out a lot of truck brokers charge three to five percent.
“The broker has to borrow to finance advance loads. The bank is not loaning you that money for free,” Fred states. “Financing is tight. You either pay the bank, or the broker for the cash advance. It is going to cost you more either way.”
It used to be the average cash advance was around $500 to $700 for fuel to cover a trip from Idaho to Chicago. Now the advances are around $1,500. “You are talking two percent of $1,500 when it used to be two percent of $700. The truckers have to find a way to finance this themselves, while the others who do not figure it out fall by the wayside,” Fred says.
Cool Runnings works with a lot of owner operators and small fleet operations. “The guys who used to have 20 trucks now own eight or 10. If he had 10 trucks, now he only has three or four trucks,” Fred says. “They just don’t care anymore. They’ll say, `I’m tired of fighting the rules and regulations and everything else.'”
One example of excessive government interference, Fred notes, are the CARB (California Air Resources Board) rules in California. The requirements, some of which have to do with reducing emissions, increase the costs of operation and is make it very difficult for truckers to comply, much less continue to operate profitably.
He knows one trucker who hauls potatoes and french fries between Idaho and Utah. That trucker receives a consistent, steady fair rate. The trucker also does not have to comply with California’s CARB rules.
“Now that those rules are stabilized, just don’t keep changing them,” Fred states.
Although it has been nearly 26 years, it seems almost like yesterday when Ifirst met Fred Plotsky. I was riding in a car with a friend and business associate named Gary Robinson in Highland Park, IL during a week I was working in Chicago. Gary had just sold his truck brokerage, Cool Runnings.
“How would you like to meet the new owner of Cool Runnings? He’s really a great guy,” Gary asked me. In a moment, Gary had Fred dialed up on his car phone. I met up with Fred later that day and the rest is history. We have been friends ever since.
Fred and I immediately found a few things in common. We both had an interest in produce trucking for starters. Both of us loved to fish. Fred goes after northern pike, especially on fishing expeditions to Canada, while this southern boy prefers the warmer climates and large mouth (you might find Fred reporting to work at the Cool Runnings offices in Kenosha, WI, wearing shorts in January).
Fred also has love for listening to radio, and only a few months earlier in 1986 I had launched the Produce Truckers Network and had two radio stations airing it — WRVA in Richmond, VA with Big John Trimble and WMAQ in Chicago with Fred Sanders.
Both of us are sports fans with Fred a great follower of the Chicago White Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers. He is forgiving of my support of St. Louis Cardinals.
Over the years I’ve learned to respect Fred as a loving husband, great father, little league baseball coach — and a fair and honest businessman.
It has sort of become a tradition with Fred and I to occasionally have lunch together — usually involving chicken wings and root beer. It was during such a recent visit, Fred shared some thoughts on Cool Runnings, which he has owned since July 1986, as well as what is happening with the trucking industry, and what he views as the major concerns and issues with the professionals driving the big rigs. — By Bill Martin
By NAPTWG
The North American Produce Transportation Working Group (NAPTWG) 
announced the posting of a Spanish version of the comprehensive best practices document on their website. The site offers best practice and guidance documents pertaining to the handling and transport of fresh produce to facilitate a seamless, safe, and sustainable global supply-chain. The transportation resources are intended for shippers, receivers and carriers.
“With so many warehouse workers, truckers and others in the industry speaking Spanish, it is vital to have this document translated. It is a very technical document, so it’s crucial that all parties understand this in its entirety,” said Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas in Nogales (FPAA), Arizona and NAPTWG founding member.
“Presenting these documents in Spanish is a milestone for the NAPTWG and our efforts to harmonize the fresh produce supply chain. Translating the site to make it available to a wider audience is a sign of the group’s commitment to strengthening our cross-border relationships for the advancement of the industry,” said Dan Vaché, vice president of supply chain management for United Fresh.
For more information, please visit the NAPTWG website, which now offers documents in Spanish and French.
The North American Produce Transportation Working Group (NAPTWG) is comprised of more than 25 national and regional produce industry associations, transportation service providers, grower/shippers and perishable receivers. In cooperation with United Fresh Produce Association, NAPTWG works to provide best practice resources to those involved in the fresh produce supply chain.
Source: The North American Produce Transportation Working Group
by Maglio & Company
GLENDALE, WI – Maglio & Company announces today the expansion of their 
transportation fleet to include 13 new trucks that will be managed by a dedicated team of logistics experts at Blackhawk Transport.
“Being the best fresh produce solutions provider in our distribution area is our commitment, and partnering with the right companies is key to success,” said Sam Maglio, President of Maglio & Company. “Blackhawk reinforces our ability to provide full-service transportation services with prompt deliveries to customers throughout our distribution area. They are not only like-minded in our efforts to maintain the integrity of our perishable cold chain, but they are an established carrier with unbeatable logistic services that will enhance our operation.”
In partnership with Blackhawk, Maglio will ensure that the expanded fleet maintains products at the high standards directed by the Global Food Safety Initiative guidelines (GFSI) and demanded by customers. Each truck will be equipped with technology approved by the Department of Transportation that allows Maglio to obtain route updates and communicate with drivers. The partnership between Maglio and Blackhawk began in the spring of 2012 and trucks being managed by Blackhawk will be traveling in late June.
About Maglio & Company
Headquartered in Glendale, Wisconsin, Maglio & Company is a produce processor, repacker, distributor, and logistics provider. Since 1902, the company has been offering the freshest and best produce with old-fashioned, conscientious quality and service.
Kevin Bowling has been trucking since 1986, but his truck is now sitting at his 
home in Tampa, FL and he is driving for a large fleet.
The 44-year-old former owner operator says he parked his truck because of poor economic conditions and excessive government regulations.
The driver for MK Express of East Butler, PA was fueling at a Petro Truck Stop at Vienna, GA. He hauls primarily produce out of the Southeast and dry freight on the return haul.
Bowling says a main complaint with hauling produce are the delays associated with getting loaded. Although this is not as serious a problem working with his current carrier, he notes too often product is still in the fields when arriving at the loading docks. Maintaining proper load temperatures also is cited as being very important.
While Bowling loves the independence associated with trucking, he says U.S. Department of Transportation regulations are excessive and challenging.
“The DOT is always wanting to put more regulations on you and it just makes it harder,” he states. More specifically, he cites most recent hours of service regulation changes. Bowling says the changes, involving the 14-hour rule may be better for some drivers, but worse for others.
He is referring to the 34-hour restart once a week with two sleep times from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., plus there is the 30-minute rest break following eight hours of driving.
“For some guys it would be too much time off, but for others it might help keep them from driving when they are tired,” he says.