Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
Here’s a look at spring produce shipments from across the United States.
Northwest Cherry growers released their second crop estimate of the season on Friday 13. In May — 19.8 million 20-pound boxes were forecast, and this should not have been affected by rains which hit Washington nearly a week ago.
Washington cherry shipments are still expected to occur ahead of normal schedule. Initial cherry shipments are expected about May 20 – 23 for the earliest varieties. Approximately 600,000 boxes of cherries are expected to be shipped by the end of May. In total, shipments are forecast to be in the 18.5 to 20.5 million box range, a slight increase from a year ago.
Blueberry Shipments
The eastern U.S. is currently providing the vast majority of blueberry shipments, with loadings taking place out of northern Florida, southern Georgia and North Carolina. Florida “blues” should quickly wind down next week….In Georgia, expected a shipping gap of just a few days as the season shifts from the highbush to the Rabbit Eye variety. Fair to good volume is continuing from Eastern North Carolina. Mexican blueberry shipments are light and erratic.
Georgia blueberries, sweet onions, and mixed vegetables – grossing about $2400 to New York City.
Cantaloupe Shipments
Melon loadings led by cantaloupe and honeydew are coming out the desert regions of California and Arizona. California produce shipments are coming out of the Imperial Valley and the nearby Palo Verde Valley. Just to the east, Arizona loadings are taking place from the Yuma area, as well as in the central part of the state closer to Phoenix.
Nogales Produce Shipments
Imported Mexican produce, led by watermelons and table grapes are crossing the border at Nogales, AZ. Most other imported Mexican produce commodities that crossed here are not available now. Watermelon crossing are averaging about 2700 truck loads per week. Table grape volume is around 750 truck loads weekly.
Mexican produce through Nogales – grossing about $3400 to Chicago.
Idaho Potato Shipments
Although we are entering the latter months of the 2015-16 shipping season, there are still over 1600 truck load equivalents be shipped each week.
Idaho potato shipments – grossing about $5100 to New York City.
Washington produce shipments play an integral part of the Evergreen state’s economy.
The state has rich soils, abundant fresh water, low cost hydropower, a favorable climate and hard-working people. Washington farm lands grow more than 300 varieties of crops, which is second only to California in crop diversity, according to a recently published report by the Washington Policy Center (WPC) .
Farms accounts for 13 percent of the state’s GDP and employ more people than Microsoft and Boeing combined. Some 160,000 Washington jobs associated with agriculture. Agriculture accounts for $51 billion in Washington yearly economic activity.
Over 200 food processors are supported by Washington farmers.
The apple is still rules in Washington. Two-thirds of the apples shipped in the U.S., originate from Washington state. One interesting fact coming out of the report is if the number of apples picked in Washington last year were placed side-by-side, they would circle the earth 29 times. Every apple is hand-picked.
While neighboring Idaho leads the nation in potato shipments, Washington also has significant potato loadings. Between the two states, they account for 44 percent of the nation’s potato shipments. When you order fries at a restaurant, you are likely to be served potatoes processed in the central part of Washington state.
The Washington Potato Commission reports that 99 percent of Washington potato farms are family businesses whose owners have deep roots in their communities.
Trucks move an estimated $42 million of freight on roadways in Washington state every hour of every day, yet many of them idle in traffic. The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) estimated traffic bottlenecks cost truckers $49.6 billion in 2014.
While the state has a prosperous agriculture sector, the Washington Policy Center believes farm families, similar to those in trucking, feel the pressure of harmful legislation and regulations.
In 2013, the agriculture community faced nearly a billion dollars tax increases from legislation introduced in Olympia. That would be on top of the estimated $230 million farmers and agriculture-related businesses pay in property taxes annually.
Finally, farmers will feel the cost impacts of the governor’s proposed greenhouse gas rules which hit fertilizer makers and food processing facilities hard.
The report’s bottom line is agriculture must be given equal priority with high-tech, software, aerospace and biomedical research when the state’s leaders set tax, regulatory and economic policies.
Columbia Basin potato shipments – grossing about $3800 to Chicago.
Yakima Valley apple shipments – grossing about $6000 to New York City.
From Florida in the East to California in West, to Canada in the North, here’s a look at opportunities for loadings in three different time zones.
Florida Avocado Shipments
South Florida avocado shipments will get underway nearly a month later than normal, beginning with light volumes in late May. Shipments will be light in June before heaviest loadings arrive in early to mid-July. Shipments should hit about 1 million-1.1 million-bushel this season with south Florida green-skinned varieties.
June is expected to bring considerably smaller volume than usual, but shipments are expected to catch up with bigger volume later in the season.
Southern and Central Florida watermelons, vegetables and tomatoes – grossing about $3300 to New York City.
Ontario Asparagus Shipments
Just North of the U.S. border, asparagus loadings are underway from Southern Ontario. An estimated 85 Canadian farmers in the province grow about 3,400 acres of asparagus. Norfolk and Elgin County have the bulk of Ontario’s asparagus farms, but there are others located in Chatham-Kent, Waterloo and in Essex County. The weather has been a little cool, but as soon as it warms up, asparagus grows really fast and volume will take off.
California Apricot Shipments
Last year California apricot loadings hit a record low. Only 35,000 tons were shipped. In a normal year like 2014, shipments totaled 55,500 tons.
Grown mostly in Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced counties, California apricots account for about 98 percent of all apricots produced in the United States. This year’s apricot shipments should top 50,000-tons.
California Fig Shipments
California fig loadings have been underway in light volume from the Coachella Valley. However, with the close of May primary volume will have shifted to the Southern San Joaquin Valley, although it will be mid June before shipments hit stride. Two primary fig shippers are Western Fresh Marketing and Stellar Distributing, both based in Madera, CA, the heart of fig country. About 35 percent of the fig volume goes to the fresh market, with the remainder being dried.
California fig growers produce 100 percent of the dried figs and 98 percent of the fresh figs grown in the United States.
California navel orange shipments are winding down for the season as loadings of Valencias are on the horizon. Meanwhile, Salinas Valley inconsistent vegetable shipments are enough to drive one nuts!
Shipments of California navel oranges from the San Joaquin Valley are is entering its home stretch, and volume is great than originally expected. Meanwhile, shipping gaps with Salinas Valley lettuce are occurring as predicted.
Orange shipments could surpass the 86 million cartons the National Agricultural Statistics Service predicted for the 2015-16 season.
As it is, an 86-million carton haul would be a more than 8 percent increase from last year’s 76 million cartons harvested. This would come with at least 2,000 fewer acres of bearing trees in the ground.
The amount of fruit that has been shipped as fresh and not diverted to juice — have consistently scored above 80 percent all season.
Shipments should continue through June.
Meanwhile, some Valencia orange shippers are beginning to pick what is expected to be a 21 million-carton crop as packing houses are shipping exports. Most shipments will begin after navels are completed. California had about 20 million cartons of Valencias last year. This was a little more than half the 39 million cartons produced in 2001-02 season.
Southern California orange shipments from grossing about $5300 to Atlanta.
Bell Pepper Shipments
Meanwhile bell pepper shipments have hit stride in the California desert from the Coachella Valley. Red, green and yellow peppers should be shipping into June, before loadings will shift to the Selma, CA area.
Lettuce Shipments
Just when really good vegetable volume should be building in the Salinas Valley, the leading items — various types of lettuce — are experiencing serious shipping gaps. The cause is weather, ranging from heat in the mid 90s, to ice on the product due to cold nights, plus winds up to 40 mph.
The only sure thing from now until we get into June, is much lighter volume than normal, plus quality issues. Just make sure you and your receiver know what’s being placed in the truck.
California Cherry Shipments
Reports are coming in from heavy rains that hit the California cherry crop a week ago. Anywhere from 20 to 50 percent of the of the remaining shipments will be knocked out.
The good news is loadings were actually up over last year in California through May 7th. Around 23 million pounds were shipped the week ending May 7th, up from 10.9 million pounds from last year in the same week.
Season-to-date, about 32 million pounds had been shipped, up from 15.5 million pounds in 2015.
California cherry shipments are expected to be finished by around May 20th.
San Joaquin Valley cherries and vegetables – grossing about $4500 to Chicago.
From Georgia peaches, to sweet onions loadings around the country, to potatoes and sweet potatoes, here are some produce loading oppportunities.
Vidalia onion shipments have gotten off to a fast start. Much of the reason is due to light supplies from areas creating a larger demand for the sweet onion from Southeastern Georgia…. Onions also are experiencing brisk shipments out of the California desert area of the Imperial Valley…..Sweet onion shipments out of Walla Walla Washington are expected to get under way about June 20th.
Georgia Peach Shipments
Peach shipments from Georgia are expected to get underway the third week of May from the Ft. Valley area. Georgia is expecting its best season in a decade.
Colorado Potato Shipments
Walked into my local Wal-Mart supermarket in northeastern Oklahoma May 5 and the first thing customers saw were of bins of Colorado russets. They were priced at 75 cents for a 5-pound bag. Why don’t they just give them away! The San Luis Valley of Colorado is shipping over 600 truck loads of potatoes a week.
Colorado potatoes – grossing about $1600 to Dallas.
Wisconsin Potato Shipments
Potato loadings are coming out of Central Wisconsin. Volume is averaging around 250 truck loads per week.
Wisconsin potatoes – grossing about $950 to Chicago.
North Carolina Sweet Potato Shipments
Sweet potato shipments, primarily from Eastern North Carolina, are having pretty steady volume from week to week. The Tarheel State is averaging about 250 truck loads being shipped a week.
The Northwest United States, including British Columbia, is shaping up to be an excellent season for produce haulers to haul cherries.
With a very early start expected for Northwest cherry shipments, the prognosticators expects to ship 20.7 million 20-pound boxes this season. Initial cherry shipments from the Northwest should get underway between May 23 and May 25. A total of 200,000 boxes could be shipped in May alone.
If this estimate holds, Northwest cherry loadings would be 7 percent above last year’s 19.3 million boxes, but short of the record 23.2 million boxes shipped in 2014. Rainier cherry shipments in 2016 are expected to total 1.7 million 15-pound boxes, about the same as last year.
The total Northwest cherry industry has the potential to ship 11 million boxes in June and another 9 million in July. Good volume cherry shipments are expected to start in early June, with significant cherry volume by the week of June 15th. Peak cherry shipments are expected between the middle of June and continue through the middle of July.
Yakima Valley apple shipments – grossing about $6000 to New York City.
B.C. Cherry Shipments
British Columbia cherry shipments will start in early June. Record shipments are predicted this season with 12 million pounds being estimated. This volume would be up from the 10.5 million pounds in 2015. Most British Columbia cherry shipments are destined for markets in Western Canada and the United States.
California Cherry Shipments
California cherry shipments are now in full throttle from the San Joaquin Valley. A good, but not record crop is now being shipped and will continue for another couple of weeks.
San Joaquin Valley produce shipments- grossing about $4400 to Chicago.
Florida watermelon shipments are gaining in volume, while California’s Salinas Valley is still struggling to get consist, good quality and decent volume vegetable shipments.
Florida watermelon shipments got off to a slow start at best in April, but decent volume is expected by mid May leading up to the important Memorial Day weekend, May 27-30. Some shippers are reporting supplies are off as much as 20 percent due to weather conditions. While initial shipments start out of southern Florida, central Florida watermelon shipments should get underway around May 10-15.
Demand for trucks have recently increased significantly in Florida, although no serious shortages of equipment has been reported. Rates also have increased by 10 to 15 percent to New York and Boston on mixed loads.
Southern Florida watermelons, tomatoes and vegetables – grossing about $3200 to New York City.
Georgia watermelon shipments typically start as Florida begins winding down. Georgia loadings should get underway around June 10th.
Southern Georgia greens, cabbage, carrots and squash – grossing about $2200 to New York City.
California Vegetable Shipments
The coastal district of Santa Maria is shipping about 450 truck loads of strawberries a week, but Watsonville strawberry shipments are increasing and will surpass Santa Maria any day now. Mother’s Day (May 8) is one of the biggest times for strawberry shipments. After a shaky first quarter of the year weather wise, Mother Nature is showing more cooperation and berries of all types are showing better quality, and volume.
Salinas Valley broccoli and cauliflower shipments got off to an early start, but there have been peaks and valleys regarding volumes. The roller coaster ride could continue for several more weeks. When produce loadings here start a week or two ahead of schedule, as it did this year, it is often followed by periods of heavy and light volumes.
Shipments for both broccoli and cauliflower had been decent, but another dip in loadings started in late April and continues into May. Most crops are experiencing issues with yields and volume is very uneven compared to “normal” shipping conditions.
Quality issues due to the weather has resulted in problems for drivers and shippers, upon delivery to the East Coast.
Salinas Valley lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower – grossing about $6700 to New York City.
West coast produce shipments are early this year, while East Coast produce shipments are running late. Here’s a round up on loading opportunities ranging from California stone fruit, Southeastern produce shipments and watermelons.
Stone Fruit Shipments
California stone fruit shipments have started a few days earlier than normal. Last year shipments totaled about 35 million cartons. This year estimates are about 40 million cartons. Apricot shipments got underway a couple of weeks ago. Good volume is expected in the days leading up to the Memorial weekend May 28-30.
Yellow nectarine shipments get underway around May 5th and yellow peach shipments will start about May 7-10. Plum loadings kick off about June 1st.
Even at a total of 40 million cartons of the peach, plums and nectarines, California is still 20 percent below the volume it had a decade ago. A lot of fruit acreage was pulled out of the ground and replaced with nuts in first decade of this century.
Florida Produce Shipments
Unlike the early start for many California produce shipments, Florida is the opposite. In late April, growers were beginning to ship good volume. However, this was later than the typical mid-April start of larger shipments. Large volumes of sweet corn shipments are seen for the month of May. While some shippers had good volume the last week of April, other shippers will not move into good volume until the middle of May.
Florida vegetables shipments – grossing about $3400 to New York City.
Georgia Sweet Corn Shipments
Georgia sweet corn should start shipping in small amounts from May 20 until early June, before hitting good volume.
Watermelon Shipments
Texas watermelon shipments should get underway the second week of May, while light supplies of Mexican melons continue to cross the border at McAllen. Heavier Mexican melon volume is crossing the border at Nogales. About 750 truck loads of Mexican watermelons crossed the border into Nogales last week, while volume continues to increase. Florida watermelon shipments are miniscule to that at Nogales right now, but is increasing.
Mexican melons, tomatoes and vegetables at Nogales – grossing about $3200 to Chicago.
A number of states are just getting underway with spring produce shipments, plus we through in some updates on a few that have been shipping all along.
Cherry Shipments
California cherry shipments have been underway for a week or more out of the San Joaquin Valley. Good volume is expected next week (May 2-6). Good loading opportunities will continue for several weeks, before being replaced by shipments out of the Yakima Valley in Washington state.
Asparagus Shipments
Asparagus loadings from three separate regions should be good leading up to Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 8th. California, Washington and Mexico have all been shipping in the second half of April.
California volume remains steady, and Washington state came out of the gate with good supplies. Baja California and other Mexican shipping areas have been ramping up in April and should have good supplies for about the next six weeks.
Idaho Potato Shipments
Idaho potato shipments are remaining fairly steady from week to week, averaging over 1600 truck load equivalents, primarily out of the Upper Valley and the Twin Falls areas.
Idaho potatoes – grossing about $4000 to Atlanta.
Colorado Potato Shipments
The Rocky Mountain state is the nation’s second largest potato shipper. The San Luis is averaging over 600 potatoes being shipped weekly.
Colorado potato shipments – grossing about $1500 to Dallas.
Washington Apple Shipments
Washington state is shipping more apples and pears than the rest of the nation combined. Both apples and pears are being loaded from the Yakima and Wenatchee Valleys.
Washington apples – grossing about $5000 to Orlando.
Georgia Vegetable Shipments
Southern Georgia remains pretty dormant right now, but spring vegetables shipments will be picking up in the next few weeks. Look for light to moderate volume with everything from beans, to cabbage, cucumbers, carrots, greens and more in early May. Vidalia onions shipments just started this week.
Georgia vegetables – grossing about $2200 to New York City.
New Jersey Blueberry Shipments
New Jersey blueberry shipments should get underway in mid June. New Jersey produced 57 million pounds of blueberries in 2014. Approximately 82 percent of the state’s blueberry acreage is in Atlantic County.
Here’s shipping updates for California relating to Coachella Valley grapes, Imperial Valley onions and prunes from the San Joaquin Valley.
Grape Shipments
In the desert of the Coachella Valley, table grape shipments are a big deal for about six weeks every year. The late timing of Memorial Day (May 30) will mean added loading opportunities for produce haulers due to demand leading up to this holiday. Though Coachella grapes are a bit earlier this year, it still will be around May 10th before good volume occurs. That means the weeks of May 16th and 23rd there will be heavy shipments.
For the Coachella Valley, the months of July, August and September, daytime temperatures can easily top 110 degrees and approach 120, making this region inhospitable to field-grown crops. But other times of the year grapes, watermelon, sweet corn, Bell peppers and grapefruit are just a few of the crops that are shipped, especially in the spring and fall. The Coachella Valley is located about 130 miles southeast of Los Angeles and only a few miles from Palm Springs.
Changing weather patterns for the last few years have meant an April start for grapes, which some are calling the effects of global warming and others are saying is merely a few-year anomaly from normal patterns. For whatever reasons, this year saw grapes being harvested in April once again, as they were in 2014 and 2015.
Imperial Valley Onion Shipments
Onion shipments are now in full swing in the Imperial Valley of southern California. These shipments from the desert occur during April and May, after which the season is continued in Fresno from June until September.
Prune Shipments
Storms hit Northern California in March damaging this year’s prune crop. The result of potential damages may result in prune shipments being reduced this season by 75 percent.
Prune loadings have declined in recent years while struggling to compete with the high prices commanded by walnut and almond crops. Growers have ripped out prune orchards to plant nut crops, causing the amount of prune acreage in California to shrink from 67,000 acres in 2005 to 44,000 acres in 2015.
Southern California fruits and vegetables – grossing about $4500 to Chicago.