Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
When produce haulers think of loading storage onions, the Northwest often comes to mind first, since it leads the nation in volume in this category.
The new season for Northwest onions is upon us and shipments are expected to be about normal.
Oregon was the nation’s second-largest producer of storage onions in 2012. The Beaver State shipped 24 percent of national supplies. Storage onions ranked 10th on the state’s Top 40 Commodities list for 2012.
Malheur County onions are part of the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion growing region and represent significant volume for the state. A total of 10,600 acres of onions were harvested in Malheur County. About 8,700 acres were harvested for the fresh market, of which around 5,133 thousand hundredweight (cwt) were produced.
Meanwhile, Washington state ranked 11th nationally for all onion shipments in 2012.
Washington ranked second nationally for summer onion shipments, providing the nation with 23.1 percent of its supplies. In 2012, Washington producers harvested 3,100 acres of summer non-storage onions with production set at 1,147 cwt.
During the same crop year, producers harvested 23,500 acres of summer storage onions with production set at 13,865 cwt.
Onions are grossing about $3500 to Chicago.
From New York state, to Washington state, with Idaho, Texas and New Mexico thrown in, here’s a glimpse at some produce loading opportunities.
New York Onion Shipments
Harvest of Orange County, NY onions got underway last week, but it will be another five or six weeks before everyone is digging. The initial focus will be moving onions into storage. Good quality and normal sized crop are seen.
Orange County onions are typically shipped to markets in the Eastern half of the United States. Once the harvest is complete loadings will start building in volume.
Stone Fruit Shipments
Washington state shippers are saying this is one of their best apricot crops in years. The fruit will be having peak shipments for the next two weeks or so from the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys. The state also is shipping heavy volumes of peaches, nectarines and cherries. Washington is averaging nearly 1,500 truck loads of cherries per week.
Washington state cherries and other fruit – grossing about $7400 to New York City.
Idaho Potato Shipments
Even though Idaho has entered the final leg of the 2013-14 shipping season for potatoes, it is still loading around 1600 truckload equivalents per week, primarily out of the upper valley, Twin Fallsl-Burley area.
Idaho potatoes – grossing about $3000 to Chicago.
Texas Produce Shipments
Watermelon shipments, primarily from Eastern parts of the Lone Star State are averaging about 750 truckloads per week. Meanwhile, potato volume is increasing from the Hereford High Plains area in West Texas, as well as from Eastern New Mexico. Southern New Mexico onion shipments are increasing and averaging over 875 truckloads per week.
Texas watermelons – grossing about $2400 to Atlanta.
New Mexico onions – about $3600 to Chicago.
There has been a tremendous increase in Washington state blueberry shipments in recent years. We’ll also look at some potato loading opportunities in the Western half of the United States.
Washington Blueberry Shipments
Blueberry shipments have increased nearly five-fold over the past eight years. Check out these numbers.
2006 18.4 million pounds
2007 28.5 million pounds
2010 60 million pounds
2013 80 million pounds
2014 projected at 90 million pounds
Washington is fourth in U.S. blueberry production with 10,000 acres of berries from 175 growers The state’s blueberry season runs from June through August while processed ‘blues’ are available year round. Washington blueberries are grown in Skagit, Clark, Lewis, Snohomish, Thurston, Whatcom, Chelan, Yakima and Benton, Franklin, Walla Walla, and Grant Counties.
Washington/Oregon potatoes
The majority of Washington potato shipments are now underway with a similar time frame as last year.
Oregon potato shipments will suffer due to an expected a decline of about 700 acres this season, but water concerns will likely affect even more shipments. Water availability is a concern in both Malheur County and the Klamath Basin, and yields most likely will be affected.
Colorado Potato Shipments
In southeastern Colorado, San Luis Valley potato acreage is up 8.5 percent this season. Total acreage is 54,200, compared to 49,700 last season. The harvest and shipments will start in earnest around September 10th.
Colorado potatoes – grossing about $1650 to Dallas.
Washington produce – grossing bout $1050 to Los Angeles.
Here’s a national round up of items ranging from sweet corn shipments and peach shipments in several states, plus a summary of Michigan blueberry loading opportunities.
Sweet Corn Shipments
Sweet corn shipments out of Delaware got underway last week, New York sweet corn gets underway at the end of July.
Initial Michigan sweet corn loadings should get underway by the end of this week.
Georgia sweet corn loadings should finish for the season this week.
Look for Colorado to get going around July 25th.
Because of California’s water crisis, volume is down by as much as 20 percent out of the San Joaquin Valley.
Peach Shipments
There were no South Carolina peach shipments the first six weeks of what is normally the shipping season due to a late-spring freeze. However, loadings in high volume will occur during July and August.
South Carolina, despite being a small state (it ranks 41 in size among the 50 states), ranks high in produce shipments. It is the nation’s second-largest shipper of peaches, behind California and ahead of The Peach State, Georgia. The state places in the top 10 for leafy greens, cantaloupe, peanuts, watermelons, tomatoes, mixed vegetables and sweet potatoes Its Southeast location allows overnight shipments to reach most of the U.S. population.
South Carolina peaches and vegetables – grossing bout $4000 to Boston
Michigan Blueberry Shipments
Michigan blueberry shipments are finally underway following a slow start due to weather factors.
Because of the extra cold winter, spring estimates for total shipments have been more erractic than in most years. Blueberry shippers are predicting anywhere from 60 to 90 million pounds this season, which will be off from the 120 million pounds a year ago. About 70 percent of Michigan’s “blues” are shipped out of state – and all over the U.S. Loadings should continue into September.
Michigan blueberries and vegetables – grossing about $2000 to Atlanta.
Tennessee Produce Shipments, Kentucky Produce Shipments
Looking around the nation, here are a number of active produce shipping areas ranging from Kentucky and Tennessee to Georgia, South Carolina, and California’s San Joaquin Valley.
Although they are a couple of weeks late, shipments of vegetables from Kentucky and Tennessee are underway.
Just want you to know though, most of these loadings are only to regional, if not local markets. Items range from beans to cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, and a few peaches.
Loadings occur at shipping operations in such Tennessee towns as Lebanon (near Nashville), Crossville (about halfway between Nashville and Knoxville and Rutledge in Northeastern Tennessee.
California Produce Shipments
California pear shipments from the Sacramento River District are just getting underway this week. Shipments from Mendocino County will get started around August 4th, followed by Lake County about August 11th.
Total Bartlett pear volume should hit about 2.6 million cartons, down from 2.9 million a year ago. About 500,000 cartons of other pear varieties also will be shipped led by the boscs variety.
California Grape Shipments
Table grapes from the Arvin District in the Bakersfield are picking up in volume as the new season for the San Joaquin Valley heads towards good volume.
Peach Shipments
California’s San Joaquin Valley has been shipping moderate amounts of peaches for a few weeks and is averaging about 425 truckloads per week.
Meanwhile, in the Southeast, peach shipments are building and will hit a peak very soon in Georgia (Fort Valley area), as well as South Carolina (primarily from shippers in an area south of Columbia).
San Joaquin Valley fruit – grossing about $6900 to Atlanta.
Imported citrus and fruit from South Africa and Peru are now arriving at U.S. ports.
Fresh South African citrus is arriving from South Africa every 10 days through October at the Gloucester (NJ) Marine Terminal.
The season’s first break bulk ship bearing South Africa citrus discharged June 23 at the marine terminal, located on the Delaware River.
There were 3,400 pallets. South Africans will ship a total of about 30,000 or 40,000 pallets of citrus to the United States this season This is 15th season for South African summer citrus in the U.S. Beginning in 1999, the program had 50 tons of citrus, which has grown to around 41,000 tons per year.
Avocados from Peru
Avocado shipments are showing a significant increase this year with imported fruit from Peru. By mid June around 125 million pounds of Peruvian avocados had arrived in the U.S., primarily to ports at Los Angeles, Houston and Philadelphia. However the majority of avocados are destined for markets along the Eastern seaboard and in the Southeastern United States. This amount of avocados coming to the U.S. from Peru this season is more than double of a year ago.
Here’s an international glimpse at fresh produce loading opportunities, starting with Canadian vegetables from Quebec, Northwest cherries, and the up coming Mexican tomato shipping season.
Quebec Vegetable Shipments
While HaulProduce.com has reported on Ontario vegetable shipments (see June 25th report), here we go with what’s coming soon out of Quebec.
While there are still a few onions from the past season still being shipped, the new crop of onions will be getting underway in mid July, with cantaloupes to soon follow the third week of July, along with carrots, lettuce and peppers.
Broccoli shipments recently started and will continue into early November.
While Quebec ships vegetables to the upper Midwest and some East Coast markets in the U.S., most of its apples never leave this Canadian province – shipping regionally, if not locally.
Quebec also has a couple of fresh cranberry shippers. They shipped over one million pounds last year, and expect to load even more this fall.
Northwest Cherry Shipments
Northwest cherries, led by Washington state are cranking up shipments. It is estimated the Northwest will load 22 million boxes, which could be the region’s second-largest crop behind 2012’s record shipments of 23 million boxes.
Mexican Tomato Shipments
Looking ahead to the 2014-15 season for Mexican tomato shipments, of which a good percent cross the border into the U.S., shows a slight decline projected by the USDA. Around 2.28 million tons of tomatoes will be shipped this coming season, down from 2.35 million ton from the season that recently ended. Acreage for Mexican fresh tomatoes is projected at 106,000 acres, off from the 111,000 in the 2013-14 season.
However, produce haulers will notice little difference in tomato loadings because Mexican yields are up due to expanded plantings in greenhouses, shade houses, tunnels and other forms of protected measures for growing. Many tomato growing operations are financed or owned by major tomato shippers in the U.S., especially growers from California.
Washington state fruit – grossing about $4200 to Chicago.
Northwestern shipments of blueberries and apples will be ramping up in the next month or so.
Washington and Oregon will be shipping blueberries this month and loadings will continue into the fall. Both states consistently rank among the nation’s top in blueberry shipments.
Washington is expected to ship approximately 90 million pounds of blueberries this season — an increase of 10 million pounds when compared to 2013. The Evergreen state is a national trendsetter when it comes to organic blueberry production, with 75 percent of its overall volume falling into the category.
Oregon shippers are expected to load more than 80 million pounds of blueberries this year, which would be another record for the state.
The United States is the world’s largest producer of blueberries, harvesting a total of 564.4 million pounds of cultivated and wild blueberries in 2012. Of this total volume, approximately 84 percent of the harvest fell into the cultivated category. Blueberries rank as the second most important commercial berry crop in the United States, with a total crop value of $781.8 million in 2012.
Apple Shipments
The official estimate will not be announced until August 11, but observers are seeing the potential for a huge crop. starting with shipments in volume of Galas by mid-August. Regional shipping areas in the Eastern U.S. are running later than normal due to the very cool spring, while Washington state apple shipments will start several days earlier than normal. Washington apple shipments should be taking place in good volume starting sometime in August and really ramping up in September.
Here is a glimpse at loading opportunities from a couple of districts in California, as well as from New Jersey and at U.S. ports.
Westside Melon Shipments
Melon shipments from the Westside district of California’s San Joaquin Valley got under way last week, with normal acreage and loadings predicted. The peak shipping period will be in July, August, September and into October. The biggest volume will be with cantaloupe and honeydew.
Sacramento Valley Prunes
The trend of removing Sacramento Valley prune orchards for more profitable nut crops continues. Prune production takes place in August and early September. California statewide should total to around 45,000 acres, amounting to about 95,000 tons of prunes. Last year volume was around 82,000 to 84,000 tons.. The 95,000 may also be close to what can be expected in the future. Typical volumes of a few years ago was in the 120,000 to 140,000 range.
California Pears
California pear shipments from the Sacramento River district and the mountain district get underway within the next week. While loadings may be off 10 to 15 percent from a year ago, there still will be decent volume.
New Jersey Peach Shipments
New Jersey’s peach crop has folks optimistic this year with about 30,000-35,000 tons of fruit forecast from the state’s 5,500 acres of trees. Peaches shippers are located near such towns as Bridgeton, Salem, Mullica Hill, and Glassboro. Good volume is expected by the second week of July with shipments continue through mid September.
New Zealand Kiwi
Arrivals of New Zealand kiwifruit began in mid-May and should be available for loadings at U.S. ports until mid-October.
Central San Joaquin Valley melons and vegetables – grossing about $5700 to Chicago.
San Joaquin Valley grape shipments got an early start this year, when the Arvin District in the Bakersfield area began shipments nearly two weeks ago. It is now shipping in good volume.
Spring grape loadings out of Sonora, Mexico, and California’s Coachella Valley both got off to an early start this year and are finishing earlier than usual. Early Arvin District grape shipments have made for a smooth transition from Mexico and Coachella into the San Joaquin Valley.
At this point, it looks like the San Joaquin Valley will be shipping into February 2015 as the harvest spreads northward.
Loading opportunities for California grapes continues to become spread out over a longer period of time as new grape varieties are developed, which extend the season. It started in Coachella Valley this year on April 28. It has just finished.
2013 California fresh grape shipments exceeded expectations and came in at a record 116.2 million 19-pound boxes. The 2014 crop is officially estimated at 116.5 million boxes, which, if realized, would just edge out last year’s record.
One of the nice aspects of hauling California grapes, is the growers have been successfully producing quality fruit that makes for good deliveries. This results in fewer claims and rejected loads at destination.
San Joquin Valley stone fruit, berries and grapes – grossing about $8500 to New York City.