Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
Summertime loads for produce haulers in New Jersey growers are declining, 
but there are still a limited amount of peaches being shipped. However, peach shipments will wrap up within days. There’s also limited handling of basil and mint are also finishing and will be halted by frost that typically occurs in mid-October.
The fall season shipments for spinach, escarole/endive, lettuces, turnips, radishes, and white and sweet potatoes are just getting started. There also are less amounts of vegetables ranging from cabbage to collards, kale, beets, Swiss chard, pickles, cucumbers, .radishes, butternut and acorn squash, and herbs such as parsley, dill, coriander, arugula and cilantro.
The top volume fresh-market vegetables in New Jersey are: tomatoes, sweet corn, peppers, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, eggplant, escarole, snap beans and asparagus. The primary fresh-market fruits are strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and apples. Jersey also is one of the top five states in producing cranberries for processing.
New Jersey also ships apples, but unlike the major Western apple shipping states, the Jersey fruit is shipped after harvest. without being stored time in controlled atmosphere conditions. New Jersey apple loadings began in late-August, with the Gala, MacIntosh, Jonathan and Courtland varieties, and are followed by Red Delicious, Empire, Jonagold and McCoun. Golden Delicious, Rome and Stayman Winesap start shipments in mid- to late September. Braeburn, Fuji and Granny Smith will start in early-October.
Wisconsin ranks No. 4 in the nation for potato shipments an estimated 22.32 
million hundredweight (cwt) of potatoes loaded last season. The Badger state growers harvested 62,000 acres of spuds. The harvest got under way in late August.
Crop quality concerns do exist across the state, and we have a long way to go to harvest conditions for storage,
If you are a produce hauler looking to transport Wisconsin potatoes for the 2012-13 season, there are some potential quality issues with which you should be aware. This is essential to help avoid potential claims and rejected loads.
Warm temperatures may have triggered heat necrosis (resulting in death of plant tissue due to disease, etc.). Hot soils also may result in black heart (where internal plant tissues blacken). Furthermore, insect damage [such as wire worm] has been seen that is also triggering defects. You also need to watch for late blight. Some early potato blight (a devastating disease of potatoes that caused of the Irish potato famine of the mid- 19th century) has been noted in early August, which is caused by cooler, wet weather.
Most Wisconsin potato shipments orginate from the central area of the state. From Antigo to the Stevens Point area and southward around Bancroft and Friesland.
Late summer and early fall launches sweet potato shipments from several 
states. Before I go any further, sweet potatoes are not among the leaders when it comes to good produce rates. But neither are other basic “hardware” items such as potatoes and onions. There’s a reason berries and vegetable trucking rates are better; they are more perishable.
North Carolina is the leading shipper of sweet potatoes in the USA. The Tar Heel state has slashed acreage by 5,000 acres this season after a disaterous overproduction a year ago. The old crop has been finally clean up and you will now be loading sweet potatoes from the new crop, which means a fresher product with which receivers should be more pleased. Happy receivers result in fewer claims and rejections of loads. One other point. Receivers don’t care for green sweet potatoes. They prefer product that has been cured. Most sweet potatoes loads should be cured entering October.
Mississippi and Louisiana have been irrigating dry sweet potato fields, at least until Hurrican Issac arrived.
Louisana sweet potatoes apparently dodged the budget from Issac. Farms in southwest and central Louisiana received about an inch of rain from Isaac, and farms in northeast Louisiana between 4 and 4 1/2 inches. Harvest may be delayed up to week to allow fields to dry out.
No word on yet on how Mississippi sweet potatoe shipments may have been affected.
Fall official begins in the USA on September 22nd, 9:49 CST. However, in a 
sense fall really kicks off in the minds of many, after Labor Day, September 3rd. It also means the beginning of fall produce loads for many new items, and is the start of late season shipping for a number of produce items. Total USA produce volume does not match that of summer, but it certainly beat the low volume season of winter.
California provides a lot of loading opportunties for produce haulers during the fall season.
Grapes – Historic shipments of table grapes from the San Joaquin Valley will peak in September. Nearly 110 million 19-pound cartons are expected to be shipped by the end of the season in late 2012.
Oranges – While the smaller valencia loadings, expected to total 28 million boxes, end in October, the much larger navel orange crop kicks in as valencia finish.
Apples – While shipments have been underway for several weeks, loadings of the popular fuji and granny smith varieties have just started.
Strawberries – Shipments are running about 11 percent ahead compared to this time last year. While loadings are past their summer peak, decent volume continues into the fall. Through August about four to five million trays were being shipped, and this will drop to around three to four million trays during September. While most strawberry shipments through the summer have been from the Watsonville/Salinas area, those loadings with be in decline before ending in late November. The volume from that area will be replaced with shipments originating from Oxnard.
Pomegranates – This may not be one of the visible or promenate produce items for hauling, yet there will be about four million boxes of pomegranates shipped, beginning in early October.
Kiwifruit — About two-thirds of the loadings originate out of the Southern San Joaquin Valley and about one-third from the northern Sacramento Valley. Shipments are expected to be down 15 to 20 percent for the 2012-13 season, with loading forecast at about 7 million, seven pound trays, with loadings to kick off around the second week of October.
Persimmons – Average shipments are forecast, with loadings becoming available around the third week of September from such towns as Madera and Reedley.
Pumpkins – Shipments got underway from around Manteca, CA the week of August 27th., which is about normal. However peak loadings are not expected until the end of September and early October.
There will be fewer apples for hauling in two of four of the leading eastern states this fall. 
New York got hit the hardest by frost related weather earlier this year, but there also will be fewer loads available for produce haulers in North Carolina. Pennsylvania and Virginia will be up in volume only slightly.
New York state’s Western and Central apple shipping areas were hit the hardest, with less frost damage occuring in the eastern part of the state, home of the Hudson Valley. Still, New York’s volume will be down 52 percent from last apple season ( 590 million pounds compared to 1.2 billion pound a year ago).
In Pennsylvania, apples are forecast to be at 481 million pounds. It shipped 458 million pounds last year.
North Carolina took a beating. This year it expects to load 40 million pounds of apples compared to 140 million pounds in 2011.
The leading apple shipper in the mid-west, Michigan will ship 85 percent fewer apples this season.
Ironically, Washington state, which normally ships about half of the nation’s apples every year, is expected to account for 77 percent of the nation’s apple loads for 2012-13. This is despite suffering some hail damage. The state was on track for historic volume, until the fowl weather hit. Still, Washington state is expected to have its second largest amount of apple shipments on record.
One difference produce haulers can expect out of the Northwest this season is for Washington shippers to be packing more apples than normal in the smaller, consumer bags. This is because Michigan normally is heavy with bagged apples, and Washington packers will be looking to help fill this void.
Produce truckers should always watch what is being loaded, not only for proper count, but for quality and appearance of the product being loaded. This is especially true if you are hauling apples from most shipping areas this season. Expect shippers to be loading some fruit with pits or hail damage marks on it. Just make sure whom you are hauling for is aware of this situation to help reduce changes of claims or rejected loads. Also, be sure and note it on the bill of lading.
Washington state apples grossing – about $5600 to New York City.
As expected, there will be a record number of cherries shipped from 
Washington state this season by produce haulers.
Washington state had shipped 18.7 million boxes of cherries as of August 22nd. If you include the Northwest, in other words, mostly Oregon, as of Aug. 22, 22.8 million boxes of cherries had been shipped, which also is a record. By the end of August most of the fruit will have been packed and shipped, and total volume will likely top a record 23 million boxes.
California table grape shipments are ahead of schedule this season due to the warmer-than-normal weather. The primary concern is if the San Joaquin Valley heat eventually starts taking a toll of the vineyards, which could lead to quality problems, something we’ll watch out for as it could impact claims or rejected loads for produce truckers.
It appears this year will be the first time California hits 100 million or more boxes of grapes.
In the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, watermelon shipments continue. Quality appears good enough that you should be able to avoid unfair claims or rejected loads – depending of course, upon whom you are delivering to. There also are steady shipments of Mexican citrus, tropical fruit and vegetables crossing the border into South Texas.
In the Hudson Valley of New York, various vegetables such as sweet corn are being loaded in light to moderate volume. The new apple harvest has just started and volume is very light, but increasing.
South Texas produce loads – grossing about $220o to Atlanta.
San Joaquin Valley grapes – grossing about $4300 to Chicago.
Produce shipments from the Western half of the USA offer perishable haulers 
some obvious and not-so-obvious choices for obtaining loads.
Here’s some places you may not have considered. New crops of potatoes are now available in some upper mid-western states. The Big Lake, MN area is shipping both red potatoes and russets. New crops of spuds have recently got underway from Central Wisconsin, Nebraska and Northern Colorado.
In Idaho and Malheur County, OR., loading opportunities have recently become available with a new crop of storage onions. While the area is known for its onions, a few shippers are starting to offer sweet onions. Just be aware that these shippers are new at this game and still may be on a learning curve relating to quality. Sweet onions often do not store well.
In California, the heaviest volume from the Salinas Valley is with head lettuce, averaging about 1,100 truck load equivalents per week. Many other vegetable items are also being shipped…..In the nearby Watsonville District, about 750 truckload equivalents of strawberriers are being loaded weekly.
Plenty of loading opportunities are coming from the San Joaquin Valley of California with stone fruit, veggies and grapes. Heaviest table grape movement is from the southern valley area known as the Kern District, but volume is rapidly increasing from more northern areas of the valley.
An update on apple shipments from Washington state, shows it will account for 77 percent of the nation’as apple shipments during the 2012-13 shipping season. Washington always leads the nation in this category, but with heavy weather related losses to apples in Michigan and New York state, the northwest will provide an even more than normal percentage of the country’s apple loads. Washington expects to ship its second largest amount of apples in history; and this is despite a 10 to 15 percent crop loss due to hail storms earlier this year.
Salinas Valley produce – grossing about $7500 to New York City.
Big Lake MN potatoes – about $1300 to Chicago.
Central Wisconsin potatoes – about $2500 to Atlanta.
Late summer shipments of fresh fruits and vegetables continue in steady 
volume from around the country.
In New York state, onions have started from Orange County, while cabbage is coming from several areas in both the central and western parts of the state.
Michigan shippers continue to load a variety of vegetables, led by cucumbers and squash, particularly from the western half of the state.
It is a relatively short shipping season for red potatoes from the Big Lake, MN area. Those loadings will soon be giving away to the Red River Valley, which should move into volume shipments after Labor Day.
In California, stone fruit, grape and vegetables loads remain steady for the most part. A similar situation exits for vegetables from the Salinas Valley.
Tabulations for the outlook of national apple shipments have been issued at a recent outlook and marketing conference. The forecast predicts the smallest apple crop since 1986. This would amount to 192 million bushels, ranking it as the 31st biggest crop that will be shipped.
While the forecasts for the East and Midwest regions declined this year, the forecast for the West increased by 6 percent. And although some of its crop was damaged by hail, Washington state is still forecast to produce 135.7 million bushels, 5 percent above its 2011 production.
Washington state apples and pears – grossing about $5600 to New York City.
Michigan vegetables – about $900 to Chicago.
San Joaquin Valley produce – about $6000 to Atlanta.
Triple digit heat in much of the country has finally broken and fall shipments 
of fresh produce are coming. Two such items are fresh cranberries, that will be shipped from a handful of states, plus California apples that fill a niche between loadings of Chilean fruit and apples out of Washington state.
The third largest cranberry crop on record is being forecast by the USDA, amounting to 7.6 million 100-pound barrels. While Massachuetts will be down slightly from last fall, increases are seen in Wisconsin, Washington state, Oregon and New Jersey (the latter being virtually all processed fruit).
Expect Wisconsin cranberry shipments to get started around the week of September 17th, with Massachusetts starting around that same time as well. Oregon and Washington state seasonally start later.
While loadings begin in September, cranberries are still closely associated with the Thanksgiving holiday. Thus, the big volume is moved in the first half of November leading up to the holiday. With this big a crop, some loads will be moving after Thanksgiving (which is November 22nd) for the Christmas holidays.
California Apples
A lot more California apples used to be shipped than are today. This situation reminds me a bit of vegetables shipped from the Eastern Shore area of Delaware, Maryland and Viriginia. This region is sandwiched in between harvests to its south such as the Carolinas and Georgia, and to the north in shipping areas such as New Jersey and New York. If the Eastern shore veggies are too early or too late they are up against shipments from competing areas to the north and south of them. As a result of many “misses” compared to “hits” for the Eastern Shore, shippers have hurt. The result is fewer shippers and less volume than a decade or two ago.
If you are a veteran trucker who has hauled apples from California, you may remember in the mid 1990s there were around 10 million boxes of fruit being shipped for the season. Today, that number has dwindled to about 2.5 to 3 million boxes. Most of the loads originate out the Central San Joaquin Valley including San Joaquin County, Sonoma County and Santa Cruz County.
Shipments will continue through December. Leading apple varieties are fujis, galas and granny smiths.
While I’ve written some reports suggesting caution when loading Washington state apples from the Wenachee Valley due to 
damage from a July 20 hail storm, information is now starting to come out relating to the pears from the same area. Expect pear shippers to be loading some “hail grade” pears. Appearance is affected, but eating quality should be fine. Just make sure the parties with whom you are working to deliver the load are aware of this condition to the fruit and it is noted on the bill of lading. Washington state pear shipments are expected to set a record this season volume wise.
In Michigan, produce shipments have been running early this season, not only for vegetables, but blueberries. Expect both to complete shipping a week or two ahead of schedule this summer. Michigan blueberry volume will drop significantly beginning the week of August 27th…..Expect a similar situation with “blues” coming out of Oregon and British Columbia.
In the San Luis Valley of Colorado, potato hauls should be ramping up by the end of August…Virtually all USA potato shipping areas are expecting to load more spuds during the 2012-13 shipping season.
On the East Coast, watermelon shipments have increased significantly over the past three years from Maryland and Delaware. Virginia also is shipping melons…..Expect increased loading opportunities on watermelons for the upcoming Labor Day weekend from areas ranging from West Texas to Indiana and North Carolina.
Delaware watermelons – grossing about $1100 to New York City.