Archive For The “Trucking Reports” Category
Among the best loading opportunities for those of you that haul produce this time of year is with West Mexican produce crossing the border at Nogales, AZ. Between now and April is a wide variety of everything from watermelons to mangoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, eggplant, tomatoes and beans, among others. Once these items begin to decline in volume, there will be table grapes beginning sometime around the last half of April. But now is when the biggest volume, and loading opportunities are underway….The bad news is you may have to pick up at more than one warehouse to fill out your trailer. The good news is all the warehouses around Nogales are in close proximity.
Nogales mixed veggies grossing about $5000 to Philly.
February may be the slowest month of the year for produce shipments, and 
for the most part there’s plenty of trucks for hauling product from most shipping points nationwide. There are a few exceptions. Equipment appears to the tighest in Florida for hauling mixed veggies, tomatoes and strawberries; sweet potatoes out of Eastern portions of North Carolina and with potatoes out of Northwest Washington.
Nationally, it is reported there are four percent more apples remaining in storages compared to a year ago. Best apple loading opportunities are occuring from Yakima, WA and points in western and central Michigan….Mexican melons and mixed vegetables are crossing the border at Nogales, AZ in good volume…In California, December freezes have apparently reduced citrus shipments for the season from around 93 million cartons to about 74 million cartons. Mandarins were hit pretty hard, especially in the northern San Joaquin Valley. Although packinghouses sort out damaged product, it is a good idea to (as always) to watch what is being loaded.
Washington apples – grossing about $6000 to New York City.
North Carolina sweet potatoes – $2250 to Chicago.
Michigan apples – $2400 to Atlanta.
The Port of Philadelphia has long been the major port in the United States for the arrivals of imported produce and other items from around the world. 
Central American and Chilean imports are among the leaders.
Chilean table grapes and stone fruit are big items this time of the year. Despite economic conditions in the United States the port is reporting total imports at its facilities were up in 2011 over the previous year. Initial Chilean fruit imports apparently are causing optimism that 2012 could be even better.
Much of the fruit being unloaded off of boats arriving at the Port of Philadelphia are stored in local refrigerated warehouses, then delivered by truck to points primarily in the midwest, east and to eastern Canada. However, some arrivals at the Port of Philadelphia eventually are trucked to the West Coast when necessary.
Florida shipments for vegetables are continuing to improve as product continues to recover from an early January freeze. If Mother Nature doesn’t mess things up there should be gradual volume increases resulting in greater
shipments as vegetables move towards peak volume in April and May.
Increases in Florida shipments are occurring with bell peppers and squash. The hardest hit veggie apparently was with Belle Glade area green beans, causing frequent increases and decreases in shipments in the weeks ahead…..A milder winter than normal has been going on in the Southeast, including Georgia, where some partial veggies loads are available. Sometimes you do what you have to do to fill out that trailer — especially in the lighter volume winter months.
There’s also other items coming out of Flordia ranging from tomatoes, strawberries, oranges and grapefruit. However, use caution when loading these items with other produce. Make sure they are compatible, especially if they are going to be on the truck a couple of days or more.
Southern Florida vegetables – grossing about $2200 to Philadelphia.
If you haul produce during the winter months you know it can sometimes be a dicey proposition when it comes to weather adversely affecting perishable items. California reports freeze after freeze this winter, but so far has dodged the proverbial bullet for the most part.
There have been some losses of citrus, but you shouldn’t see that much difference in loading opportunties. Strawberries also have been sparred for the most part. With nearly 70 percent of the citrus remaining to be harvested, there will be ample loading opportunities in the months ahead. A mid January freeze is expected to cut navel orange shipments by about 10 percent, and the much smaller mandrins crop by about 20 percent.
As for strawberries, there will be fewer shipments out of Santa Maria for the next couple of weeks. Strawberries from the Oxnard district and further south in Orange County escapted freeze damage.
Southern California – citrus, strawberries grossing about $6000 to New York City.
PS – Yesterday (Feb. 2) I visited with a company driver in Atlanta who had just delivered a load of Washington state apples to the farmers market for $6250 going to the truck.
Loadings of potatoes from shipping points on Prince Edward Island in Eastern 
Canada are about 30 percent ahead of normal this season. Few spuds are shipped year around out of here, with most product finished by June. However, due to brisker than usual loadings, shipments will probably end weeks early than normal. This is primarily due to fewer potatoes and loadings originating from New Brunswick, as well from Aroostrock County, ME. Thus, buyers are ordering more potatoes from PEI.
Various citrus items are now being shipped from California, Arizona, Texas 
and Florida. No major freeze damage or quality problems have been reported from the major shipping areas, so this should reduce your chances of claims at destination.
In California and Arizona, loadings of items ranging from oranges to lemons are pretty normal…In the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas overall loadings of grapefruit, which accounts for about 75 percent of the citrus volume, are expected to be off about 20 percent from a year ago….Florida continues shipping product ranging from oranges to grapefruit and tangerines.
Note: It’s okay mixing citrus together in reefer units ranging from oranges to tangerines, mandrians an clementines. But mixing these items with products such as lettuce, broccoli and other veggies available in the same region can result in loss of quality and claims, especially on longer hauls.
California citrus — grossing about $4800 to Atlanta.
Texas citrus – about $2300 to Chicago.
Florida citrus – about $2400 to New York.
There’s been some freeze damage to fresh produce in the West this month, but overall it should not have a big affect on your loading opportunities. The biggest event will be the cold of January 16-17 slowing the growth of some items, which in turn reduces volume for shipping.
There’s been pretty good movement of Iceberg lettuce and romaine out of the Yuma District, but expect reduced shipments beginning in early Februrary….In the nearby Brawley and El Centro areas of the Southern California desert broccoli escaped freeze damage, but again, shipments will eventually decline for a period while the product rebounds from the cold.
As for strawberries, it looks like Oxnard and Orange County in California dodged the freeze bullet, but product out of Santa Maria will have lighter than normal loadings through the middle of February.
Yuma lettuce – grossing about $6000 to New York City.
In the San Joaquin Valley, oranges apparently escaped freeze damage, while mandrains were not so lucky, especially from areas north of Fresno.
We’re starting to get a little more information on that Florida freeze that hit the night of January 3rd, particularly in regards to how it might affect loading opportunities for tomatoes. The Immokalee area is the primary winter production site for winter tomatoes in the state. As is often the case, some fields and areas got colder than others, or stayed below freezing for more hours.
There’s about 100 loads a week of mature green and plum (roma) tomatoes being shipped a week. However, plants affected by the early January freeze are expected to produce a lot less next month. So expect Immokalee tomato loading opportuities to plung for a couple of weeks starting in mid February.
Mostly mixed loads due to light volume this time of the year from Florida. So you can expect multiple pick ups that may range from tomatoes, to various veggies, strawberries and citrus. Be sure and add 0nto the freight rate for mulitple picks and drops.
Florida produce grossing about $3000 to Boston.
Peaches, nectarines, plums and table grapes from Chile are now arriving at ports by boat on both the East and West coasts. That fruit is distributed all over North 
American via truck. The stone fruit arrivals should start arriving in larger volume by the end of January….The heaviest volume for grapes should begin by late January as well and continue through March, when a seasonal decline will start, with the season ending by May.
The East Coast ports at Wilmington, N.C. and Philadephia receive a majority of the Chilean produce. The primary port on the West Coast is at Long Beach, CA.