Posts Tagged “feature”
While mixed loads of fresh produce have become more common than ever over the years as distribution warehouses and other receivers look for ways to reduce inventories, there are even fewer straight loads of fresh fruits and vegetables this time of year. California and other areas tend to have less volume in winter. Translated – this often means multiple picks and drops. Those multiple pick ups too often are spread over hundreds of miles.
During the past decade or so a number of wholesale distributors have got into cross docking, particularly in the Los Angeles area, where product is consolidated at a central warehouse. This has helped some in reducing the number of pick ups, and ultimately helps deliver product faster to destination.
We’re entering a transition period with California produce loads where there’s light volume with lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and berries from the Salinas Valley. There’s also light shipments of Huron district lettuce in the San Joaquin Valley.
Two of the heaviest volume items are California grapes and carrots out of the SJV. Grape shipments are averaging over 1,500 truck loads per week while carrots loads are hitting about 325 loads per week.
Moderate strawberry volume is originating out of the Watsonville district, as well as Santa Maria, but volume will soon be declining from those areas. Limited volume of strawberries have started from Ventura County and Southern California.
There’s a few vegetables coming out of the California desert and Yuma, but measurable volume is still several weeks away.
San Joaquin Valley produce – grossing about $7000 to New York City.
Southern California citrus – about $4000 to Chicago.
Midwest retailer Meijer operates one of the largest all-clean diesel fleets in North America. As part of its ongoing green initiatives, the Grand Rapids, MI-based retailer’s fleet utilized innovative technology to improve fuel efficiency and reduce its carbon footprint by nearly 60 percent since it first began implementing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2010 near-zero emissions standards three years ago.
The Meijer fleet is comprised of 170 Freightliner Cascadia trucks that are equipped with new fuel-efficient, reduced-emissions engines. They feature selective catalytic reduction technology that treats nitrogen oxides emissions downstream in the exhaust so the engine can be tuned to run more efficiently and economically. SCR technology consists of an after-treatment catalyst system that allows engine exhaust to be treated with a non-hazardous fluid known as diesel exhaust fluid that reduces harmful nitrogen oxides into simple nitrogen and water.
“This is an extremely rewarding achievement that truly speaks to our commitment to the environment,” Rick Keyes, executive vice president of supply chain operations and manufacturing, said in a press release. “Not only are we integrating cutting-edge technology into our business, we’re also working under the philosophy that to be a good company, we must be a good neighbor.”
The Meijer fleet was one of the first in North America to implement the federal clean emissions standards that feature near-zero emissions technology, and today the retailer’s fleet of 170 big rigs meets or exceeds those stringent requirements.
As a result of that commitment, the Meijer fleet realized the following:
- 47 percent reduction in particulate matter
- 55 percent reduction in – or 525 U.S. tons of – nitrogen oxide
- 3 percent reduction in – or 9,300 U.S. tons of – carbon dioxide
- 5 percent increase in fuel economy, saving 105,570 gallons of fuel each year. In five years, that equals a savings of 527,850 gallons of fuel – or 52,785 barrels of oil.
According to David Hoover, director of outbound logistics, it takes 47 of the new 2010 compliant trucks to equal the same emissions as one of the older trucks they replaced.
“I’m very pleased to say that Meijer is able to cut that down and continue to be environmentally conscious,” Hoover said. “The impact is tremendous because the Meijer fleet makes deliveries to our stores 26 times each week.”
Here’s a round up of California produce loads, as well as loadings from Michigan, New York state and border crossings from Mexico.
California Navel orange shipments should hit about 88 million cartons for the season, down only two percent from a year ago.
Harvest has been underway about a month, with light shipments having started a couple of weeks ago from the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.
Mandarin orange and clementine volume should be up a little mostly because of young acreage coming into fuller production.
Lemon loadings from California’s Imperial Valley and from Arizona should be up slightly this seaons.
The California desert, as well as the Yuma area in Arizona have light volume loadings of cantaloupe and honeydew. Lettuce shipments are still several weeks away.
In South Texas, watermelon shipments are winding down, but melons from Mexico are just starting and will be crossing the U.S. border , not only in Texas, but at Nogales, AZ, until next May.
Michigan Produce Shipments
The Wolverine state has light volume loadings of carrots, celery and onions, with better volume for apples, the later amounting to around 250 truck loads per week.
New York Apple Shipments
New York is a big state and apple loadings originate in Eastern areas, primarily from the Hudson Valley and near the western shores of Lake Champlain. Further west in New York, the primary shipping areas for apples are Utica, Ithica, Syracuse and Rochester. Apple shipments from the state are similar in volume to Michigan’s 250 trucks per week.
San Joaquin Valley produce – grossing about $6500 to New York City.
Hudson Valley apples – about $3200 to Orlando.
Harvest is virtually over for Red River Valley potatoes. With product in storage, shippers can now give full attention to marketing and shipping their crop.
There’s also a lot of avocados and other Mexican produce crossing the border into South Texas.
Significant moisture received the first two weeks of October resulted in wet and muddy field conditions in some RRV areas, which made for difficult harvest conditions (See photo of tractor and harvestor stuck in the mud).
Red potatoes account for 98 percent of the fresh potatoes grown in the Red River Valley. Overall shipments from the North Dakota and Minnesota area is expected to be down this season, perhaps 20 percent. More on this will soon be available as the harvest is completed.
Mexican Produce Shipments
Total exports of Hass avocados from Mexico into the United States in 2012-13 were a record 517,896 metric tons, up 40 percent from the prior crop year. This topped the previous year by 26 percent. Similar volume is expected this year.
As of the first week in October, the weekly volume was up to where it had been on that date a year ago. Volume increases are seen for November and December. In all, very good volume for avocados are seen out of Mexico for the 2013-14 season. The majority of the fruit crosses the border into the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Mexican avocados (crossing the border), plus other Mexican items and Texas citrus – grossing about $4000 to New York City.
Red River Valley potatoes – grossing about $1900 to Chicago.
The Maryland Wholesale Produce Market in Jessup, MD, which been open since the mid 1970s, is installing security cameras.
The project has been implemented since the market sees a need to understand and monitor regulations affecting both the produce and seafood industries. The security cameras are vital to providing food safety and security for the complex.
Hundreds of produce haulers deliver fruits and vegetables to the market weekly.
Additionally market officials are working with an engineering company for plans to bring the dock canopy up to the condition that will meet audit requirements.
Located on about 400 acares, it is home to some major companies, such as Sysco Food Services of Baltimore, T.A. Baltimore South, Merchants Terminal, BTS Distribution Centers, Terminal Corporation and the Maryland Wholesale Produce and Seafood Markets.
Giant Foods was previously a tenant on the market, but it moved its operation to another location last year, taking with it a significant portion of the 3,500 people who were employed at the market. Virtually every category of fruits, vegetables and seafood are processed, packaged and distributed through the Maryland Food Center into the Mid-Atlantic region. This requires thousands of refrigerated trucks each month delivering product to the market for distribution.
The market is operated by the Maryland Food Center Authority, which has a 12-member executive board that is appointed by the Governor of Maryland.
Last year, the market completed a $780,000 roof replacement project on both market buildings.
Here’s four issues in the trucking industry to ponder – and you decide whether they are valid.
*The driver’s shortage is a hoax.
*One of the last concerns of large fleets is the well being of owner operators and small fleet owners.
*Regulations are killing the deregulated trucking industry.
*California produce rates have been lower in recent years and the reason may be different from what you think.
These four statements came to mind following a telephone interview with Kenny Lund, vice president of Allen Lund Co.
Is There a Driver’s Shortage?
When it comes to a driver’s shortage relating to fresh produce, Lund sees the only shortages being at shipping point and at the receiving end These involve short hauls from the field to packing houses and from receiver distribution centers to retail stores, restaurants, etc. But he doesn’t see a driver’s shortage with long haul produce transporation.
Lund concedes there may be a shortage of drivers with the larger trucking companies, stating, “if you have 300 trucks you have to come up with 300 drivers to fill them.” However, produce transportation is dominated by owner operators, who is the driver of his own truck. He doesn’t have to recruit other drivers.
Large Fleets Hurting Owner Operators?
“It seems the larger truck lines are doing everything they can to make it tougher on owner operators,” Lund states.
As examples, LaCanada, CA-based Lund points to big carrier support of everything counter to issues of importance to owner operators. He cites large fleet support of Electronic Onboard Recorders (EOBRs ) that will add costs, and support of California Resources Board (CARB) rules. Why?
Lund points out large carriers tend to rotate their fleets every five years and it is the owner operators who are buying their used trucks. This wouldn’t be so bad except the CARB rules require equipment such as reefer units not to be older than seven years.
“You have to retrofit it for a cost of anywhere from $8,000 to $20,000,” Lunds says. On the plus size, he adds the fleets are starting to realize the CARB rules are not only bad for owner operators, but for the whole trucking industry. Lund believes the damaging CARB rules are a much bigger threat to the industry than a driver’s shortage.
Growing Regulations
Perhaps the biggest threat to the survival of owner operators are the growing number of federal and state regulations.
“When you produce all these regulations on an one-horse operator, he doesn’t have the resources to comply with everything,” Lund states. “It’s really putting a strain on them.”
Why Have California Rates Been Lower?
Lund notes California produce rates have not been as high in recent years. At the same time he is noticing more truck shortages, but not in California.
“There’s just not as many trucks in California now. What has kept the rates down is there is not as much produce (being grown in California),” Lund contends.
It comes down to California’s intrusive regulations, etc. are also resulting in more produce growers shifting their operations to Mexico where the red tape and costs of operation are less. For example, similar to California, there is less produce being grown in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, yet more truck shortages are occurring there, as more Mexican grown fruits and vegetables are being shipped into South Texas.
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These issues are presented to you following a telephone interview with Kenny Lund. I have known Kenny’s father, the namesake of the company since shortly after his modest beginning in 1976 as a truck broker . Today, the company works with over 20,000 carriers, which are mostly owner operators. ALC arranges about 200,000 loads a year, with food items accounting for over 50 percent of the freight. Refrigerated loads make up about 40 to 45 percent of the loads.
While Allen Lund remains involved in the company, Kenny Lund has assumed a greater role in the continued growth and success of the operation. At the same time, the high ethical standards put in place by Allen nearly four decades ago, remain rooted in the company’s foundation. — Bill Martin
Up to 40 percent of fruits or vegetables can be wasted because it is “ugly”, a report on food waste reveals.
Produce grown in the UK that does not meet retailer standards on size or shape or is blemished is often used for animal feed or simply ploughed back into the ground even though it is edible, with as much as two-fifths of a crop rejected.
The Uk’s global food security programme, also showed that the average household throws away more than 11 pouinds of food a week, and nearly two-thirds of that waste is avoidable.
Households throw away a fifth of the food they buy, wasting it for reasons ranging from cooking and preparing too much food to not using it in time before the packaging due date expires.
Retailers respond to demands by consumers for high-quality food by imposing standards that can lead to much of the crop being wasted. However, some progress is being made with supermarkets marketing “odd shapes and sizes” for fruit and vegetables.
In developing countries, much of the loss of food occurs during post-harvesting storage, processing and packaging.
Tackling food waste globally is a major part of the action needed to provide enough food to feed a growing world population sustainably and tackle hunger, which affects one in eight people worldwide, the report said.
Around a third of food produced globally is lost or wasted.
“Over 5 million people in the UK live in deep poverty, where basic food provision is a daily challenge,” says food expert Tim Benton.
The report highlights priorities for research to help reduce food waste, including improving harvesting and packaging technologies, good seasonal weather prediction and new ways to reduce food waste within the home.
Produce haulers can expect less loading opportunities of Chilean fruit at U.S. ports this winter.
Freezing temperatures Sept. 17 and again a week later hit Chilean orchards with the worst cold since 1929 as temperatures plunged to 19 degrees F. for an average of seven hours.
Last year, Chilean fruit exporters sold about 282 million boxes of fruit to global markets, and for 2013-14, exports are expect to decline about 50 million boxes short of that level.
How much of Chile’s total fruit goes to the U.S. this season is still up the air. America took about 42 percent of Chile’s total grape exports a year ago. Imports of grapes from the South American country normally hit stride in January and continue for about three months.
The effect of the frost will mainly be in stone fruit, though grape volume could also be down an average of about 15 percent. Stone fruit is mostly peaches plums and nectarines, with much fewer apricots.
Early grapes will fare better than later-season grapes. If this holds true grape arrivals by boat at U.S. ports will probably be much lighter than usual in March.
Kiwifruit damage is rated very heavy, at close to 60 percent.
Further updates will be reported as they become available.
Overall loading opportunities should be up this season for Michigan apples, while the nation’s biggest storage onion region will have fewer onion shipments.
Apple Shipments
The Michigan apple industry set new shipping records for two consecutive weeks in October, loading 414,702 boxes of apples the week of October 12th.
During the week of October 5th, the Michigan shipped 411,973 boxes of apples. That record was broken the following week with 414,702 boxes. In October 2011, the industry set a shipment record of 378,933 the second week in October.
With 9.2 million total apple trees in commercial production on 36,500 acres, Michigan is the third-largest producer of apples in the U.S., and distributes apples to 26 states and 18 countries.
Onion Shipments
Onion shipments will likely be less from Idaho and eastern Oregon (Malhuer County) this year due to disease and weather-related factors. The region that produces about 25 percent of the nation’s storage onions.
Idaho and eastern Oregon farmers harvested 19,100 acres in 2012, down 1,400 acres from the previous year. Shipments this season are estimated to be similar to a year ago.
Idaho-eastern Oregon onions – grossing about $3500 to Chicago.
Michigan apples – about $3600 to Atlanta.
Carrier Transicold’s new XtendFRESH™ container atmosphere control system uses innovative technologies to help maintain the quality of shipped produce, while extending shipping distances to enable growers reach new customers. Carrier Transicold helps improve global transport and shipping temperature control with a complete line of equipment for refrigerated trucks, trailers and containers, and is a part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).
Considering its many benefits, the XtendFRESH system is designed to be more affordable than Carrier’s prior atmosphere control solutions and relatively easy to install on existing equipment.
“The XtendFRESH system will expand opportunities for the global trade of perishable commodities,” said David Appel, president, Carrier Transicold. “It will enable Carrier Transicold’s shipping line customers to help exporters extend their reach into new markets.”
The XtendFRESH system actively controls oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and removes ethylene, a hormone given off by ripening produce that will accelerate ripening if left unchecked. O2 and CO2 levels can be independently set at levels that produce optimum results for a given commodity. The system’s ability to remove ethylene, while managing O2 and CO2, is key to its performance and distinguishes it from other products for container atmosphere control.
Kartik Kumar, director, Marketing & Strategic Planning, Global Container Refrigeration, Carrier Transicold, said, “By helping prevent premature ripening, the XtendFRESH system will aid in maintaining optimum quality of delivered produce, which can also result in less spoilage per shipment.”
By slowing ripening, XtendFRESH significantly lengthens the amount of time produce can spend in refrigerated transit – by more than double in some cases. For example, bananas can be shipped for up to eight weeks rather than four, and beans for up to four weeks rather 10 days.
“The XtendFRESH system will give the shipping industry a new, more economical way to implement container atmosphere control and, in turn, grow market opportunities,” Kumar said.
The innovative XtendFRESH system has a patented self-regenerating activated carbon scrubber assembly that removes ethylene and CO2 created by the ripening processes occurring inside the container. As O2 is consumed by ripening produce, automated, on-demand fresh-air ventilation helps maintain the optimum O2 level for the specific cargo inside. No other product integral to the container actively manages CO2 and O2 and removes ethylene.
“We’re enthusiastic about the prospects of the XtendFRESH system for our banana operations,” said Juan Carlos Hernandez, Global Equipment and M&R Manager, Chiquita Brands International, Inc., which worked with Carrier in demonstration projects and sea trials. “The XtendFRESH system is a practical, complete controlled-atmosphere alternative for refrigerated containers that has shown potential for maintaining improved produce quality in long-duration shipments.”
O2, will typically be managed to a range of between 3 to 21 percent, and CO2, will typically be managed within a range of zero to 19 percent.
Modular by design, the XtendFRESH system can be easily added to existing Carrier container refrigeration units equipped with the Micro-Link® 3 (ML3) controller. Key components include the scrubber assembly, a ventilation panel with integral blower, control software and sensors for monitoring O2 and CO2. Adding a humidity sensor provides additional atmosphere control, enabling humidity to be reduced to as low as 50 percent, as needed for cargo protection.
The XtendFRESH system will be available as an option with new equipment purchases, and a special XtendFRESH provision will also be available for new units, making it easier to upgrade them with the XtendFRESH system at a later date.
The XtendFRESH system is currently completing trials and Carrier Transicold anticipates availability later this year. For more information about the XtendFRESH container atmosphere control system, visit www.carrier.com/container.
About Carrier Transicold
Carrier Transicold helps improve transport and shipping temperature control with a complete line of equipment and services for refrigerated transport and cold chain visibility. For more than 40 years, Carrier Transicold has been an industry leader, providing customers around the world with the most advanced, energy efficient and environmentally sustainable container refrigeration systems and generator sets, direct-drive and diesel truck units and trailer refrigeration systems. Carrier Transicold is a part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp., a leading provider to the aerospace and building systems industries worldwide. Visit www.transicold.carrier.com for more information.