Posts Tagged “Indiana”
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.
Truckers wanting to find a load in the mid-west for delivery to the West Coast 
in order to take advantage of attractive eastbound produce rates are finding it difficult. Even when a load is obtained, the westbound freight rates are horribly low.
Obtaining produce loads in the Central USA somewhere between the Canadian and Mexican borders isn’t necessarily easy, but here’s some of the best opportunities.
Watermelons may not be your favorite items for hauling, particularly if you’re stuck alongside some field waiting for enough product to be harvested to fill your trailer. Additionally unloading charges are something you have to be keenly aware of, because they can be pretty darn steep, especially if the melons are loaded in bulk, and not in bins placed on pallets.
Watermelons shipments are occuring everywhere from South Texas, to Western Oklahoma, the bootheel of Southeastern Missouri, and from Southwest Indiana and Southeastern Illinois.
Mississippi is still shipping sweet potatoes, although loadings out of Louisiana are pretty done for the season.
In Michigan, blueberry shipments are gearing up, joining a number of vegetables which are already available.
Missouri watermelons are grossing – about $1500 to Atlanta.
Mississippi sweet potatoes, about $1200 to Atlanta.
Texas watermelons, about $1400 to Oklahoma City.
This is the most fun time of the year buy fresh produce, unless of course you 
are growing your own. Home grown tomatoes can’t be beat. Eat ’em like apples!
Here in Oklahoma for only a few weeks, we savor our Porter peaches, grown around the small town of Porter, OK on the Arkansas-Oklahoma state line. Nothing compares! Wish I could say the same for peaches coming from both coasts. Their quality has been all over the board this summer. Some has been juicy and sweet, while others have been dry and tastless.
The same goes for strawberries, although they have been disappointing more often than not.
The pleasant surprises for me in the produce departments this summer has been the seedless watermelons, and the bing cherries – both from California and Washington state. The melons and cherries have been reasonably priced and the quality has been quite good. Watermelons are now coming out of areas such as the bootheel of Missouri as well as Illinois and Indiana.
Kiwifruit has been a great buy for months. I pick it up regularly at three for a dollar. It hasn’t mattered whether it has been from California, Mexico, Chile, etc. It has all been good….Another excellent buy are avocados! I have had them from both California and Mexico recently. They are great in salads. I also love to spread them on crackers and have with a glass of red wine.