Posts Tagged “San Joaquin Valley”
California fall produce shipments are in full mode, although this certainly does not mean the volume is there you normally find 
during the late spring and summer.
One of the best hauls continues to be table grapes out of the San Joaquin Valley. It is providing big volume and is one the finest quality crops in recent memory. That shouldstranslate into a reduction of claims and rejected loads. Grapes are averaging about 2,000 truck loads per week. Good volume also continues from the San Joaqun Valley with peaches, plums and nectarines although shipments are now in a seasonal decline.
If there is one segment of the produce industry capable of over producing on a scale of the potato industry, it is the growers of tomatoes. Vine ripe tomatoes abound in California with shipments coming out of Ventura County, the San Diego area, as well as Mexican product originating from Baja California. However, the biggest tomato volume is with mature greens grown in the San Joaquin Valley as well as areas located between the valley and the San Francisco Bay area (such as Tracy).
In the Salinas Valley, vegetable loads remain pretty consistent, led by head lettuce, then celery, plus broccoli and cauliflower. Plenty of other vegetables help fill partial loads as well….Although strawberry shipments are lower from the Watsonsville District, they are still accounting for over 600 truck loads per week.
Salinas Valley strawberries and vegetables – grossing about $7000 to New York City.
San Joaquin Valley grapes – about $4800 to Chicago.
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.
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.
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.
California apple and pear shipments have started, joining bell peppers and host of other veggies, stone fruits and grapes being 
shipped. Across the country, summer produce shipments also are moving in good volume as well, although few can match the volume coming from California.
California apples for the new shipping season are under way from the San Joaquin Valley, while the new pear crop is providing loads from the San Joaquin Valley as well as the Sacramento District. Both items join a host of San Joaquin Valley produce items ranging from peaches, plums and nectarines to veggies such as sweet corn, and bell peppers, among others, as well as table grapes and melons.
Looking ahead to fall citrus shipments, California volume is forecast to be pretty normal. Mandarin loadings get underway by mid October, while navel oranges should start shipping in Novemember and continue through May 2013. The 2011-12 navel crop amounted to 88 million 40-pound cartons being shipped. The Valencia orange loadings are winding down and about 28 million cartons will have been shipped by the end of the season.
Michigan
Michigan is a leading shipper of blueberries, which are moving in good, steady volume. There’s also a wide array of vegetables such as sweet corn, bell peppers and squash being loaded on trucks.
New York
Cabbage loads are now coming out of Western and Central New York. Other vegetables will soon be available for hauling.
Eastern Shore
The tri-state area of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia have had a good growing season and steady shipments of vegetables and melons are now occurring.
Eastern Shore produce is grossing – about $1700 to Chicago.
Michigan produce – about $2700 New York and Hunts Point.
California’s San Joaquin Valley produce – about $7500 to New York City.
The Salinas and San Joaquin Valleys continue to provide your best loading 
opportunities in California.
Head lettuce may be producing the biggest volume from Salinas and is averaging around 1700 to 1800 truckload equivalents a week. However, there remains significant tonnage coming with other types of lettuce, as well broccoli, cauliflower, celery and many other items….The nearby Watsonville area is shipping a lot of strawberries….
The relentless heat baking much of the USA this summer makes it paramount you take precautions to protect your load (check out the TransFresh ad on this website that provides “in-transit warming” information).
The Santa Maria district has much lighter volume than Salinas, but it also is shipping many of the same vegetables.
The San Joaquin Valley has both fruits and vegetable loadings occurring from many areas. In the central valley around 500 to 600 truckload equivalents of mature green tomatoes are being shipped each week….Table grape loadings continue on pace to what could be record shipments this year, with heaviest volume currently coming from the Arvin and Delano areas.
Shipments from the California desert of cantaloupe (and some other items) has mercifully come to an end as some product was looking pretty rough at the end of the season.
California supplies for refrigerated equipment generally remain adequate, but you shouldn’t face signficant delays for loads in most cases because of the seasonal volume.
Salinas vegetables are grossing – about $7700 to Hunts Point in New York City.
San Joaquin Valley fruits and vegetables – about $5000 to Chicago.
The Westside district of the San Joaquin Valley is now shipping cantaloupe 
and other melons. However, after the Colorado listera outbreak last season involving a number of consumer deaths from eating cantaloupe, sales across the USA were affected. As a result, even though California cantaloupes were not associated with the outbreak, shipments were impacted. As a result fewer Westside district acres were planted this season.
The early portion of what is expected to be record breaking table grape shipments from the San Joaquin Valley is building. Best volume is currently coming out of the Arvin district near Bakersfield. Within days however, there will be light volume of grapes available from as far north in the valley as Fresno and Tulare counties. Including the grapes from Coachella (which are finished), California could ship over 100 million, 19-pound cartons this season.
There’s also other items now being shipped such as tomatoes from the Tracy, CA area, and a number of vegetables from the Fresno area and other parts of the valley.
You may be surprised at the amount of onions California ships, with the heaviest volume coming out of Fresno, Kern and Tulare counties. However, since you can haul onions in everything from flatbed trailers to dry vans, rates are significantly lower.
San Joaquin Valley onions – grossing about $5400 to New York City.
San Joaquin Valley fruit, veggies, melons – about $7500 to New York City.
Refrigerated equipment is in tight supply in a number of areas around the 
country, but it could be much worse. Less than bumper sized crops in several areas is easing some of the pressure for trucks. California’s San Joaquin Valley stone fruit crop is down from a year ago. Central and southern Georgia fruits and vegetables were hit hard by inclement weather during the spring. Watermelons in Texas and some parts of the east coast were also victims of bad weather.
The new apple season will be launched in only a few weeks and crops were decimated in Michigan, Ontario and parts of New York state.
Thus, when folks complain about California rates hitting $6,000 to the Mid-west and $9,000 to the East Coast, with a little more favorable weather conditions in various parts of the USA and Canada, demand for refrigerated equipment could have been worse – resulting in even higher rates on produce hauls. Still, there comes a point when rates reach a certain point, that retail prices for fruits and vegetables rise, and at a certain there is consumer resistance to high the costs.
Whether talking availablity of equipment, volume of fruits and vegetables, as well as the quality of the product — and let’s not forget the availability of professional drivers – many factors can result in the final equasion for supply and demand….If and when this economy ever turns around, produce shipments will be receiving a lot more competition as many drivers will choose to haul other things, which is not as demanding and risky as loads of fresh produce.
Southern Californa citrus and fruit – grossing about $9000 to Boston, sometimes more.
Salinas Valley vegetables and berries – about $6200 to Chicago.
Since California rates shot upward on June 4th by $1000 dollars or more from 
California to the midwest and east coast, rates have pretty much maintained that level (around $6000 to Chicago and about $9000 to the east coast). Now the question is whether loads for the 4th of July holiday will take another jump. Since the 4th falls on a Wednesday, there are differing opinions whether rates will go any higher, as opposed to if the holiday fell on, say a Monday or a Friday, making for a long holiday weekend.
In California’s Westside District of the San Joaquin Valley, cantaloupe and honeydew shipments will be starting around Independence Day. Normal shipments are expected, although there’s plenty of apprehension among some melon shippers over the ramifications of the cantaloupe listeria outbreak last year with Rocky Ford region cantaloupe in Colorado. That outbreak adversely affected cantaloupe shipments for other production areas as many consumers stopped buying melons.
In Southern California, record shipments of avocados continue. The region is shipping about 30 million pounds of avocados weekly to points around the USA, with a total for the season expected to hit 415 million pounds!….California cherry loads from the Lodi-Stockton area will be winding down within the next week or so, which will end with a record of around 23 million boxes, up 3 million boxes from the amount shipped a year ago.
Meanwhile, there’s heavy volume with vegetables coming out of the Salinas Valley, and increasing stone fruit shipments from the San Joaquin Valley.
San Joaquin Valley stone fruit – about $5500 to Chicago.
Salinas Valley vegetables/Watsonville strawberries – around $9200 to Boston, and can be a few hundred dollars higher or lower depending upon the day of the week, demand for trucks, etc.