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VII. Produce Trucking PerceptionsData used in this section of the study were obtained from a survey of firms dealing with fresh produce. Shippers representing both the fruit and vegetable industries were surveyed. A survey was also made of receivers and truckers who buy and transport fresh produce. Each of these groups was surveyed to determine its perceptions of the produce trucking industry. Completed questionnaires were received from 71 California fruit and vegetable shippers. Data from these firms are the basis for the observations in this section. Shipper and load characteristics The responding 71 shippers reported having annual shipments from 10 to 14,000 loads. The average for all firms was 2,951 truckloads yearly. Of the 71 respondent firms, 63 percent of them reported being year-round shippers with the other 37 percent making seasonal shipments only. These firms send products to all regions of the United States. Of the shippers sending products to the western U.S., 39 percent of their sales were to the western U.S. area (Table 1). Table 1. Percent of sales to indicated markets, 71 shippers, 1998.
Clearly, shippers sell to more than one market area; therefore data in Table 1 cannot appropriately be summed. California fresh fruit and vegetable shippers sell their products both Free-On-Board (F.O.B.) at their packing facility and at their products’ destination. Eighty five percent of shipments of the surveyed firms are usually sold F.O.B. at the packinghouse; the remaining 15 percent are F.O.B. at the receiver’s location (usually to terminal markets or brokers). The firms in this survey represented about 210,000 loads of produce shipped annually. For these shipments the transportation was arranged by the buyer for 56 percent of the loads, by a produce broker for 23 percent, and by the shipper’s own staff for 21 percent of the loads. The surveyed shippers send loads to multiple destinations less than 30 percent of the time. (Table 2.) Table 2. Percentage of shippers sending loads to multiple destinations, 71 produce shippers, 1998.
The surveyed shippers were also asked to estimate the percentage of shipments that were mixed loads (more than one product or product type per load). Nearly one-half of the surveyed firms reported more than 30 percent of their shipments are mixed loads (Table 3). Table 3. Percentage of shipments that are mixed commodity shipments, 71 shippers, 1998.
Mixed loads are more common to the vegetable industry than they are to the fruit industry. The destinations of these mixed loads were also ascertained. Forty-one percent of the mixed-load shipments went to western U.S. markets – Denver and west of Denver. (Table 4 ). Table 4. Percentage of mixed loads going to specified market locations, 71 shippers, 1998.
Truck procurement While a large part of the sales are made F.O.B., transportation was arranged by the shippers for 23 percent of the shipments made by the surveyed firms. (Table 5.) Table 5. Firms arranging for transportation of produce loads, 71 shippers, 1998
The buyer and the produce broker arranged for the transportation of 77 percent of the shipments made by these shipping firms. The remainder had the transportation arranged by the shipper’s staff. In 1997, forty-five percent of the responding shippers reported they had problems finding trucks from local sources. Thirty-nine percent of the surveyed shippers said that in 1997 they had problems finding trucks from "backhaul truckers" who are based out of state. Truck availability varies greatly with the time of the year. Truck availability problems are most frequent during June and July of each year (Table 6), which is the "peak production" of most fruits and vegetables production. Table 6. Number of shippers reporting difficulty finding trucks by month, 71 shippers, 1998.
Fresh produce shippers do have some problems finding trucks to make their shipments. Overall, however, 63 percent of these shippers reported that this happened 10 or less percent of the time. A reported 86 percent of the shippers said they had difficulties finding trucks less than 20 percent of the time. (Table 7.) Table 7. Percentage of time shippers encountered problems finding trucks, 71 shippers, 1998.
Shipment problems In an effort to identify some problem areas that shippers encounter with their transportation firms, several questions were asked. Forty nine percent of the shippers reported drivers arrive late, or are "no-shows" up to 10 percent of the time. (Table 8.) Table 8. Percentage of the time drivers arrive late to pick up load, 71 shippers, 1998.
These shippers reported that when trucks arrived at the packinghouse for loading, seven percent of the time there was a problem with the truck. The problems encountered were the following:
The rate of truck problems was the same for both non-mixed and mixed loads. Problems by load destination The surveyed shippers reported that 51 percent of the problem shipments were to eastern U.S. markets. (Table 9.) Table 9. Percent of shipment problems by load destination, 71 shippers, 1998.
There were, however, 23 percent of the shippers who indicated shipping problems were not related to load destination. Quality of service Even though some trucks arrive late for loading and some trucks are in need of repair, the shippers rate the quality of service provided by the truckers as generally "good" (Table 10). Table 10. Rating of quality of trucking service received by produce shippers, 71 shippers, 1998.
From these data it is clear shippers believe truckers provide "good to excellent" service 90 percent of the time. These shippers were also asked their opinions about trends in the trucking service they have received in the past few years. The majority felt the trucking service has remained about the same.
More shippers indicated the trucking industry was improving (20 percent) than did those who said service was deteriorating (18 percent). These shippers rated several factors related to the services provided by the trucking industry. The rating was done on a scale of one to five (with one being "very good" and five being "very poor"). A rating of 3.0 would mean the shippers were indifferent or they were not more positive than negative about a given service characteristic. Table 11. Rating of indicated service characteristics provided by truckers, 71 shippers, 1998.
* ( 1 = very good; 5 = very poor) All service characteristics had an average score below three, indicating they were in the "average" to "good" range. Truck freight rates were of the greatest concern (Table 11). Mixed loads A section in the questionnaire was devoted to problems encountered with mixed loads. Some shippers were concerned about maintaining appropriate temperatures in mixed loads, since some products should be kept at a low temperature while other products maintain their quality better if hauled at a slightly higher temperature, and when two such products are on the same truckload, a quality deterioration may occur to one of these products. Of the 71 shippers, 59 percent indicated having had temperature maintenance problems with mixed loads. Some commodities have quality maintenance problems when loaded with another type of commodity; for example, some products during respiration give off ethylene gas. Ethylene hastens the ripening of other products. When these two products are on the same load a problem may occur. Of the surveyed shippers, 44 percent indicated they have experienced problems with loading non-compatible products. Temperature monitoring Temperature recorders are frequently used in truckloads of California fresh fruits and vegetables. Seventy-five percent of the shippers surveyed reported they use a temperature recorder in more than 30 percent of their loads. The other 25 percent of the shippers used temperature recorders for less than 30 percent of their loads. Driver-friendly facility In recent years there have been some publicity and promotional programs to get shippers and receivers to be "driver friendly." This stance was to include permitting drivers to use the shippers employees facilities such as the cafeteria, restrooms, lounge, telephones and other similar amenities. Of these 71 surveyed shippers, 90 percent indicated they had a "driver-friendly" facility. Three percent did not classify themselves as "driver friendly," and seven percent of the shippers were not sure if their firm was "driver friendly." Future trucking concerns These shippers were asked to rank the importance of selected concerns they have about the trucking industry for the next 10 years. The ranking was on a scale of one to five, with one being "not important" and five being considered a "serious future problem." The shortage of drivers and the availability of equipment were predicted to become the most serious problems in the next 10 years. (Table 12.) Table 12. Ranking of Future trucking problems, ranked by 71 produce shippers, 1998.
*(1 = not serious; 5 = serious) With the exception of truck size, all of the listed concerns exceed 3.00, indicating that the shippers on average have an appreciation of some of the problems facing the produce trucking industry. Most pressing problems The shippers also listed the most pressing future problems they thought the produce trucking industry would be facing. Truck shortages, shortages of good drivers and trucking costs were the most often-reported concerns. (Table 13.) Table 13. Future problems facing the trucking industry, opinions of 71 produce shippers, 1998.
Data reported in this section were obtained from a questionnaire distributed to produce buyers (receivers) located throughout the United States. These findings are based on a sample of 18 receiver firms. Markets Served – California produce buyers make purchases for market destinations located in all sections of the United States. Fourteen of the 18 surveyed receivers made more than 70 percent of their purchases for eastern U.S. markets (Table 14). These same receivers also purchased lesser produce quantities for western and central U.S. locations. Four of the survey firms made more than 70 percent of their produce purchases for central U.S. markets. Likewise, six of the 18 surveyed firms made 70 percent of their purchases for western U.S. retail outlets (Table 14). Table 14. Destination of produce purchases, 18 receivers, 1998.
The number of firms purchasing produce for a given destination exceeds the 18 receivers in the study because these firms buy produce for more than on geographical destination. Type of Purchases – California fresh produce receiver-buyers make both F.O.B. (Free On Board) packing house and F.O.B. destination purchases. The most common purchases were F.O.B. at the shipper’s packing house (Table 15). For the 18 surveyed receivers, 64 percent of their purchases were made F.O.B. packing house. Table 15. California produce purchases by the type of purchase, 18 receivers, 1998.
For the F.O.B. packinghouse purchases, the receiver has the primary responsibility for transportation of the shipments. Mulitple destinations and mixed loads The surveyed receivers sent their purchased loads of produce to multiple destinations 12 percent of the time. The other shipments (88 percent of the loads) were sent to only one destination. These receivers also reported that 57 percent of their loads contained more than one product. The mixed loads, however, were made up of similar products, that is, a common mixed load consisted of peaches and nectarines. Transportation arrangements Of the surveyed firms, 74 percent reported making transportation arrangements for their purchased produce loads. The shipper or a broker arranged for the other 26 percent of the receivers’ purchases. Truck procurement The surveyed firms were asked several questions about problems associated with getting trucks to transport their shipments to desired destinations. These firms had the following responses (Table 16): Table 16. Truck procurement concerns, 18 produce receivers, 1998.
The surveyed receivers indicated they had the most numerous trucking problems during the following months:
Clearly, the peak season months (June, July, and August) are the times when receivers experience the most problems in getting loads of produce to desired destinations. Dependability of service The surveyed receivers were asked about the dependability of the service provided by the trucking industry. It was reported that, on an average, truckers picking up a load arrive late 12 percent of the time. These receivers also indicated that after a truck arrives at the shippers to pick up a load, six percent of the time a mechanical problem is noted in the trailer or tractor. This type of malfunction can often delay loading. The 18 receivers reported that an estimated nine percent of the time, loads arrive at their destination late. Service satisfaction A section of the receivers’ questionnaire attempted to evaluate their satisfaction with the service provided by the trucking industry. The receivers related their perception of services they received in the past few years. The respondents answered as follows:
Only 18 percent of the surveyed receivers indicated thay thought trucking services had deteriorated in recent years. Specific concerns about the service truckers provide were also evaluated. Receivers were asked to rank their degree of satisfaction with several specific areas. Ranking was indicated by a scale ranging from one to five. A ranking of one was "very good" and a ranking of five was considered "very poor." The score of 3.0 was the point of indifference of the opinions held by these receivers. Fresh produce receivers tended to be fairly well satisfied with the trucking services they receive. Their greatest dissatisfactions were with truck weight limits and truck freight rates (Table 17). All other factors were rated below 2.5, indicating a satisfactory performance of these factors. Table 17. Level of satisfaction producer receivers have about produce transportation, 18 receivers, 1998.
* (1 = very good; 5 = very poor) Dependability of service The surveyed receivers indicated they felt the present trucking industry gives dependable service. Eighty-one percent of the respondents felt the dependability of the trucking service was excellent or good. (Table 18.) Table 18. Rating of dependability of the trucking industry, 18 receivers, 1998.
Only five percent of the receivers gave the produce trucking industry a "poor" rating for dependability. Quality of service The quality of service provided by American truckers was rated. The receivers generally believe the trucking industry does a good job. Seventy-seven percent of the receiver respondents indicated the quality of service provided by truckers was excellent or good (Table 19). Only five percent of the respondents rated the quality of the trucking service as "poor." Table 19. Quality of trucking services received by produce receivers, 18 receivers, 1998
Future concerns The receivers were asked to rate the important trucking concerns for fresh produce for the next five to 10 years. The rating scale went from one to five, with "one" being of less importance and "five" being perceived as a serious problem. A score of 3.0 would indicate the receivers were indifferent about a potential problem. The surveyed produce receivers considered the cost of trucking and the shortage of drivers to be the most serious problems in produce trucking over the next decade (Table 20). Table 20. Future trucking concerns, by produce receivers, 1998.
* (1 = less important; 5 = very important) All of the listed concerns had an average rating over 3.0 (score of indifference) except the limits on double-triple trailers. The Truckers and Truck Brokers Data reported in this section were obtained from a questionnaire distributed to trucking firms and truck brokers located throughout the United States. These findings are based on a sample of 44 of these trucking-truck broker firms. The firms and their loads Of these 44 firms, 30 of them considered their firms to be independent operators; 12 of the firms classified themselves as a "fleet" firm and two indicated they were independently owned but had a fleet of trucks. Generally, these firms drive fairly new trucks. While the age of the trucks operated by the surveyed firms varied from 0.5 years to 10 years of age, the average truck operated was 3.0 years old. The trailers used by these firms ranged in age from 1.5 to 15 years, with the average age of the trailers reported to be 4.7 years. The surveyed firms reported the typical length of haul was 1,315 miles; but distances ranged from 100 to 3100 miles. The typical loads of these 44 truckers spent from .25 to 7.0 days traveling between the shipper and the receiver. The average load, however, spent 3.3 days from the time it left the shipper until its arrival at the produce receiver. Loading and unloading These 44 firms reported that their trucks typically waited at the shipper from 0.5 to 9 hours to get loaded. The average wait prior to loading was 1.98 hours. The time reported to load a truck ranged from 0.5 hours to 8 hours. The average time for a typical load to be loaded was 3.38 hours. It was reported that a normal waiting time to get unloaded after arriving at the receivers ranged from 0.5 hour to 8 hours. The average waiting time for these 44 truckers prior to unloading was 2.45 hours. The drivers Of the 44 surveyed trucking firms, 53 percent said that the average age of truck drivers has been increasing. These trucking firms believe a new driver should be in a training program for six months. The responding truckers’ estimates of the average length of driver training programs ranged from one month to 18 months. Eighty-eight percent of the truckers felt that better pay would encourage more drivers to enter the profession. The 44 surveyed truckers reported that their drivers on an average change jobs every 1.7 years. The importance of problems in produce trucking The 44 surveyed produce trucking firms were asked to rate the importance of a number of factors related to transporting California fresh produce. The rating was based on a scale of one to five. One was to be considered not important and five was to be considered very important; thus, a rating of three would represent an indifferent rating. Each concern was ranked by importance. The attitude of the receiver and the attitude of the dock personnel tied as being the most important concerns these truckers had about transporting fresh produce. (Table 21.) Table 21. Relative importance of select factors influencing fresh produce hauling, 44 trucking firms, 1998.
* (1 = not important; 5 = very important) These trucking firms indicated that the attitude of the receiver, the attitude of the dock personnel, good directions to find the shipper or receiver, the ability to load and unload easily, and the waiting time to load and unload are the most important issues in transporting fresh produce from shipper to receiver (Table 21). An average rating of three indicated these truckers were indifferent or uncertain to a given condition. The only factor having an average score of less than three was the availability of the cafeteria to the drivers for these surveyed firms. (Table 21.) Satisfaction with shipper/receiver performances These 44 trucking firms were asked to rate their perceptions of the performances of the shippers and receivers with whom they dealt in 1998. The rating scale ranged from one to five. One was to be considered a very poor performance and five was to be considered an excellent performance. A rating of three would indicate the truckers were indifferent about a given performance area. Sixteen performance areas were used for which the surveyed truckers rated their satisfaction of performance by the shippers and receivers. The worst performance areas of shippers and receivers were truck waiting time, attitude of dock personnel, and availability of the company’s cafeteria (Table 22). These truckers felt the shippers’ and receivers’ best performance areas were attitudes of carriers and dispatchers, giving directions to find the shipper or receiver, availability of the telephone, and availability of the restrooms (Table 22). While the surveyed truckers indicated that the availability of the cafeteria was generally of least concern to them (Table 21), the availability of the cafeteria was one of the worst shipper-receiver performance areas in 1998 (Table 22). Table 22. Satisfaction ratings of shippers and receivers of indicated performance areas, by 44 trucking firms, 1998.
* ( 1 = very poor : 5 = excellent performance ) Lumper and lumping fees Lumpers are temporary people (not regular employees of receivers) who are hired to unload trucks at the receiver’s facility. Eighty-four percent of the surveyed trucking firms indicated "lumping" was a common practice in unloading at the receivers. The use of lumpers by the drivers ranged from 0 to 100 percent of the time. Drivers for these surveyed firms required lumpers on an average for 64 percent of their loads. The fees paid to lumpers ranged from $20 to $150 per load. The average lumper fee was $76 per load. Future concerns The 44 surveyed trucking firms were asked their opinions of the most important issues confronting the trucking industry in the next five to 10 years. The availability of drivers and low rates were the most often mentioned future concerns expressed by these surveyed trucking firms (Table 23). Table 23. Future concerns of produce carriers, 44 trucking firms, 1998.
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{ CATI , also CAB , CFSNR , CIT , VERC }
Copyright © 2000. All rights reserved.
CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE - CATI
College of Agricultural Sciences and
Technology
California State University, Fresno