Summary

VIII. Summary

Transportation is a vital part of the marketing process. It would be impossible to provide urban centers with a vast array of fresh agricultural products from diverse farms and ranches located throughout the U.S. without having a dependable, rapid service trucking industry.

During the last several years there has been a growing concern about the California produce trucking industry. Fewer people are becoming drivers; fuel and operating costs have been increasing; profit margins are frequently non-existent; equipment is wearing out; and it has become difficult to locate trucks during the summer peak produce season.

This study was undertaken to determine the important transportation issues facing the produce industry; to evaluate the number of loads shipped each year; and to evaluate how produce shippers, receivers, and truckers perceive the produce trucking industry.

There are an estimated 485,000 truckloads (20 tons each) of 20 fresh fruits and 23 fresh vegetables shipped out of California annually. These include domestic shipments only.

There is a shortage of drivers for these "big rigs." Driver turnover rates are fairly high. The 44 surveyed trucking firms reported their drivers change jobs every 1.7 years. There has been an increasing demand for trucks. Truck demand follows the general economic conditions, and many firms have adopted just-in-time inventory management, which requires more frequent hauling and fewer inventories.

Truck rate levels, truck availability, driver hours of driving per day and week, and highway weight limits all tend to put pressure on the trucking industry.

Trucking freight rates for fresh produce vary greatly within a given year. A common rate is $5,100 for shipping a load from California to the East Coast in July. This rate is frequently one-half that amount during fall, winter and early spring.

Based on U.S. Department of Agriculture truck rate data, the net returns for hauling produce during non-peak months are frequently negative. More than 90 percent of the fresh produce is shipped by truck. While there has been a tendency for the trucking firms to develop fleets of trucks, the average firm probably has fewer than 10 trucks in its fleet.

Shippers and receivers generally feel the trucking industry is doing a good job of hauling fresh produce. From this survey it appears they have an appreciation of the potential problems facing the trucking industry.

The truckers drive fairly new equipment (average truck age was 3.0 years). Their most important concerns were the attitude of the receivers, attitude of the dock personnel, getting good directions to shipper-receivers and the waiting time to load and unload. The trucking firms reported their greatest future concerns were the availability of drivers and the low freight rates that prevail in the industry.

This study was undertaken to determine the importance of the trucking industry to California’s fresh fruit and vegetable industry. It also attempted to validate issues and concerns that are influencing or will likely become increasingly important in produce trucking in the near future.

Shippers, receivers, and truckers all have an economic interest in facilitating the movement of these products through the marketing system. Mutual efforts to alleviate some of the transport problems would benefit all of these firms as well as society.

A number of the concerns could be resolved by an educational/promotional program to recognize the important function performed by trucks. A mutual program by all segments of the industry to promote "driver-friendliness" might have big rewards.

A third party agency (U.S. Department of Agriculture) may be able to assist in changing driving/non-driving time regulations so they are more compatible with modern trucks, roads and technology.

This study was an attempt to make the produce industry aware of the concerns in transportation. Many of the indicated findings may be resolved by the users and providers of the transportation service. One suggestion was to develop a task force represented by all parties (shippers, receivers, truckers and regulators), to begin to resolve the most important problems confronting the fresh produce trucking industry.

{ CATI , also CAB , CFSNR , CIT , VERC }