Never before has the American consumer needed so much of everything, and needed it so immediately. Partially caused by the shortages at the beginning of the pandemic, and also driven by people working from home and shopping online, consumer behavior has changed drastically over the past year. 

News coverage of the massive congestion at U.S. ports has made its way from niche industry publications to mainstream news media. Why? Because supply chains hold the strings to what we eat, drink, wear, live in, and consume. In the past six months, a rapid series of disruptions have created a colossal problem for both B2B and B2C channels, especially at the ports.

Every produce shipping season is different, but 2021 has more than one extenuating circumstance that could make it one for the record books. Not only are we coming off of a volatile, high volume post-pandemic freight market, but we still are trying to recover after a week of bizarre winter weather in Texas and the deep South that devastated many winter crops.   

Melons, onions, lettuce, and broccoli were just some of the more than $600 million in damaged produce. According to Texas A&M Today, the estimated losses from weather-related storms are broken down by these categories:

• Citrus crops, at least $230 million
• Livestock, at least $228 million
• Vegetable crops, at least $150 million

Speculation about how much shipping costs will increase this year vary, but industry experts agree that rate hikes are inevitable, and soon.

The last year has tested the industry to its limits. Expecting the unexpected has become the norm because of COVID-19. It has stretched us like too little butter over too much bread, creating far-reaching consequences. Now that the pandemic threat may be winding down in many places, we are presented with one more thing to make us grind our teeth at night—more cost to our bottom line.

It’s the flower shippers who deserve the love on Valentine’s Day!

Most people have no idea what those beautiful flowers go through to get to you. The ones that wind up on coffee tables and office desks across the U.S. -- it’s not just a stroll down from the local flower shop. Oh, no. It is more likely that those beautiful buds have traveled thousands of miles, through various temperature zones, over bumpy roads and border crossings, and even through ports to get to you.

What’s the big deal about pulping?

Taking temperatures isn’t just something you should do for COVID-19. It is an essential part of shipping produce on refrigerated trucks. In the logistics industry the process is called pulping, and it is the act of taking the fruit’s or vegetable’s temperature during various stages of the shipment.

If God had written ten commandments for shipping produce, the first commandment would be, “Thou shalt not put a warm load of melons straight from the field into a pre-cooled truck and expect it to deliver on-temp.” Every cold chain shipper should know this.

Ready to hear some crazy statistics about America's food in the supply chain? Before I divulge any numbers, let's look at the big picture concerning the food we ship in this country.

The food we grow in the United States combined with the food we import is more than enough to sustain the population amply. That's the good news. The bad news is there are still more than 37 million starving people in the U.S., reports Feeding America—but the real kicker? Of all the food waste in this country, up to 40 percent occurs in the supply chain, according to the USDA's website. Do we have any control over this astronomical percentage? Well, let's just say we can do better.

FREIGHT MARKET & THE PANDEMIC

Looking at the freight market in Q1 of 2020 is much like watching the new season of Ozark on Netflix; it first requires a brief look at what came before. My personal binge-watching policy dictates that before diving into a new season, I do a quick recap of the last two episodes to get the full impact of what is going on now.

So, let’s review what was happening at the close of 2019 in the freight industry. Everyone summed up the year by comparing it to the bull market of 2018, with slight resignation but hopefulness. The overriding sentiment was that even though the market in 2019 paled in comparison to the previous year, the industry was still experiencing growth, and we had 2020 to catch up. 

With more than 570,000 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus in the U.S. in mid-April, there are questions about the safety of everything and anything manufactured overseas. Since it is believed that the virus began in the open food markets of China's Wuhan province, imported foods are on the minds of the masses.

2019 was a Shipper’s Market

Record truck orders and record freight volumes in 2018 served as the backdrop for a significant correction to the market in 2019. The year began with a plethora of trucks and freight volumes underperforming expectations. It is estimated that there are approximately 75,000 more tractors available than there is freight to fill them.¹ Shipments became easier to cover, and as a result, carrier rates were historically low. Even though economic growth continued in an upward trajectory, it was at a much slower pace than the previous year and not enough to compensate for the overabundance of equipment.

Cargo theft is an unfortunate by-product of the holiday season that often gets overlooked during the hustle and bustle of rushed shipments and tight delivery schedules. That is until a trailer disappears, or pallets go missing off the company’s loading dock. With employees taking extra vacation days around Christmas and New Year’s, freight is often unattended or stored in places where prolonged absences provide a greater opportunity for theft.