Reefers Gearing up for Produce Season
Reefers Gear Up for Produce Season Produce season is getting into gear, and top reefer lanes saw a 10% increase in volume last week. Reefer rates are trending up in California, Texas and Florida, which will hopefully lead to more widespread rate increases. This is a transitional period, and some dynamic seasonal trends are unfolding in key regional markets and lanes.
California got off to a slow start, but produce is finally starting to roll out of Ontario, the gateway to the Coachella and Imperial Valleys.
- Outbound rates from Ontario, CA rose 11¢ to $2.11 per mile.
- Rates from Sacramento to Los Angeles rose by double digits, in both directions last week, to a roundtrip average of $2.15 per mile.
- Other L.A. inbound rates fell, including the lane from Twin Falls, ID, down 16¢ to $1.45 per mile.
- The head haul rate from L.A. to Twin Falls rose to $1.92.
- McAllen, TX has been the top source of reefer load posts on DAT load boards for the past six weeks, because of fruit and vegetables grown in the Rio Grande Valley, on both sides of the border.
- Outbound rates in McAllen rose again last week, including a 21¢ boost on the lane to Dallas, to $2.40 per mile.
- Outbound rates in Central Florida are trending way up. The lane rate from Lakeland to Charlotte rose 17¢ last week.
- Rates slipped another 10¢ out of Miami, despite a big bump in volume on the lanes from Miami to Baltimore and from Miami to Atlanta.
TriHaul for Reefers: Atlanta – Miami – Tifton – Atlanta
The Atlanta-to-Miami corridor has lots of reefer loads available, but the rates on the northbound leg are pretty low. You can do better.
This isn’t even a triangular route, in the strictest sense, since you barely stray from the highway on the way from Miami back to Atlanta. Dividing the trip into two shorter hauls will minimize your distance at the low, off-season rates that you’re still getting in South Florida at this time of year.
Mark Montague, retrieved from http://www.dat.com
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