Freight rates have been an important topic of discussion in the fresh produce industry across the United States recently. Growers and shippers have expressed their concerns about having to pay very high freight rates to get their produce to the market. Availability of lorries has been cited as a cause for the high rates.
Growers in the Midwest and Northwest of the USA noted the difficulty in getting product to market. A series of hurricanes affected the southern states of Texas and Florida, and trucks had therefore been used for relief logistics. At the same time, freight companies were obliged to instal electronic logs to replace paper-based records of hours driven and rest periods.
Many in the industry now agree that the recent price spike has seen its peak, and freight rates are set to ease in the coming weeks.