Hauling Produce?

The mutil zones would be impractical for produce though. awesome for grocery.... but sometimes they need to split up the like products at different ends of the traiker for proper weight distribution. otherwise, if all of the heavy produce was in one section, especially with Cali loads, there would be a problem.

one place in MI often puts a row of tomatoes, then peppers, then cumcumbers, then tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers... and they are all different recommended temps, but cant be contained in the multizone for weight reasons.

Also when supervising the loading, corks must be put in the drainage holes in the floor between October and April on some loads. Some produce cannot touch the walls of the trailer, especially tropical, bananas, pineapples etc or the insides "chill"

of course, since the original poster didnt say where or what this produce job is, we are just speculating. It could be a local farm to grocery run. Around my way, the drivers inspect the produce to ensure it is free from insects. They are responsible for unloading also, so perhaps they are required to take pulp temps to ensure the produce is within range. At some of the fruit farms, the fruit is picked from the field, then sent to coolers for an hour or two before loading. Their cooler slowly raises the temp of the fruit instead of just shoving it into an already cooled reefer... it gives the skin some kind of shock and accelerates rot.

wow... never realized I knew so much about produce hahahhah

Rainy we haul meat and produce the same exact way, split between three zones.

I typically do not draw MP loads because they dock out after 1800.

...meat is isolated in the center zone. Fruit and Veggies in 1 or 3.

I know. i have done walmart loads.

Again... it makes a difference as to what job the OP was referencing.

So i will clarify... for OTR bulk produce loads the temp zones can be impractical. Better?

I know. i have done walmart loads.

Again... it makes a difference as to what job the OP was referencing.

So i will clarify... for OTR bulk produce loads the temp zones can be impractical. Better?

Okay...

I know you did a few Walmart store loads a while back...and memory serves me; you hated it.

And yes I agree... Since we don’t really know specifically “what” job the OP is applying to, my response was “maybe this is why they want experience”. Otherwise my second reply was answering Bruce.

I’ll defer to your OTR experience with produce. We are only with the load for about 6 hours, so clearly running bulk produce from west to east is a whole “nother matter”.

WOW "G" I had no idea how complicated that all is. No WONDER you get the big bucks!

I was once an Assistant Manager for the area Arby's franchisee. Southland Distribution delivered to the stores (everything but fresh produce and bakery goods). They had a somewhat similar setup only with product on folding carts and elevators on both rear and a side door (or maybe 2). They could drop 4-6 carts of fridge/freezer/dry goods and pickup about the same # of empties in about 20 minutes or so. It was pretty impressive, and this was decades ago.

Sounds easy compared to what you do!

Years ago, while I officially worked in healthcare, our company hauled produce from Calif to Toronto or Cleveland markets... so whole trailer loads of produce. Lots of berries which were a pain but paid extremely well lol. The produce was picked and washed then bagged (salad mix) in the field, went into their cooler on one side of the building and into our trailer on the other side. It was picked "green" or unripe and the temperature was adjusted gradually during shipping, ensuring the produce was just about ripe on delivery. Strawberries were tricky as were cantaloupes. I never realized just how bad a load of tomatoes stinks. Depended on the season as to what we were hauling. We had dedicated contracts so always loaded and unloaded at the same places.

Marc Lee wrote:

WOW "G" I had no idea how complicated that all is. No WONDER you get the big bucks!

I was once an Assistant Manager for the area Arby's franchisee. Southland Distribution delivered to the stores (everything but fresh produce and bakery goods). They had a somewhat similar setup only with product on folding carts and elevators on both rear and a side door (or maybe 2). They could drop 4-6 carts of fridge/freezer/dry goods and pickup about the same # of empties in about 20 minutes or so. It was pretty impressive, and this was decades ago.

Sounds easy compared to what you do!

Thanks Marc, that was nice of you to say that.

Once you learn the WM operation...it’s honestly not a burden to remember everything. Like anything else in this business, repetition is one of the best teachers. Thousands of us perform this job every day.

If you're talking about OTR produce work, I'd say that it differs from other reefer work to some extent in that there are often multiple pickups from places that load FCFS and then they may have a very time sensitive delivery with little time available between the final pick and dropoff. The driver must often need to figure out how to be at the first pick the night before, check in the minute the place opens, and hustle between the picks and then to delivery. Often the delivery will have to be made during what should be the 10. Delivery can take a long time. Obviously, the reefer unit has to be supervised closely. If product temperature has not been maintained properly throughout the journey, it will be rejected.

Lots of drivers can not/will not deal with produce runs. If one has prior experience dealing with the extra hassles yet is still applying to another produce hauling gig, the hiring folks probably feel the applicant has a better chance of sticking with it then does one that hasn't done it before.

Why do some trucking companies require produce experience? Is it more significant than regular reefer hauling , what’s all involved?