I write a commodity brief for our users every Monday. This week is citrus. Sharing here in case useful.

Commodity Opportunity

Citrus 101

California grows most of the country's fresh oranges, in the San Joaquin Valley between Fresno and Bakersfield. Navel oranges are the big crop and ship from late October through June, about 53,000 truckloads, out of packinghouses that wash, sort and box the fruit.

What changed this season

A year ago a truck of California citrus averaged $5,900 across the 9 cities USDA reports, and USDA graded truck supply adequate. In May rates jumped 20% in 3 weeks while diesel was getting cheaper, and never came back. On September 22 USDA moved all 9 lanes to shortage. The average is now $8,900. Washington apples and California vegetables rose the same way, so the cause is fewer trucks out of the West, not citrus and not fuel.

Why it matters

Navel oranges start later this month. That whole crop loads onto lanes USDA already grades as short. Opportunity to call.

Commodity Playbook

Where it hauls

South &Central California, per load, from USDA:

To	Last October	Now	Change
Atlanta	$5,300	$9,100	+72%
Seattle	$3,150	$5,200	+65%
Boston	$7,150	$11,050	+55%
Chicago	$4,650	$7,150	+54%
Miami	$7,200	$11,050	+53%
Baltimore	$7,300	$10,600	+45%
Dallas	$3,950	$5,600	+42%
Philadelphia	$7,150	$10,100	+41%
New York	$7,550	$10,500	+39%

How to find shippers

Citrus packinghouses that sell their own fruit. Sunkist houses ship on Sunkist's instructions

Packers that also run mandarins and lemons

Ask who the buyer is. On some loads the buyer sends the truck

Who to call

• Cecelia Packing, Orange Cove, CA
• Bee Sweet Citrus, Fowler, CA
• Golden Star Citrus, Woodlake, CA
• Booth Ranches, Orange Cove, CA
• Johnston Farms, Edison, CA

Shipper Discovery Questions

• Do you sell your own fruit, or does it go through Sunkist?
• Has your early fruit passed the maturity test yet?
• How much of the crop is packing fresh this year, and how much is going to juice?
• Navels only, or are mandarins and lemons loading on the same truck?

When to call

Call now. The first loads are about 3 weeks out.

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Sources: USDA Specialty Crops National Truck Rate Report (Oct 1 2025, Sep 30 2026). USDA AgTransport refrigerated truck rates (May 12 to Jun 2 2026). USDA Citrus Fruits Summary (Aug 2026). Energy Information Administration weekly diesel (Sep 28 2026).

Hope this is useful. If anyone hauls citrus, lemme know what we missed. And if there's a commodity you want covered next week, say the word and you got it 🍞

I write a commodity brief for our users every Monday and this week it’s Apples out of Washington. Sharing for those who find this valuable.

Washington ships 128,000 truckloads of APPLES a year. The new crop just started rolling.

This is how to get set up on those lanes for the next 10 months:

Opportunity

The 2 valleys around Yakima and Wenatchee ship most of America's apples, and the crop switch is happening right now.

According to USDA (Aug 27 report):

New crop went from 102 to 287 loads a week in the last 3 weeks. The first new-crop price sheet printed Aug 28.

Old crop is still moving about 2,200 loads a week and winding down.

Last season the district shipped about 128,000 truckloads and ran about 3,000 loads a week through winter.

Why it matters

Every packing house restarts its shipping program at new crop. The carriers who run clean in September get called all winter.

The opportunity is the next 10 months of repeat reefer (about 3,000 loads a week at pace) gets set up in the next 6 weeks.

Playbook

Where it hauls:

2 valleys to nationwide lanes.

Yakima Valley: Yakima, Selah, Wapato.

Wenatchee District: Wenatchee, Chelan, Quincy.

Who to call:

The packing house sales desks: Stemilt (Wenatchee), Washington Fruit (Yakima), Zirkle Fruit (Selah), CMI Orchards (Wenatchee), Chelan Fresh (Chelan). Ask for sales or shipping.

How to open:

"You're just into new crop. What does it take to be one of your regular trucks this season?"

Qualifying questions:

• What setpoint, and continuous air? (They load at cold storage temp, 30 to 32°F)

• Trays, bags, or bins, and what's the count?

• Any mixed loads? (Never with onions. Apples absorb odors and push out ethylene)

• Loading windows during harvest? (Appointments move with the pack line)

When to call:

Now through early October while the programs get set. The winter regulars get picked at the turn-on.

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Hope this is useful. If anyone hauls apples, lemme know what we missed. And if there's a commodity you want covered next week, say the word and you got it.

I write a commodity brief for our users every Monday and this week it’s onions. Sharing here in case useful (and also to learn from those who move it regularly)!

Commodity opportunity

The US onion supply rotates from Southwest to Northwest every August. The switch for this year is happening right now.

2 valleys in the Northwest carry 64,420 truckloads of onions a year in the fall/winter: Columbia Basin in Washington/Oregon, Treasure Valley in Oregon/Idaho. That's 300 loads a day from just a 200 mile radius.

USDA movement reports over the last two weeks:

• New Mexico dropped from about 990 loads a week to 340
• Northwest went from under 500 loads a week to over 900

Confirming the lane rotation is kicking in right now.

Why it matters:

Every distributor and grocery DC that bought New Mexico onions all summer is switching origins over the next few weeks. Onions are planted once, picked once, and ship out of storage until May. So this is a repeat lane getting planned out right now.

Whoever runs clean in the next six weeks get to haul it all winter.

High yields this year. Good crops, soft (onion) prices, and volume is running about 25% ahead of last year's pace. Lots of freight.

Commodity playbook

Where it hauls:

Treasure Valley

• Ontario and Nyssa (Oregon)
• Parma, Payette, Fruitland, Wilder, and Weiser (Idaho)

Columbia Basin

• Hermiston, Boardman, and Umatilla (Oregon)
• Moses Lake, Othello, and Pasco (Washington)

Who to call:

Receiving side is food distribution, the usual F&B names.

Shipping side is the sheds: Eagle Eye Produce (Ontario, runs the old Baker and Murakami shed), Fort Boise Produce (Parma), Owyhee Produce (Nyssa), J.C. Watson (Wilder), Partners Produce (Payette), River Point Farms (Hermiston). Ask for sales or shipping.

How to open:

Receiving: "Your onion supply moves Northwest this month. Who's covering that lane?"

Shipping: "Are you still shipping field-run or into storage packs yet? I'd rather get set up before things get busy next month."

Asking it that way shows you know the season and the produce, not just the lane.

Qualifying questions:

• Vented van, reefer, or flatbed?
• When do you switch to protect from freeze? (Usually around Nov. Heated van or reefer on heat after that)
• Sacks, cartons, or bins? (It changes the count and unload)
• What's the gross weight against the scale?
• When do you want trucks booked by?

When to call:

This week, while the new lanes are still getting covered fresh. Once storage packs start moving, the shipper would have picked their regular carriers and you're calling for overflows.

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Hope this is useful. If anyone hauls onions out of Treasure Valley or the Basin, lemme know what we missed. And if there's a commodity you want covered next week, say the word and you got it.

I write a commodity brief for our users every Monday and this week it’s sweet potatoes. Sharing here in case useful (and also to learn from those who move it regularly)!

Commodity opportunity

NC ships about 46,000 truckloads a year. Reefer around 55F. Below that is chilling injury.

Digging normally starts mid August and runs until frost, around mid November. This year it still hasn’t started due to drought hit during planting in May and June. A lot of fields got replanted, which pushed everything back.

One farm packer went on record last week saying “Everybody is running out of supply right now”. Old crops are gone, and some sheds have been cutting customers off since July.

The frost date doesn’t move. So the read is: same 46,000 truckloads of harvest, fewer weeks, loads per week goes up, structural shortage, overflow is gonna hit the board in the next 2 weeks.

Commodity playbook

Where it hauls:
Seven counties move most of it: Sampson, Wilson, Nash, Edgecombe, Johnston, Wayne, Greene. All eastern NC.

Who to call:
The sheds directly. The bigger ones are Vick Family Farms (Wilson), Ham Farms (Snow Hill), Scott Farms (Lucama), Nash Produce. Ask for sales or the traffic desk.

How to open:
“I know a lot of fields had to replant. When does digging start for you this year?” Every shed’s answer is going to be different right now, and asking it that way signals you know that.

Qualifying questions:
• What pulp temp do you want protected? They ride warm, around 55F. Quoting 34F ends the call.
• Bins or 40-lb cartons?
• Continuous or cycle-sentry on the reefer?
• What’s the loading window? It’s a farm shed, not a DC dock.
• When was the last washout, what was in the box before?

When to call:
This week the traffic desk still picks up. Once digging starts, they’re covering loads and you’ll be one of 40 voicemails.

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Hope this is useful. If anyone hauls sweet potatoes, lemme know what we missed. And if there’s a commodity you want covered next week, say the word and you got it.