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Produce shippers need better visibility and metrics to ward off costly delays

Faced with existential cost challenges, perishables shippers have welcomed the initiative of the Global Coalition of Fresh Produce (GCFP) to improve logistics flows through a charter of best practices - but some industry executives want better metrics to track carrier performance in order to make significant headway. The GCFP's latest survey, published last week, shows an industry in distress; where many operators are struggling with rising costs - from fuel and shipping over fertiliser to plant protection products and packaging, with 85% reporting higher costs in each of these categories. Nearly two-thirds of respondents saw costs rise 10% or more, and one in seven reported increases in excess of 50%. Most struggle to pass the higher costs on to customers, and almost two-thirds consider their medium-term economic sustainability threatened. At the Fruit Attraction event in Madrid this month, the GCFP unveiled its charter of best practices, which aims for a collaborative approach by all participants in produce supply chains. ( See Produce shippers prepare best practice charter for transport - The Loadstar) It espouses collaboration and communication, fair and transparent business terms, competition and efficiency, cargo integrity and product quality, supported by optimal handling, resilience, and risk preparedness. The charter was well received at the event, but some found it did not go far enough to bring about a transformative change. Edouard Brière, founder of Trackberry, a container tracking and document automation platform for fresh produce importers, called it "a welcome step forward", but added that it needed importer-focused measurements to succeed. He highlighted ocean carrier schedule reliability, arguing that ETA at destination port was a metric that missed the impact of schedule changes on the importer. Whether or not a vessel arrived technically on time is irrelevant if the imported container is not ready to move at the time the importer planned - be it due to schedule updates during transit, late arrival of documentation, or other factors. To a large extent, the problem lies in communication, he believes. "The recurrent frustration [for importers] is not that a ship is late. It's that they find out too late to do anything about it," Mr Brière added. He pointed out that failure to have the container ready to go as planned rapidly piled up costs for importers - for storage at the port and electricity to power the reefer, for a wasted truck journey and warehouse costs. However, these pale in comparison to penalties for missing deadlines buyers set to sell the produce during a planned window, and lost business down the road. What matters to the importer is how close the arrival was to the arrival estimated a week ahead, how often that estimate changed, how late the importer was informed about this, and whether or not the documents required for clearing the shipment arrived ahead of the cargo, he argued. According to him, measuring carrier reliability should not be difficult for the GCFP. All that would be needed is a container number and its promised departure and arrival dates, he suggested, adding that importers could track shipments per lane and carrier to monitor how expected time of arrival strays from the schedule they had been given.

Condor rebrands cargo products ahead of offering expansion

Leisure airline Condor has rebranded its air cargo products as part of efforts to provide clarity on what each of the services provides and ahead of an expansion of products on offer. The airline announced this week that it is introducing a "unified structure" for its cargo products to make it clear which transportation requirements each product is designed to meet. From 1 November, standard freight will be carried under JUSTmove product, while its pharma services will be known as moveCOOL, perishables will become moveFRESH and express services will be called moveFAST. Condor launched its express product in May. Thilo Schäfer, director of cargo at Condor, said: "With this new product structure, we are giving our offering a clear framework and tailoring it to our customers' different requirements. "At the same time, we are laying the groundwork for the systematic expansion of our cargo portfolio. The new structure makes it easier for freight forwarders and shippers to navigate our offering and gives them a clearer picture of the solutions available. "This is an important step in making even greater use of the potential of our international route network for our cargo business." Condor Cargo offers freight capacity in the cargo holds of all Condor passenger flights, connecting destinations in Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. The airline also offers capacity through interline partnerships and a road feeder network.

How accurate load measurement prevents tarp, strap, and permit errors

There is a moment every flatbed driver knows well. You are standing in the yard, coffee in hand, looking at a load that needs to move by morning. All the necessary American truck parts are packed: the tarp is folded on the catwalk, and the straps are coiled and ready. Everything looks fine. Then you realize you never actually measured the load. You guessed. And that guess is about to cost you money, time, or both. It happens every single day across the country. Drivers skip the tape because they have hauled similar loads before. They assume the height is close enough. They figure the width will be fine. That assumption travels with them onto the highway, and it does not end well. Use American Truck Parts Properly: The Tarp Will Tell You the Truth Eventually The tarp isn't some soft blanket that allows for mistakes in measuring. The tarp is cut to exact specifications. Should you lay the tarp over cargo which is taller than you anticipated, the tarp will pull tight on the edges, while the center drops down. Wind gets inside that loose fabric almost right away. At sixty-five miles per hour, that tarp flapping against the trailer becomes something which will batter the stitching of the tarp itself. Straps Lose Their Grip When Angles Change Every strap in American truck parts has a working load limit. That limit assumes a specific angle between the strap and the cargo. When the load is taller or wider than planned, that angle changes. A strap that should run at forty-five degrees might end up nearly vertical. Vertical straps lose holding power. Tension concentrates on one point instead of spreading across the load. Webbing stretches. Hardware bends. The cargo shifts. Corner protectors are supposed to prevent this by creating a smooth surface for the strap to slide across. But if the dimensions are wrong, the protectors sit in the wrong place. The strap rubs directly against rough cargo. Friction eats through the webbing. A strap that should last years fails in one trip. Permits Are Legal Documents, Not Suggestions Oversize and overweight permits list exact dimensions of American truck parts. If you apply for a permit with a height of fourteen feet, that permit covers a load measuring fourteen feet. Not fourteen feet six inches. Not fifteen feet. The number on the paper has to match the number on the road. Bridge strikes in New York reached 350 in 2024, according to the governor's office, which is why its "Check Your Height" campaign is now running in 16 states and Washington, D.C., and why it warns that consumer-grade GPS can steer trucks onto low-clearance routes. A navigation app cannot know how tall a tarped load really is, so the measurement has to come from a tape, not a screen. That warning applies everywhere. Building Better Habits Behind the Wheel Measure height with the tarp installed. Measure width at the widest point, including overhang. Measure length for the full combination. Scale the load and record axle weights. Write everything down. Recheck after any adjustment. These steps take five minutes. A bridge strike takes hours. A rejected permit takes days. A load that shifts because the straps were never going to hold takes lives. Measurement is not glamorous work. Nobody brags about measuring a load correctly. But it is the work that keeps tarps intact, straps tight, and permits valid. Drivers who treat measurement as a core part of the job spend less time fixing problems on the shoulder and more time delivering loads the way they were planned.