Posts Tagged ‘Nebraska’

Widespread Food Contamination Demonstrates Need for Safe Transportation Practices

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

Any food manufacturer knows that one widespread case of contaminated food products can damage their company name, placing a hefty financial burden on them, sometimes resulting in a shut down.

As was the case in 2009 when salmonella was found in peanut butter manufactured by the Peanut Corporation of America.  With nine people dying and nearly 22,500 getting sick from eating the product, the corporation was forced to shut its plants in Georgia, Virginia, and Texas.

Along with a manufacturer’s reputation being ruined, comes a financial loss from suits filed by those who ingested the contaminated product, along with the loss of your freight.  Look at last year when over 500 million eggs were recalled due to salmonella.  Now that’s a lot of freight.

cantaloupe

Most recently, a case of contaminated cantaloupe has struck a widespread alert, already killing 17 people and causing more than 80 to become sick.  These cases have spread nationwide, found in 19 states including Colorado, Texas, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, North Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and New Mexico.

The Food and Drug Administration, however, explains how hard it is to track down the source of contamination due to multistops and traceability problems.

As Forbes notes, these cantaloupes alone could have made five stops, between packaging, distribution, processing, retailer, etc, before consumers even purchase it, and who knows how many more times the food has been handled by carriers.  Road Scholar Transport, on the other hand, cuts back on the handling of your products, which could lead to contamination, by offering 24-hour expedited service, dock-to-dock with NO transfers.

The FDA explains that “the more steps there are the harder it can be to link up each step to identify the source of an outbreak” (http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/10/02/general-us-listeria-farm-to-fork_8712631.html).  With that being said, food associations are placing an emphasis on traceability throughout the supply chain.

One thing you can be assured of is that your food products did not get contaminated during transport when shipping with Road Scholar Transport.

reefertrak

Road Scholar can provide the exact route that the truck took with a time log noting every door opening/closing, temperature conditions within the trailer at any given time, and its exact location (right down to the breadcrumbs).

Do you know what was being transported before your products?  Was there garbage in the trailer previous to your food?  Or how about a chemical spill where your food is now placed?  Road Scholar can provide a history of what was inside our trailer prior to your shipment, prior to that shipment, and so on.  Talk about safety measures.

Over 48 million people develop illnesses from food contamination every year with nearly 3,000 dying from it (http://www.foodborneillness.com/).

Why risk your good name and the health of your customers by choosing the cheapest, most ill-equipped carrier to transport your freight?  Visit www.roadscholar.com to learn more about Road Scholar’s services and security features.

On a scale of 1 (“not at all”) and 10 (“very”), how important is it for you to choose a knowledgeable, safe carrier to deliver your food products?

Exactly How High Are Diesel Prices?

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010

Diesel prices are creeping higher and higher, ranging from costs of $3.15 a gallon in some states to $3.60 in others.  diesel fuelAlthough these prices are the highest they have been in two years, compare that with diesel rates back in October of 2008 when they reached almost $5-per-gallon.

According to truckinginfo.com, the average diesel fuel price of $3.294 is an impact of higher crude oil prices, which are at $91 per barrel and are predicted to increase to $100 per barrel next year (http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=72539).

The following are the current average diesel prices in each state provided by http://www.etrucker.com/apps/promiles/fuelprices.asp.

Fuel Prices Averages For Tuesday, December 28, 2010

State Tax Rate
4th qtr.
Fuel Prices
As of
12/28/2010
Ex-Tax Fuel Price
As of
12/28/2010
Difference
From
12/27/2010
Fuel Price
As of
12/27/2010
Alabama 0.19 3.23 3.04 0.01 3.22
Arkansas 0.225 3.269 3.044 0.025 3.244
Arizona 0.26 3.329 3.069 0.008 3.321
California 0.373 3.492 3.119 0.006 3.486
Colorado 0.205 3.254 3.049 -0.004 3.258
Connecticut 0.396 3.603 3.207 0.692 2.911
Delaware 0.22 3.322 3.102 0.023 3.299
Florida 0.3167 3.391 3.0743 0.023 3.368
Georgia 0.158 3.26 3.102 0.025 3.235
Iowa 0.225 3.27 3.045 0.007 3.263
Idaho 0.25 3.447 3.197 0 3.447
Illinois 0.35 3.405 3.055 -0.001 3.406
Indiana 0.16 3.216 3.056 0.008 3.208
Kansas 0.26 3.252 2.992 0.013 3.239
Kentucky 0.212 3.281 3.069 0.009 3.272
Louisiana 0.2 3.219 3.019 0.015 3.204
Massachusetts 0.21 3.391 3.181 -0.018 3.409
Maryland 0.2425 3.366 3.1235 0.001 3.365
Maine 0.307 3.441 3.134 -0.003 3.444
Michigan 0.304 3.32 3.016 0.001 3.319
Minnesota 0.275 3.384 3.109 0.005 3.379
Missouri 0.17 3.154 2.984 -0.001 3.155
Mississippi 0.18 3.188 3.008 0.016 3.172
Montana 0.2775 3.347 3.0695 -0.005 3.352
North Carolina 0.319 3.274 2.955 0.008 3.266
North Dakota 0.23 3.395 3.165 0.052 3.343
Nebraska 0.271 3.296 3.025 0.026 3.27
New Hampshire 0.18 3.319 3.139 0.003 3.316
New Jersey 0.175 3.231 3.056 -0.014 3.245
New Mexico 0.21 3.289 3.079 0.024 3.265
Nevada 0.27 3.375 3.105 0.01 3.365
New York 0.3855 3.532 3.1465 -0.021 3.553
Ohio 0.28 3.327 3.047 0.003 3.324
Oklahoma 0.13 3.155 3.025 0.003 3.152
Oregon 0 3.13 3.13 0.011 3.119
Pennsylvania 0.381 3.432 3.051 -0.032 3.464
Rhode Island 0.32 3.509 3.189 0 3.509
South Carolina 0.16 3.15 2.99 0.015 3.135
South Dakota 0.22 3.289 3.069 0.012 3.277
Tennessee 0.17 3.222 3.052 0.017 3.205
Texas 0.2 3.213 3.013 0.008 3.205
Utah 0.245 3.382 3.137 0.008 3.374
Virginia 0.175 3.217 3.042 0.014 3.203
Vermont 0.29 3.429 3.139 0 3.429
Washington 0.375 3.527 3.152 0.019 3.508
Wisconsin 0.329 3.358 3.029 -0.002 3.36
West Virginia 0.322 3.364 3.042 -0.019 3.383
Wyoming 0.14 3.263 3.123 0.012 3.251

Over $1,000,000 Worth the Playstation Merchandise Stolen in Double Trailer Theft

Friday, November 19th, 2010

Electronics are a high value target, especially around the holidays, and can cost both the shipper and carrier Playstation 3thousands of dollars when stolen.  So imagine how much it would cost if not one, but two trailers carrying these products were taken.

So was the case for one trucking company.

According to the National Post, S.P. Freight Systems’ owner picked up two trailers containing over $1 million worth the Sony Playstation 3 and PSP merchandise from a Greater Toronto Area distributor, dropping them off at a truck yard in Brampton.

Two days later, he returned to find both trailers stolen, which did not come as a surprise since the area is known to have a problem with trailer theft.

The destination that the game systems and accessories were headed for, as well as whether the demand for these electronics will now be met, is unknown.  Police advice anyone who sees these 1998 STRI model trailers (one light blue with a yellow “Werner” printed on the side with Nebraska plate 85619 and the other white with “XTRA LEASE” written in red and containing Ontario plate T62046) or seeing the Playstation 3 consoles originally costing at least $300 each being sold at unbelievable prices, to let them know (http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/11/19/thieves-steal-over-1m-in-game-consoles/).

Fortunately, Road Scholar Transport has dock-to-dock shipping with no transfers so you can be assured that your freight is not left in an unsecure/unsafe area and open to theft.  With surveillance of all terminals and tracking devices on all tractor trailers, including a Show Me feature in which you can view the precise location of your cargo during transport, it would be difficult for anyone to steal one of Road Scholar Transport’s trailers.