Plan the run, not the load
A produce run works best as a loop: a load into the shipping area, produce out, and a planned reload after delivery. We plan the whole loop before you head out, so you aren't deadheading into a harvest region on hope.
Produce season
Produce season dispatch: shed waits billed, lumpers reimbursed, seasons planned.
Produce can be some of the best-paying reefer freight of the year and some of the most frustrating. Sheds load when the order is ready, not when you arrive. Pulp temperatures decide whether a load is accepted. Grocery receivers want a lumper paid at the door. Our produce load dispatch desk plans your season around the harvests and gets the waiting and the lumpers on the rate con before you say yes.
A day at the shed, punch by punch.
The card is a made-up produce pickup. The appointment was 06:00. The truck checked in on time, then waited while the order was picked, cooled and staged. The shipper took pulp temperatures at loading, and the truck left late morning. Change the times to a shed you know and see what the wait bills at your rate.
Every punch on the card is something to record. The check-in time starts the clock. The moment the order is ready shows the wait wasn't yours. The pulp readings protect you if the receiver rejects the load as warm. The out time on the bill of lading ends the clock.
At the other end, the receiver often requires a lumper. That receipt, with the amount and load number, is what gets you reimbursed in full. Without lumper reimbursement on the rate con, the unloading comes out of your pocket.
- ARRIVED05:50
- APPOINTMENT06:00
- ORDER PICKED AND STAGED09:05
- PULP TEMPS ON THE BOL10:40
- CHECKED OUT11:20
Free time 2h 00m Billable 3h 20m
$167 detention at $50/hr after 2 free hours.
Terms come from your rate con. This is the math, not a promise that a broker pays.
hrs
$/hr
Clock start 06:00.
Seasons: where produce ships from, and when.
Produce volume moves around the country through the year as harvests start and finish in different growing regions. When an area's harvest peaks, more trucks are needed there, and spot rates out of it usually rise. When it ends, the same lanes can go quiet quickly. For one region worked end to end, see our Pacific Northwest dispatch page, planned around passes, ports and harvests.
We follow the public data instead of guessing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture publishes a weekly report on refrigerated truck rates and truck availability out of produce shipping areas: spot rates for full refrigerated loads to ten major destination cities, with availability rated from surplus to shortage. A shortage rating out of an area you can reach is a signal to plan a run there.
Source: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, Specialty Crops Market News (FVWTRK), checked October 2026
Long days, legal days
Produce shippers and receivers often want tight transit times. We check the run against your hours before offering it, and ask about team options when a deadline needs one.
Before a produce offer reaches you.
- Commodity, setpoint and continuous or cycle
- Pre-cool requirement and pallet count
- Shed hours and how orders are usually staged
- Free time, detention and layover at the shed
- Lumper reimbursement at the receiver
- Receiver appointment and whether it fits your hours
At delivery, the receiver will often take its own pulp temperatures and inspect the load before accepting it. If they reject it, get the reason in writing, the temperatures they measured and the name of the person who made the call, then call us before you leave. Your reefer download and the loading pulp temperatures are what settle the question.
How lumpers charge and what to expect at grocery warehouses is covered in our lumper fee guide. To price a shed wait in seconds, use the detention pay calculator.
The produce paperwork that protects you.
A produce load should leave the shed with a bill of lading that shows the commodity, the pallet count, the setpoint, whether the unit runs continuous, and the pulp temperatures taken at loading. If any of those are missing, ask for them before you sign. Photograph the reefer display at pickup showing setpoint and return air, and again at delivery. Keep the unit's temperature download for the trip until the load is paid.
Those few minutes of paperwork are the difference between a rejected load you can contest and one you end up paying for. Send the photos to us the same day, and we file them with the load in case anyone asks weeks later.
Mixed loads and multiple stops.
Produce often moves as mixed loads: several commodities, sometimes from more than one shed, going to more than one receiver. Each stop adds waiting and each commodity may want a slightly different temperature. We check that the commodities are compatible at one setpoint, that every pickup and drop has its own appointment and terms, and that stop-off pay is on the rate con. A two-pickup, three-drop load that pays like a single drop is one we'll point out before you accept.
Load offer 1 of 2
ExampleSalinas, CA to Phoenix, AZ
- Miles
- 680
- Rate
- $2,400
- Per mile
- $3.53
- Lettuce, 34°F continuous
- 2 hrs free at the shed, then $50/hr
- Lumper reimbursed with receipt
Pickup Mon 06:00
Harvest pressure doesn't change who decides.
In a busy produce week, brokers push for fast answers and some dispatchers book first and explain later. We don't. Each produce offer arrives with the commodity, the setpoint, the shed and receiver terms and the lumper deal. You accept or decline. Yes sends the rate con straight to you to sign; no costs nothing.
The second made-up offer pays more but has no detention terms and two drops. At a slow shed, that can be the worse load. You see both and choose.
More on reefer work outside produce season is on our reefer dispatch page.
The fee in produce season: same rate, lumpers untouched.
5% of linehaul and accessorial pay collected for one truck past 6 months of authority; 4% for two trucks or more; 7% for a new MC until month 7. Shed detention counts as load pay when it's collected. Lumper reimbursements never do. Example A ,400 produce load with 75 in shed detention carries a fee of 28.75, and a 40 lumper reimbursed at the receiver passes back untouched. More on the pricing page.
Produce season questions
When is produce season for truckers?
There isn't one season; there's a moving map of them. Different growing regions ship at different times of year as harvests move north in spring and summer and back south in fall and winter. Volume and rates out of an area rise when its harvest peaks. USDA publishes weekly reports on refrigerated truck rates and availability from shipping areas.
Do produce sheds pay detention?
Some do, through the broker, when free time and a detention rate are on the rate con and your times are documented. Sheds often load when the order is picked and cooled, not at your appointment, so waits can be long. Without terms in writing, that wait is usually unpaid, which is why we settle them before you accept.
Who pays lumpers on produce loads?
At the receiving end, grocery and food warehouses often require a lumper, and the driver usually pays at the door and is reimbursed through the broker. That needs lumper reimbursement on the rate con and a receipt with the amount and load number. Our dispatch fee never applies to that money.
What is a pulp temperature check?
A probe reading of the product's internal temperature, taken by the shipper at loading and often by the receiver at delivery. It shows whether the produce was properly cooled before it went on your truck. Ask for the loading pulp temperatures on the bill of lading, so warm product isn't blamed on your reefer later.
Can I pick which produce lanes I run?
Yes. Tell us the regions you want to haul out of, how far from home you'll go during a season, and the commodities you won't touch. We plan produce runs inside those limits and check each offer against them. Every load is still yours to accept or decline, and declining costs nothing.
Follow the harvest, bill the wait.
Send the application with your reefer details and the regions you'll run. Your first produce offer comes with the shed terms and the lumper deal in writing.
You approve every load. No setup fee. No contract.