PORTLAND, Ore. -- TransCore released its first in a series of free monthly Produce Season Reports today, combining spot market freight rates from the company’s Truckload Rate Index with seasonal and regional data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The report, titled "Fruit and Vegetables by the Truckload," includes an analysis of refrigerated ("reefer") van movements from key market areas in Southern and Central California, Southern Florida, and the Southern regions of Arizona and Texas, where produce is grown as well as imported from Mexico. Rates in all regions have been rising steadily since mid-April, with the exception of Southern Florida, where freight volume and rates began to decline in the first week of June.

The report covers the biggest lane increases and decreases from the key market areas (KMA) to the 10 major U.S. destinations, the ratio of produce loads to available trucks by state from April through June 21, and the USDA’s advisory on truck availability in each KMA.

Spot market rates are rates paid to the carrier by freight brokers and other freight intermediaries. A more complete report of weekly and monthly rate trends can be found on TransCore Trendlines.

TransCore’s truckload rate trend of the week is derived from the company’s Truckload Rate Index, based on $4 billion in actual invoices updated daily for vans, reefers and flatbeds across the United States and Canada. The truckload rate trend of the week is a feature of TransCore Trendlines, a weekly online publication. Trendlines publishes key indicators from TransCore's DAT Network of load boards, a marketplace for more than 60 million loads and trucks listed annually by freight brokers, 3PLs, shippers and carriers across the United States. TransCore Trendlines also includes transportation industry data from the American Trucking Associations and the U.S. Department of Energy.