FREIGHT UPDATE: SHIPPING INDUSTRY CONTINUES TO BE VOLATILE, AS CARRIERS BALANCE DRIVERS, CARGO

摘要

SHIPPING IS AN ESSENTIAL PART of the food supply chain and a significant factor in everyone's bottom line along the way. Transit costs can be volatile; they hinge on any number of factors beyond food producers' control, such as oil prices, availability of truck drivers and weather.Idaho not only produces more potatoes — one of the most consumed and versatile vegetables in the world — than any other U.S. state, it also produces more spuds than any other region in the Western Hemisphere. Idaho's distance from large North Americanpopulation bases and seaports has always made shipping a challenge, however.