A produce company in McAllen, Texas, recently spoke to a local news station and explained that the recent ELD mandate has caused the price of their goods to rise dramatically.
Ken Schuster, the finance manager at Val Verde Vegetable, says the company noticed the rate increase to ship their goods almost immediately after the mandate went into effect. He says the freezing weather in Texas, which kept some trucks off the road, also caused prices to rise, however even after the weather returned to normal rates remained higher than usual.
“They tripled or even quadrupled. What would normally be a $2,000 ride turned into an $11,000 ride,” he said “One the main drivers was actually in the big freeze that hit the U.S., but these freight rates aren’t helping at all.”
“This logging thing is making a three-day trip into a four-day trip. For example, avocados that are coming from Mexico, it’s a very long freight haul and because that the freight price is just going to be added onto that sticker where ever you go,” Schuster added.
Local KRGV news also spoke to local owner-operator, Jerry Cowart, who hauls goods from the Rio Grande Valley, who explained why the mandate is causing delays for him and his company.
“In the old days with paper logs, a guy could fudge them a little bit,” Cowart said. “You can’t say that you were in Falfurrias at 10 o’clock in the morning when that electronic log said that you were still in McAllen, Texas.”
“They’ll have to either load it a day early or make him deliver a day late,” he added.
Both Schuster and Cowart agreed on one thing — that the rising costs to move the goods will result in higher costs for consumers.
