Saw tons of these on i-95, what are the hauling?

Just unloaded potatoes today in Beloit, WI that I brought up from Bunnell, FL. Northern potatoes have been done for more than a month.... we are hauling out of Ga right now as Fl is also almost done. Then we move to Missouri for about 6 weeks then back to Wisconsin.

I own a vented van (ex reefer)...

 

i see those guys all the time along 81 going through or coming out of PA... usually its a large car (W900, 379, Western Star) pulling what looks like a reefer but with out the unit but is about 45 to 48 feet and also chicken lighted up!! usually its about 4 or 5 of these guys running hog wild up through PA in the left lane!!

 

Florida has a huge tater market, most likely coming out of Putnam County.

 

These days its more likely to be Haitians than Cubans!................

 

I'm leased to a potato farmer in Wisconsin.

Right now the Florida season is nearly done... Putnam county (just west of Flagler county) is the potato hotspot.

A 42 to 48 foot van works well as you will gross out on weight before you run out of trailer.... right now any van will work if it has vents but you need an insulated trailer in the winter. When the weather turns cold I use a propane 'sunflower' heater to keep the taters from freezing... it works remarkably well. Sometimes we pre-heat the trailer in sub-zero temps.

The trailer I own is an ex-Julian Martin unit (Mark Martin's Dad)... it's a '95 Utility reefer but I pulled the unit to save 1800 lbs.

I usually don't run heavy when coming out of Florida... especially this past week. But lots of guy come north at 90K plus... we get paid by the CWT so the more the merrier. Some shippers are cautious so they won't let you out with more than 80K... that's what I ran into this past week.

peterbilt 946... I can't really tell much about that trailer in the photo as it's kinda small...

Friday I load books for Nashville then off to the Tallahassee/SW Georgia area for a few more loads of spuds.

 

Hauling up from--and most deadhead down--hauling out of North Carolina now