BEWARE!! New York Hemp Harvest underway. Check your load!

Discussion in 'Shippers & Receivers - Good or Bad' started by Fairweather, May 26, 2019.

  1. Fairweather

    Fairweather Light Load Member

    94
    202
    May 8, 2018
    0
    Wanted to make everyone aware that New York hemp producers are trying - and succeeding - in booking loads on load boards.

    Friday, I booked a load off a well-known load board. The load was to pick up Saturday morning and the rate con listed the freight as "Agricultural Products" bound for Colorado.

    I arrived at a commercial farming operation in rural New York and was met by a man who directed me in and told me where to park. I killed the truck, opened the doors, and asked if he needed anything else from me. He said, "Nope, you can hang out in your truck and we'll have you loaded in no time." So I went back to the truck and, like a hundred times before, chilled out and waited while the freight was loaded.

    After about a half an hour, the guy comes up, knocks on the door and tells me I'm ready to go.

    I get out and head to the back to close the doors when I catch a very distinct smell. About that time the guy hands me my "bills" which, clear as day, tell me that I have just been loaded with 7,000lbs of "industrial" hemp bound for a CBD extraction plant in Colorado.

    He also hands me a printout showing the CBD and THC breakdown of the hemp and tells me that "If I should run into any problems, just call him on his cell because they have a bunch of lawyers on retainer."

    Ok, I'm about to have a heart attack.

    I ask him if the broker knows the specific "agricultural product" being shipped and he says, "Yeah, of course. We've done like 10 of these loads with them."

    I tell him that I need a minute to call the broker.

    When I get through, it's the weekend guy. I tell him that I'm checking into let him know that I'm loaded and ask him if they are aware of the agricultural product they just brokered. He says, after a pause, "Well, it just says agricultural. Why, what's the problem?"

    I break the news.
    He has a heart attack.

    He says (repeatedly) that he's just the weekend guy and that he has to call a supervisor. Give him 10 minutes.

    In 3 minutes, he calls back and says that they are off the load, it is cancelled, and that they are paying a $500 TONU.

    SO... I then get to go back to this loading crew and tell them to get that product off my truck, that it is illegal to transport, and that the broker has dropped the load.

    They ask if we can work a deal without the broker.

    I say No.

    He says, "No big deal. We'll have it on another truck by Tuesday."

    They unload my trailer and I haul ###.

    My trailer smelled like backstage at Woodstock for two days and I lost any chance at getting out of New York over the holiday weekend but, oh well. It could have been worse.

    So, drivers! Of you book a load of agricultural anything from New York headed for Colorado, make absolutely sure that you confirm exactly what that product is before you waste your time.

    And

    ABSOLUTELY DO NOT HAUL HEMP!!

    It is still federally illegal under current law and in many states, hemp is not differentiated from marijuana. If caught, you will be charged with drug trafficking.

    Keep the rubber down and the chrome forward - Chris
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. REO6205

    REO6205 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

    12,583
    56,850
    Feb 15, 2014
    California.
    0
    The hemp laws vary from state to state and tend to be confusing. Some states it's legal to haul as an intrastate load and most others it's not.
    We're right on the edge of the Emerald Triangle in California and we get calls once in awhile to haul pot or hemp or whatever they're claiming it to be that particular day. We don't haul it. Ever.
    There's a lot of differences between industrial grade hemp and pot but it takes an expert to really know. Even the experts argue with each other.
     
  4. kemosabi49

    kemosabi49 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

    9,965
    41,250
    Jan 13, 2013
    SW Arkansas
    0
    Hemp is now legal under federal law. Marijuana is not. From Fortune.com Dec 21, 2018

    President Donald Trump on Thursday legalized hemp by signing the 2018 Farm Bill. But that doesn’t mean marijuana is legal, too.

    Hemp comes from the same cannabis plant that produces marijuana. However, marijuana has both cannabidiol (CBD)—a medical compound that has health benefits but won’t induce a high—and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical in the plant that is psychoactive and can give off a high.

    Hemp, on the other hand, is produced with nearly 100% CBD. According to the new federal law, hemp is legal as long as it contains no more than 0.3% THC. Anything more than that and it’s illegal under the federal ban on marijuana.

    That being said, though the feds say we can haul it the states are bot all on board like those 3 drivers arrested in Idaho found out.
     
  5. Freddy57

    Freddy57 Road Train Member

    1,730
    8,231
    Nov 29, 2013
    Mount Vernon, MO
    0
    CBD is really new in the market place and unless you know what you are looking at it's hard to distinguish it from Pot. CBD is limited to .3% THC content to be a legal commodity anywhere in the USA. They extract the oils from it and it's main usage is a topical pain reliever. The oil is like a miracle to people that suffer from seizures, it will stop a serious seizure in about 30 seconds.
     
  6. REO6205

    REO6205 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

    12,583
    56,850
    Feb 15, 2014
    California.
    0
    Nobody is saying it doesn't have it's benefits. The message in this thread is for drivers to very careful what they haul.
    One of the tipoffs is a huge rate. We've been offered money that made it very tempting and I can see why some OO would take a chance.
    But...if you get caught you're going to suffer and it's just not worth it.
     
  7. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

    34,017
    42,098
    Mar 5, 2016
    White County, Arkansas
    0
    There is another problem with Hemp that most people are not aware of.

    Maritime securement using ropes. Big and small ropes of the old style to go with the cables and chains along with the synthetic ropes etc. We as a Nation are falling behind and are unable to support the shipping, in both peacetime or warships with sufficient rope. It's one of those things no one will talk about.

    At some point Hemp products will be the next big business already as more states like ours now sell it medically as long it's under .3% THC. The problems begin here in Arkansas when you accidentally discover a old fashioned pot high from a CBD product that does not tell you how much THC it contains. And it has way more than .3%

    There is actually alot of undercover work going into gas stations and such stores around here seeking out high THC products when people online with Topix, Bluelight and other forums tell each other what products to get for what effect. Essentially underground for all to see.

    We have had Hemp products in the Containers for shipping back in the day. Its just something that went straight to the ship and out to sea. Not much of it anyway. But I got out of that particular freighting so it's not a problem.

    I am on board with the efforts to make the drivers aware of what or what not to put into the trailers.
     
    Intothesunset Thanks this.
  8. Mid-May Trucker

    Mid-May Trucker Road Train Member

    1,119
    2,077
    Oct 23, 2018
    0
    Should've just looked up hemp on eBay and looked at where they can't ship.
     
  9. Fairweather

    Fairweather Light Load Member

    94
    202
    May 8, 2018
    0
    Lol, Nope. It was typical get out of NY rate. Had it been some amazing $4 a mile or such, I probably would never have called. I booked it at around $1.40 a mile just trying to get rolling before Memorial Day weekend. These guys are smart. They know when to book a load and what to charge. I think they probably booked this one (by the way, they booked it as a team load - which I am with my wife - to keep the truck rolling and not attract attention with the smell) specifically to run over the holiday since most scales are closed.
     
    FoolsErrand, Jingerjen and REO6205 Thank this.
  10. skellr

    skellr Road Train Member

    8,737
    12,179
    Jul 17, 2011
    The Village, Portmeirion
    0
    Now I want to order a pair or two of hemp pants... I hear they are really durable.
     
  11. Fairweather

    Fairweather Light Load Member

    94
    202
    May 8, 2018
    0
    Absolutely incorrect, driver.

    Since all this went down, I have done my research.

    Trump signed a bill mandating that the USDA create a plan by which hemp may be legally grown, bought, sold, and transported across state lines and ordered the USDA to establish rules by which it is legal to engage in hemp commerce.

    However, as of today, the USDA has not created such a plan. Neither has any state. That means that, even though Trump signed a bill authorizing the sale and transport of hemp. Until the USDA and EACH STATE establishes their specific rules. It is ILLEGAL.

    Think of it this way: Federally and in Texas it is legal to carry a Glock 19 to the grocery store but in New York, you will go to prison for it. If New York is cool with growing and transporting hemp, that doesn't mean Nebraska is.

    When engaging in interstate transport, drivers are required to comply with the laws of every state they pass through.

    Don't do it.

    Honestly, I've seen and smelled a little bit of weed in my day and I could not tell the difference. Had I been pulled over and inspected, I know without a doubt that I would have been arrested and the local paper would be taking pictures of my truck.

    There is no way some cop is going to open the door on 7,000 pounds of green stinky and then look at my piece of paper claiming legitimacy and go, "Ok, you're free to go."

    Maybe 3-6 weeks later, when the lab test results came back, I would have been released but then again, maybe not. This stuff was, according to lab reports, only .03% below the federally designated legal line between hemp and mary jane. Had the cops managed to pull a particularly strong sample for their test then the whole load is weed.

    Bottom line is that you're risking your future to pull this.

    My wife put it best when she said, "I'd rather be pulling nukes than that."
     
    QuietStorm, AaronP, Jingerjen and 4 others Thank this.
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.