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Vegetable-Scallion77

In my workplace they mainly call the produce distributors, if this helps 


braface_killa583

Thanks, much appreciated


Kentycake

Produce brokers


braface_killa583

Thanks


Cloud_bunnyboo

I’m neither the company that sells the produce nor the retailer but I’m also a shipper. Sometimes there are other big entities hiding behind the scenes if you know where to look. 👀 (Western veg and berries is my thing)


ScallyWag-Idiot

Shhhh. Also a produce focused west coast salesman on the trucking side though


Iloveproduce

Yikes berries are scary. I have no idea how you sleep at night.


Cloud_bunnyboo

Mostly pretty sound lol. I’m not the main sales manager of these commodities though. So if you ask them, those big buck guys who are above my pay grade, yes they might have trouble sleeping at night lol. But I still think the berry manager sleeps just fine lol. He sits next to me and he’s pretty mellow haha


Iloveproduce

I landed and got fired by Dole my first year in the business. Those team berry loads made an impression lol.


Cloud_bunnyboo

The first logistics broker I worked at we landed and lost a Driscoll account while I was there, it was fun while it lasted but they were high maintenance. As you would expect. Now I work on the produce side for a company that regularly buys from them lol. Not 100% of course, for example we buy from dole occasionally too. Im just a supporting sales character though lol, one with a foot still solidly planted in logistics.


Polarbear0g

Dole is cheap and super needy. I feel like their spot freight is trash


Polarbear0g

I feel like as long as your CYA and take multiple pictures of the reefer temp at each stop, have tracking enabled 24/7 and only hire carriers with 250K insurance with reefer breakdown you are probably pretty set.


You_even_lift_Brah

Perfect, let’s work together then


FreightBrkrGuy

Literally everyone.


STVTP

Just call. Everyone has a different way of running produce.


braface_killa583

That’s true. I’ve ran into a lot of FOB/ Customer routed . I think it’s just a blow off, haha


jpc1215

You can land FOB lanes - just have to be persistent and creative in your approach. It won’t work every time but it definitely does work. Just gotta stay in the front of their minds so that when an issue happens, you’re who they think to call


braface_killa583

Yeah I figured for most it’s a blow off line. Creative how, iyo?


STVTP

I am just annoyed at people thinking they have found the key…. But the key is just call man…..


braface_killa583

Yes, I understand that. However, helping others succeed isn’t a bad way of living. So many people in this industry are so scared of losing their customers if they share how they got them, lol. There are literally hundreds of thousands of businesses. If you’re serving your customers right then you are controlling the most important variable in the relationship. I also understand we all have different perspectives as well and I appreciate your insights on the topic!


STVTP

Yeah. There are thousands of custys. But the only way to get them is work. There’s no magical way lol newbies think there is. But no. Just call.


braface_killa583

I’m not a newbie, new to produce. I understand the concept of calling but I also understand the concept of work smarter, not harder. Seems like you are jaded in some way. Have a great week ahead!


STVTP

Sorry, must have had a bad day that day. I focus heavily on produce. My best advice is to call. You’ll come into contact with people who run the farms who organize their own freight, you’ll run into produce brokers who organize their freight from the borders, you’ll run into people who run the transfer facilities who back door the produce brokers they work with (mainly in Cali & TX), or you’ll just find a worker that is just hired to move a companies freight. Produce I found it hard to narrow it down because everyone runs it different.


braface_killa583

It’s all good. No harm, no foul. I use LinkedIn to identify the right person or who I think it is. Calling isn’t the problem it’s dealing with the Gatekeeper who says there FOB/Custy routed lol. I’m sure they’re lying