Operations

Your May 29 Pre-Trip: Bad apples: Port strike devastates apple farmers

May 29, 2015

Here are five things worth knowing today: 1. Washington farmers have dumped $100 million worth of apples that could not be sold into fields across the state, according to NBC. According to the report, apple exporters lost at least three weeks of their season because of recent labor problems at West Coast ports. “The apples are being left to rot and compost in the hot sun, an unusual occurrence for an industry that has found ways to market ever-growing crops,” NBC said.2. Two lanes of the Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C., are shut down for the next six to nine months due to corrosion, the Washington Post reports. The bridge, which leads from the entrance of Arlington National Cemetery to the Lincoln Memorial, had been partly shut down beginning this morning. According to the report, the Memorial Bridge was one of 14 “structurally deficient” bridges in the capitol. “Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) warned of ‘unbearable congestion’ for the more than 60,000 drivers who cross the Potomac between Virginia and the District daily,” according to the Post. “Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) called it ‘not just embarrassing – it’s outrageous.’”3. Last week, Takata Corp. signed a legal order with U.S. regulators that will speed the investigation to determine why the company’s airbags are exploding. According to Bloomberg, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said “the agreement means Takata is ‘no longer resisting’ the department’s diagnosis that there was a wider safety defect. According to the report, on May 19, Takata agreed to expand recalls to fix faulty airbag inflators to nearly 34 million vehicles – the largest auto safety recall in U.S. history.4. A Colorado school district is using a food truck to serve up to 300 children a day this summer that may not be getting the necessary amount of meals at home, Western Slope Now reports. According to the report, the Lunch Lizard food truck is for kids in and out of school district 51. Officials will have five stops in the most poverty-stricken parts of Grand Junction and Orchard Mesa and will feed children ages 18 and younger, Western Slope Now said.5. Approximately 1,200 South Sacramento residents attended a job fair at the Pannell Center yesterday, and applied for more than 2,000 job and training program openings in trucking, green energy, law enforcement, retail and construction, Capital Public Radio said. According to the report, this is the first in a series of job fairs for District 8.

About the Author

Cristina Commendatore

Cristina Commendatore was previously the Editor-in-chief of FleetOwner magazine. She reported on the transportation industry since 2015, covering topics such as business operational challenges, driver and technician shortages, truck safety, and new vehicle technologies. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut.