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You are here: Home / Archives for Transportation

Cool ridin’

By Jon Bell — Posted November 2, 2022

Refrigerated trucks are key to spreading the Oregon nursery industry far and wide When you think about it, it’s pretty amazing that, say, a young Autumn Blaze® red maple tree (Acer × freemanii ‘Jeffersred’) that starts its days here in Oregon can end up all the way across the country in a backyard in Boston. […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, OAN, Transportation

A season of nightmares

By Mitch Lies — Posted November 2, 2022

With low availability and higher driver and truck costs, shipping costs skyrocketed in 2022 For as long as Erica Hill can remember, Union Pacific railroad has provided the nursery industry with a special commodity rate to move stock during the spring shipping season. Until this year, that is. “With container availability issues and with the […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, OAN, Transportation

November 2021 – The Transportation Issue

By Bill Goloski — Posted October 28, 2021

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has sent logistics into a tailspin and severely limited many shipping options. This Transportation Issue reveals the source of the trucking industry’s struggles and offers tips for getting products on the road. Readers will also meet Mark Bigej, COO of Al’s Garden & Home, in the Meet the Leader story and […]

Filed Under: Issues Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, OAN, OAN Members, Transportation

Keeping drivers in the loop

By Mitch Lies — Posted October 26, 2021

Communication is key to treating truckers well during driver shortage Jackie Weisenberger of Oregon Pride Nurseries Inc. rarely hears that a driver has backed out of picking up a load from her McMinnville nursery. “Earlier this spring, we had that happen, but that was happening everywhere,” she said. “As things died down, as we got […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, Transportation

Keep on trucking

By Jon Bell — Posted October 26, 2021

The booming nursery industry has put big demands on the shipping sector About a year ago, Gary “Bert” Bertelson was lamenting a lost summer. Before last year, Bertelson, head of nursery over-the-road sales for Wilsonville shipping broker Integrity Logistics, would take a month off every summer during the seasonal slowdown of the nursery shipping business. […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, Transportation

Plants on the move: Freight with uncertainty

By Jon Bell — Posted October 21, 2020

COVID-19 threw nursery shipping for a loop, but things settled and stayed strong Gary “Bert” Bertleson used to have it pretty good in the summer. The head of nursery over-the-road sales for Integrity Logistics, a freight shipping and trucking broker in Wilsonville, Bertleson would regularly take an entire month off in the summer. He was […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: coronavirus, Digger, Digger magazine, Transportation

Plants on the move: Making room for safety

By Bill Goloski — Posted October 21, 2020

On nursery loading docks, COVID-19 changed everything Uncertainty and panic about the COVID-19 pathogen quickly took hold of shipping companies and nursery loading docks across the United States earlier this year. “It was the third week of March — that Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,” said Matt Frederick, logistic coordinator and operations manager of K&M Distribution Inc. […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: coronavirus, Digger, Digger magazine, Transportation

Plants on the move: An oasis for the road

By Bill Goloski — Posted October 21, 2020

Nurseries provide hospitality for drivers cut off from usual resources The open road has been lonely for truckers in 2020. That’s according to Matt Frederick, operations manager for of K&M Distribution Inc. (Rogue River, Oregon), which serves the nursery industry. When moving a nursery stock shipment in a refrigerated truck, a driver headed to the […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: coronavirus, Digger, Digger magazine, Transportation

Ready to roll

By Bill Goloski — Posted October 23, 2019

An efficient shipping process depends on working as a team There are countless ways to prepare an order for shipment. What works or one nursery may not be the best process for all operations. “Every shipping process is different because every farm has a different layout,” Elizabeth Peters of The Peters Company said. She and […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, Transportation

Keep on truckin’

By Jon Bell — Posted October 23, 2019

Nurseries work closely with shippers to keep their products rolling Here’s something to think about: The top agricultural commodity in Oregon is nursery and greenhouse products. In 2018, nursery and greenhouse sales in the Beaver State topped $996 million — a quarter-of-a-million dollars higher than the No. 2 commodity, cattle — making Oregon one of the […]

Filed Under: Nursery Operations Tagged With: Digger, Digger magazine, Transportation

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NURSERY NEWS

Terra Gardens owner’s gesture for his mother opens the door to other wheelchair-bound gardeners

OAN announces 2025 Friends of Nurseries award winners

OAN leads grower-driven Japanese beetle solution

AmericanHort president and CEO to step down

In memoriam: Bill Van Belle

Longtime employee buys Heritage Seedlings and Liners

In Memoriam: Melvin John Steffenson

New USDA Census of Hort arriving in mailboxes this month

More Nursery News

From the pages of Digger

March: The Perennials Issue

February: The Greenhouse Issue

January 2026: The Retail Issue

November 2025: The Transportation Issue

October 2025

More issues of Digger

Pests and Diseases

OAN leads grower-driven Japanese beetle solution

Prioritizing nursery pest challenges

New tools in the battle against thrips

Aiming for precision in pest control

Oregon’s nursery licensing program aims to keep the entire industry healthy

More articles

FARWEST SHOW UPDATES

2026 Farwest Show issues calls for speakers

Excitement, optimism prevail at 2025 Farwest Show

Dazzling plants, products garner Retailer’s Choice Awards

Youngblood Nursery wins Best in Show booth honors at the 2025 Farwest Show

Glow Sticks Fescue wins top honors from judges at Farwest Show’s New Varieties Showcase 

More Updates from Farwest

The Value of Membership

AmericanHort president and CEO to step down

OAN honors industry leaders at 2025 Convention

Meet the Leader: Patrick Peterson

More member stories

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