The full economic contribution of the food and agriculture industries is estimated to be nearly $7 trillion. The industries account for nearly one-fifth of the country’s economic activity, directly contributing $2.7 trillion to the U.S. gross domestic product and supporting more than 40 million jobs^[1]. The key to the success of these industries is millions of farmworkers. The COVID-19 pandemic put a spotlight on the importance of these workers and their contributions to our nation’s food security, and simultaneously highlighted challenges of labor instability, irregular migration, and the need for increased labor protections in order to increase the resiliency of our food system and supply chain.

To address these challenges, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in coordination with the other federal agencies will develop a pilot program utilizing up to $65 million in American Rescue Plan funding to provide support for agricultural employers in implementing robust health and safety standards to promote a safe, healthy work environment for both U.S. workers and workers hired from Northern Central American countries under the seasonal H-2A visa program.

The program will aim to improve the resiliency of our food and agricultural supply chain and advance several major Administration priorities:

• Driving U.S. economic recovery and safeguarding domestic food security by addressing current labor shortages in agriculture. Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, agricultural employers were struggling to secure a stable workforce. The pandemic has only exacerbated this problem, threatening our domestic capacity to produce a safe and robust food supply. This pilot program will help address this shortage by expanding the potential pool of workers.
• Reducing irregular migration through the expansion of legal pathways. The Biden-Harris Administration has taken numerous steps to address the elevated levels of irregular migration from Northern Central America. The H-2A visa program offers a lawful pathway for individuals from these countries to come to the United States to engage in temporary or seasonal agricultural work. An effective H-2A visa program is critical to the resiliency of the food and agricultural supply chain. This pilot program will aim to address challenges that both workers and employers face in utilizing the program.
• Improving working conditions for farmworkers. Strong working conditions are critical to the resiliency of the food and agricultural supply chain. Through this pilot program, USDA will support efforts to improve working conditions for both U.S. and H-2A workers and ensure that H-2A workers are not subjected to unfair recruitment practices.

USDA will provide opportunities for stakeholder engagement as the program is developed. USDA will also partner with the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) through a technical assistance cooperative agreement to inform USDA of the challenges faced by agricultural workers and to inform development of the pilot program. UFW will work with relevant stakeholders, including farmers, farmworkers, farmworker advocates, and unions, to ensure that the agency benefits from a wide range of views. After the consultation and program development phase, USDA intends to launch a competitive pilot program ahead of the growing season in early 2023.

Source: USDA

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The fuel savings calculator allows Mack website visitors to select the fleet size, the number of trucks in their fleet, and the average cost per gallon of diesel fuel. The information is used to calculate the average amount a customer could save over one, three, or five years with the Mack MP8HE+ powertrain package.

 “Mack Trucks is committed to finding ways to increase the fuel efficiency of our engines and truck models, and we recognize that fuel costs are one of our customers’ largest expenses. The fuel savings calculator is simple to use and really shows customers the benefits of the MP8HE+ powertrain package and how it could decrease their total cost of ownership.”

said John Walsh, Mack vice president of marketing.

Mack announced in October that the next-generation version of its 13-liter MP8HE engine improved fuel efficiency by up to 3 percent when compared with the former MP8HE engine. Mack Anthem models equipped with the new extended chassis fairings and the HE+ powertrain package – which includes the revised MP8HE engine – now deliver up to a 13 percent improvement in fuel efficiency compared with baseline Anthem models.

The savings are in part attributed to the next-generation MP8HE engine which uses Mack Energy Recovery Technology. This captures waste energy from the engine’s exhaust and converts it back to mechanical energy delivered to the engine crankshaft as additional torque. Mack engineers designed an updated wave piston to help evenly distribute the air-fuel mixture within the cylinder to burn fuel more completely and consistently than other piston designs. Further fuel efficiency gains resulted from increasing the MP8HE’s compression ratio from 17:1 to 18:1 and the addition of an improved watergate and turbocharger.

“Mack enhanced its MP8HE engine to improve the fuel efficiency benefits and find additional opportunities for customers to save money. The MP8HE engine, with its unique design and proven Mack Energy Recover Technology, improves the efficiency of the already aerodynamic Mack Anthem.”

said Stu Russoli, Mack highway product manager.

Included in the Mack MP8HE+ powertrain package are the MP8HE engine, Mack mDRIVE automated manual transmission, Mack Predictive Cruise, and multiple aerodynamic enhancements. The HE+ package can also be combined with Mack’s all-new extended chassis fairings, which smoothes airflow around the rear axles to deliver an additional 0.5 percent improvement in fuel efficiency.

As part of the campaign, Mack tied in Mackonomics, a test drive of the Mack Anthem model equipped with the HE+package by customers Jamie Hagen, owner of Stratford, South Dakota-based Hell Bent Xpress, LLC, and Joel Morrow, senor driver and vice president for fleet equipment procurement at Ploger Transportation, based in Norwalk, Ohio.

Hagen, a bulk hauler, and Morrow, who hauls general freight, capture vehicle performance data and post the results to social media using Mackonomics.

Source: Macktrucks

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Today, Representatives Darin LaHood (IL) and Jimmy Panetta (CA) introduced the Providing Liquidity for Uncollectible Sales (PLUS) Act. This legislation provides a tax credit to offset uncollectable debt incurred as a direct result of COVID shutdowns. It is supported by the United Fresh Produce Association, the International Food Distributors Association, and National Fisheries Institute.

The foodservice distribution industry collectively experienced more than $12 billion in uncollected debts as restaurants and other facilities shutdown in response to the global pandemic and were not able to pay their distributors. Seafood distributors reported approximately $2.2 billion of debt owed to them, fruit and vegetable distributors hold an additional $5 billion in such debt, and broadline foodservice distributors reported more than $5 billion of debt.

“Produce foodservice distributors absorbed a devastating blow with the spring shutdown of the restaurant and hotel industry. The impact of lost inventory and unpaid bills is not recoverable,”

said Tom Stenzel, President & CEO of United Fresh Produce Association.

“I commend Representatives LaHood (IL) and Panetta (CA) for introducing the Providing Liquidity for Uncollectible Sales (PLUS) Act, a helpful solution to an insurmountable challenge for produce foodservice distributors and the companies on both ends of their business agreements.”

Foodservice distribution is a crucial part of the food supply chain, delivering fish, fruits, vegetables, meat, and other products to restaurants, schools, hospitals and long-term care facilities. Distributors provide not only food supplies but the essential financing their customers need to purchase these products. Restaurants buy their supplies on payment terms that allow them to generate revenue before the bill comes due, normally 30-60 days after delivery. In the aftermath of the sudden and near complete closure of the food-away-from-home channel, sales plummeted, customers were unable to pay their bills and distributors were left with more than $12 billion in debt.

“Family-owned seafood businesses support restaurants by providing fish on credit, but now are stuck with billions in debt owed them by these customers,”

said John Connelly, President, National Fisheries Institute.

“This legislation will significantly help revive a complex system that brings seafood from water to table. If we don’t have functioning distributors bringing seafood to market, fish will simply rot on the dock, effecting everyone from boat owners to restaurateurs.”

While many of the provisions of the CARES Act provided critical assistance for foodservice distribution companies, it did not account for the biggest issue they face: large, unpaid debts owed to distributors for food that restaurants could not use due to COVID-related shutdown orders. Tax credits for this $12.2 billion in outstanding debts will provide the liquidity distributors need to continue to extend credit to their restaurant customers and help them get back on their feet as the economy restarts.

“The PLUS Act would provide tax credits for uncollectible accounts receivable, ensuring that distributors can continue to provide assistance to their restaurant customers,”

said Mark S. Allen, President & CEO of the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA).

“I applaud Representatives LaHood and Panetta for their commitment to the foodservice distribution industry, a vital part of our economy.”

Foodservice distributors themselves suffered more than a 50 percent decline in sales due to the global pandemic, making it difficult to provide the financing their customers depend on to run their businesses; jeopardizing restaurants’ ability to purchase food and ingredients. Without restaurants and other places where people eat out, the economy will be missing a significant part of the $1 trillion food-away-from-home economic driver. The PLUS Act provides a solution to this complicated and critical challenge for the food supply chain.

Source: United Fresh Produce Association

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