Reflections

01/20/2003
By C. Wolfe

This is a short observation of what it feels like for me to walk the new Chicago International Produce Market ® on a day of business.

You will find that while walking the new market I will be comparing it to the Old South Water Market to show the difference in the way moving produce from the stores to the buyers is done.

Driving my truck around the rear of the market, all I see are semi trailers that bring the produce in from all over the States to be unloaded as soon as they arrive, not causing any back ups in market traffic. Where as, on South Water Market it was a driver’s nightmare, when he/she got the bill of lading telling them they have to go to Chicago, knowing they would have to spend the entire day waiting to squeeze in the maze of trucks on the market after 9 am. Many times I have heard drivers grumble they will never come back to this market again.  Due to the size of South Water Market there was no way the semi trucks could maneuver with all the straight trucks parked.

I am starting on the South End of the market in front of Panama Banana. I see the long dock as the sun rises over the city of Chicago.

Turning North, I see a dock with pallets of fresh produce sitting in front of trucks of both wholesale and retail businesses loading their trucks, many with out the use of a fork lift in comparison to the old South Water Market where the only way to get merchandise on the trucks is with the use of a forklift and a union forklift driver loading the pallets on the trucks for them. You see here there are dock plates that are truck level allowing the hustlers* to drive the produce they purchased straight into the trucks saving time and labor.

In comparison, the CIPM dock is twice as wide as South Water Market making hustler traffic flow virtually without interruption from produce blocking their passage way and traffic coming from the other direction on the docks, causing the hustlers to have to constantly yield to other hustlers every 10 feet they travel, causing long delays.

As my journey continues down the long docks dodging the fast pallet movers we call horses, carrying produce stacked up to 10 feet high of various fruits and vegetables cruising in and out of the stores and along the dock from one end to the other at a fast dock speed of 8 mph or more depending on which type of machine the hustlers are using. Many of the pallets are not wrapped with plastic wrap because the docks are smooth as glass, where as on South Water this would have been produce suicide with all the bumps and potholes on the docks.

Walking now about a third of the way now standing in front of Jab Produce Company, I look at some of the trucks sorting out their daily purchases on the docks, separating orders for the routes to the Ma / Pop retail stores and restaurants they buy and deliver every day for, hardly causing any blockage of the passage way of the other hustlers.

I look off the end of the dock and see a truck zooming at 25 miles per hour because that is the speed limit for one end of the market to the other not having to stop for other trucks, because there is enough space for a truck to pull up and back in with out blocking the street. Where as on South Water Market it could take as long as an hour and maybe more to go the 2 city blocks, dodging parked trucks of different sizes. I see a market security car with its flashing yellow lights patrolling the streets keeping them safe.

As I look up, I see the most wonderful view of the Chicago Skyline as the sun rises over Lake Michigan and above the Sears Tower making the walk even more enjoyable.

Gazing into the Produce stores, well lit and all with large displays of their product they specialize in, the sales desk all different in each store, some look really impressive with over hanging lights on marble tops and some made out of plywood good enough to get the job done.

Now looking at how much time it took me to take this stroll and it took me 6 minutes and 20 seconds. Holding on to the guardrail noticing a handicap ramp, also used for forklifts to get to street level to load smaller trucks that can’t reach the height of the docks larger trucks use. The security booth at the entry gates to the market with no line of trucks trying to get in. thinking back of the blocks of trucks lined up on the side streets of South Water Market.

This Market is so much more efficient than what we were use to. I have heard no complaints from anyone except from the labor on how much there over time has been cut because of the efficiency this market has in compression to the Old South Water Market.

*Hustlers are union workers that pick the produce orders and deliver the orders to the customers on the dock.