OPDI has been helping Canadian children eat their veggies for four generations.

"Whatever you find in the produce section, we've probably hauled it once or twice before," says John Giordano, who heads up operations for OPDI Logistics, the transportation division of the Alliston-based company.

For 75 years, the family-owned Ontario Potato Distribution (Alliston) Inc. has been in the business of potatoes - farming, packing, storing and distributing potatoes.

And, in the off-season, they import potatoes from California and Florida to continue to supply the constant demand.

But although potatoes remain at the heart of the organization, they aren't the only interest.

"We are in the top four or five produce carriers in Canada," estimates Giordano, who arranges for distribution of a variety of produce items to the national grocery store chains. "We're a core carrier for National Grocers."

With a fleet of trucks and trailers on the roads of North America, Giordano oversees the complicated and high-tech process of importing a variety of produce from across the United States, while arranging complementary shipments of non-perishables from Canada to U.S. markets.

"The idea is that we go out with something we can marry with what the demand is for the inbound trip," he says. "We try to forecast the demand, so we have the trucks in the right place at the right time."

While only produce is carried to Canada on the return trips to states from Florida to Washington, outbound transports will carry virtually anything.

The key to success is timing.

"A day early or a day late is no good," says Giordano, who has been with OPDI Logistics for five years. Particularly busy times occur as stores gear up for national holidays.

Complicating this delicate timing further are the delays at the border that are a direct result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"I don't think anything will ever be the same again," Giordano says of the tightened security at border crossings. "The controls have been better coming in than going out, but with recent events, the U.S. has quickly caught up.

"They've been more rigid since 9/11, there's no doubt about it."

But the effects go beyond bureaucracy. The drivers themselves have to be able to pass U.S. requirements, which include ease of communications at inspection stations.

"It definitely affects who we hire. Drivers have to be very professional,"

Giordano explains: "Tolerance has gone way down. The whole industry has had to invest more in training - that's just the nature of the beast."

He says it's important for customers to have an understanding for the industry's need to reinvest in itself.

"Fuel prices did heighten awareness that we're in this together," he recognizes, but sees the need for further understanding.

A trend in recent years for stores to carry smaller inventories necessitates a larger number of smaller shipments that are putting more strain on an already strained system. "There's not enough trucks to ship what people want to ship."

A shortage of drivers has been exacerbated by negative reports in the media about safety in the trucking industry.

"It's hard to attract drivers," says Giordano. "Younger people aren't really aspiring to become drivers."

He urges respect between drivers of cars and trucks - something that's especially important in Ontario since the Highway 401 stretch between Windsor and Montreal is the most heavily-travelled corridor in North America in terms of trucking traffic.

But he thinks that perception of trucks as a safety hazard will continue "until the media starts reporting that not every accident involving a truck is the truck's fault."

However, the increasing demand for services like OPDI Logistics won't be answered by rushing to get more trucks on the road, says Giordano.

"We have to find a balance. Hire good drivers and provide them with good, well-maintained trucks," he says."

"To blindly add equipment doesn't make sense. The quality will go down."

Logistics experts are working on finding answers that do make sense.

"The customer will demand more and the industry will have to figure it out," he acknowledges.

"All that will have to be understood. The pressure is on."