WILLIAMSPORT, Md. (WDVM) – This week leading up to Christmas can often be stressful; and with the supply chain issues associated with the pandemic, this year’s vacation could be particularly difficult.
Are you waiting for that Christmas ham or turkey? A Dot Foods warehouse could load it onto the truck right now. The Williamsport, Maryland Dot Foods trucking warehouse is used to meeting deadlines. But this year, with supply chain issues and labor shortages, loading those trucks is proving particularly difficult.
“We take a lot out of it every day,” said Evan Davis, Warehouse Manager for Dot Foods. “We throw out a few thousand every day, 1,500 per truck, and we’ve made about 35,000 so far. “
Making sure those treats are on the table keeps Dot Foods’ warehouse especially busy this week, delivering honey-cooked hams and turkey sides to dining rooms across America. Because it’s the busiest time of year, it takes weeks to prepare.
“Accuracy is key to making sure everyone gets their ham on time for the holidays, and we really can’t go wrong in ensuring that everyone eats on time for Christmas,” said Ben Zeiger. , responsible for supporting Dot Foods operations.
Trucking is a tough industry and it doesn’t get any easier. Since 2019, the national workforce of over 400,000 long-haul drivers has fallen to around 25,000.
“We face the same work challenges as everyone else,” Zeiger explained. “It really helps that we have a good core group of people here and that they do a really good job every day. “
But Zeiger and Davis said they hit the jackpot at Dot Foods. Their hard work put them on the path to business management, delivering to over a thousand businesses in all 50 states.
“I went from the chain to going from a warehouse floor to a team leader to a team manager to a warehouse manager, so there are a lot of opportunities here,” said Davis.
The Williamsport, MD plant is one of 12 distribution centers the company operates in the United States. According to Dot Foods, it would not have been possible to meet its deadlines without its excellent employees. The American Trucking Association estimates that the industry could hire 80,000 additional drivers to fill the available positions. It is an aging workforce with only 7% female drivers. Another challenge is a new federal database that bans truckers from drug and alcohol offenses.
