Today, I got to be a small part of the solution. [View all]

[denbot]

I ran a load of Frozen Pizzas from southern Wisconsin to a distribution center (DC) near Harrisburg PA.

The DC refused one of the pallets because the expiration date was "short dated", in other words even though the use by date was in the third week of October, it was too close for the DC to accept. Since we run from load to load, the standard procedure is to see if the receiving company, or dock workers will just keep it, or toss it for us.

I looked up food banks in the Harrisburg area, but my boss told me to hold off on dumping the product until we heard back from the shipper.

My next load left a little room in the trailer (53') so I pick up in Hazleton, and headed for Elkhart IN, making my drop last night. After my drop I headed to a truck stop in Gary IN, found a food bank less then a mile from me, and got some sleep.

In the morning I called the food bank, and they were happy to take a pallet of frozen pizzas off my truck. When my boss text'd me my next load assignment, with the instruction to dump the product anyway I could, I let the boss know I found a food bank, the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana,
and not only were they close, they would give the company a tax deductible receipt for the retail value of the product.

I was able to get food to people who needed it, get my boss a little write off for doing it, and my little company now has a proven alternate procedure for dealing with the occasional food stuffs left on our trucks.