NKyTribune staff
Kroger took time out Monday to honor the men and women who deliver groceries to its stores across the region, in recognition of National Truck Driver Appreciation Week.
The week is set aside to honor all professional truck drivers for their hard work and commitment in performing one of our nation’s most demanding and important jobs. Drivers deliver in all types of weather and traffic conditions while also helping to keep highways safe.
Mike Weil, a 38-year Kroger employee represented 43 local Kroger truck drivers in an event at the loading dock of the Oakley Kroger Marketplace in Cincinnati Monday.
To show appreciation and gratitude for the work they do, the region’s company truck drivers received free product coupons and a Kroger gift card.
State trucking associations, industry suppliers and motor carriers of all sizes will host appreciation events for the men and women who safely deliver more than 70 percent of the country’s total freight tonnage.
Sunday, the American Trucking Associations kicked off National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, which takes place Sept. 11 through Sept. 17, by celebrating the industry’s 3.5 million professional truck drivers who move the nation’s most essential products.
“This week is about raising public awareness and support for the important work professional truck drivers do in our communities year round,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “These men and women are safety-minded professionals who deserve our respect and praise. We’re fortunate that truck drivers have dedicated their careers to delivering critical goods like medicine, food and school books.”
More than 80 percent of U.S. communities rely exclusively on truck drivers to deliver their goods and commodities, according to the ATA.
The Kroger supply chain network provides an average of 8,000 store deliveries each day to its more than 2,700 stores. Resources dedicated to store delivery consist of 3,200 tractors and 12,000 trailers, traveling nearly 346 million miles to Kroger stores and consists of both private fleet and contracted services.
Kroger Cincinnati/Dayton Division employs more than 20,000 associates who serve customers in 109 supermarkets (including 16 Marketplace stores), warehouses and offices in the Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Eastern Indiana, and Dayton areas.