United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) has recognized three of its employees as 2024 Elite Drivers of the Year as part of its Driver Ambassador Program.
To celebrate this achievement, each driver was awarded $10,000. Additionally, each distribution center in which the Elite Driver resides receives a premium, UNFI-branded Navistar LT625 tractor to use for deliveries during the next year.
Over the course of the year, UNFI drivers traveled more than 166 million miles, making more than 1.8 million deliveries to more than 30,000 customer locations across North America.
The UNFI Driver Ambassador Program celebrates the company’s drivers for the essential work they do to serve our customers and communities. They are integral to UNFI delivering a superior customer experience. Each quarter, UNFI drivers can earn the Distinguished Driver Award by meeting attendance goals, delivering high levels of service and driving safely every time they get behind the wheel. Drivers who achieve the highest level of excellence four quarters in a row become Elite Drivers.
In the company’s latest fiscal year, 1,182 drivers, or 39 percent of UNFI’s 3,029 total driver population, attained Elite Driver status. This is an increase from last year’s 35.5 percent.
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The following three drivers were selected as 2024 Elite Drivers of the Year for their respective UNFI regions:
- John Mendez from UNFI’s Dayville, Connecticut, distribution center, which supports UNFI’s East Region;
- Jorge Cuellar from UNFI’s Fargo, North Dakota, distribution center which supports UNFI’s Central Region; and
- Eric Harris from UNFI’s NorCal, California, distribution center, which supports UNFI’s West Region.
These awards cap off a week of celebrating not only UNFI drivers but also the company’s warehouse workers, who selected, built and loaded the almost 775 million cases that were delivered during the year. Safety, efficiency and accuracy are the hallmarks of UNFI’s warehouse teams. Together with the company’s drivers, they connect thousands of suppliers with tens of thousands of retailers.
“Our warehouse workers and our drivers are the critical links in our supplier-to-customer chain. They challenge themselves to be better every day, and the work they do as one team ensures that we all win together,” said Mark Bushway, chief supply chain officer at UNFI. “I would like to thank all of them and specifically congratulate John, Jorge and Eric for their awards. We are all very proud they are on our team.”
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