Recently, Area Risk Manager Rich Schwartz had the opportunity to attend a Marco's Delivery in Middleburg Heights, OH with our driver Chris Coppes. Below is the write-up from Rich:
It’s not easy being a driver in any sense of the word, let
alone one on 3rd shift making unattended deliveries to Marco’s Pizza
franchises. Chris came to us from MBM on
2/14/14 with a wealth of food distribution experience. He is a loving husband and proud father of
two boys residing in Defiance, OH. It was an honor to share some great
conversations with him during our time together.
On 4/22/15 I met up with Chris at the Marco’s Pizza store in
Middleburg Heights, OH. When I arrived Chris was already backed up with his
doors open ready to rock and roll.
We started with flour then cheese; he showed me the proper
way to lift, stack, sticker and rotate that for the stores. When I was
observing the overall store, you could tell the stores knew him and that he was
coming because they had it set up for him to make it easy. I have been on these
routes before him and I could tell the drivers previous to him did not have a
good relationship with the stores as they would leave it a mess for the driver.
Chris is meticulous with his loading skills, when it came to stacking product
on the dolly he did a great job protecting the integrity of the boxes.
After delivery I opened the forum and had a driver
“roundtable” with him. I asked him about PeopleNet and if he had any questions
for me. We discussed why we wear safety vests (which his was on and bright
orange), why we don’t turn right on red, and the importance of using cones at
these store deliveries. I explained to him why some drivers cut corners and
gave him reasons why no driver should. We spoke about the recent injury at the
account and one from the past when I managed Marco’s. Chris’ skills are
plentiful and he is an excellent truck driver but having an opportunity to
speak about account safety and getting his opinions made for a great
conversation. Overall, Chris doesn’t have any concerns but was receptive to any
tips I could offer.
As time went on we ventured to the Parma Heights, OH store.
When we arrived you could tell his relationship with this customer was there.
They knew each other on a first name basis and began to joke with each other
instantly. It was like walking into a house full of family, jokes flying and
people laughing. It was there we made the same delivery as the store before but
this was different. In the side room there were 10 pieces of luggage for the
Marco’s Pizza Distribution Convention in Tampa, Florida. The Cleveland, OH GM’s requested Chris bring
them back to Maumee, OH to get loaded on the truck going south. I loaded these
onto the trailer and Chris stopped me to put down sheets of cardboard to make
sure the luggage did not get dirty.
It is drivers like Chris that make me work hard at what I
do. His thoughtfulness and caring for someone else’s things shows me he is a
man of character and one who gets my respect.
Chris likes to give a razzing to people but the guy has a
big heart and knowledge for a tough job. I really enjoyed my time into the wee
hours of Thursday morning and I know for a fact the Marco’s DCS management team
goes to sleep soundly knowing that they have a driver who is a cut above the
rest.
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