MISSOULA — When winter weather is active, so are truck drivers for the Montana Food Bank Network (MFBN) since many depend on on-time deliveries.
That's why MTN wanted to find out what it takes to get food across the state.
“We go to Great Falls, Helena, Bozeman, all of those major cities, as well as every little community in between," MFBN President and CEO Gayle Carlson said.
With 330 partners across Montana, Food Bank Network drivers go far to keep people full.
Watch to learn more about how the Montana Food Bank Network hits the road:
“We have about 17 routes that we do deliveries on, with our longest one being on the east side, it's about four or five days," Carlson told MTN. "We have three active semis that are out driving, do about 125,000 miles a year."
Some communities rely on the boxes of food, especially with winter’s increased utility costs and holiday spending putting a strain on finances.
"We do find a huge increase in need with all of our partner agencies through the holidays, through the winter months, and so we're out there doing deliveries through the entire season," Carlson said.
“We're like the postal service, it doesn't matter whether it's raining, snowing, whatever it may be, we are still out making those deliveries," she added.
MFBN is looking to add more CDL certified drivers to their fleet.
“We have an opening right now that we're interviewing for and we'll be opening up for another one after the first of the year. And I think one of the attractive things, not only — it's because of the mission that we have here and the passion that people have about our mission, but they are not gone for weeks at a time," Carlson detailed.
Drivers learn the intricacies of food deliveries since no two pantries are exactly alike.
“Not every partner agency has a nice loading dock. They might have a garage that you're dropping off, a back door of a warehouse somewhere. So, they do a pretty conclusive drive through with all of our experienced drivers," Carlson said.
Hoping to get more food to those who need it, MFBN is looking to increase route frequency.
"With our new facility, we've now got double the size in our warehouse, which means we can take on double the amount of the food, which is going to really start to increase our delivery cycles," Carlson shared.
