BEAR, DELAWARE – Dot Foods, the largest food industry redistributor in North America, is excited to announce it will soon call Bear, Delaware, home. The company announced today it will begin construction of a new distribution center in Bear late this year. Dot hopes to have the facility operational in fall of 2019.
The new $36 million facility will be constructed on 35 acres of land at 301 American Boulevard, near the intersection of Red Lion and Wrangle Hill Roads. Dot plans to hold a ground breaking celebration for the new distribution center in October. In addition to construction of the new facility, Dot established trucking operations for its affiliate Dot Transportation, at a terminal location in nearby New Castle. Dot plans to hire 50 drivers for the New Castle terminal location; those drivers will move to the Bear distribution center when it is up and running. In total, Dot will hire 125 people for warehouse, truck driver and administrative roles at its Bear facility within the first year and up to 200 by 2022.
"We've already started hiring in the region and have great truck driving careers available today," said Dick Tracy, Dot Foods president. "Our New Castle terminal is up and running. If you're interested in joining our team, I encourage you to visit DriveforDot.com. Our drivers are a key part of our business, and we have some great opportunities at our newest location. We're excited about the talent available in this area as we hire drivers, warehouse personnel and office staff."
Dot Transportation offers multiple career opportunities for both experienced and new drivers at the New Castle terminal: those that handle freight and those that don't, with schedule options that fit your lifestyle. Drivers' salaries are guaranteed in writing; experienced drivers who handle freight are guaranteed to earn $75,000 their first year, and those who do not touch freight are guaranteed $71,800. Experienced drivers also receive an assigned tractor on day one, vacation time match and health insurance gap coverage. All full-time employees receive a benefits package worth more than $20,000.
The new Dot Foods Delaware distribution center will house main and outbuilding facilities totaling over 188,609 square feet. That includes more than 111,000 square feet of refrigerated, frozen and dry storage warehouse space, 12,600 square feet of office space, and a 9,700 square foot garage. Dot Foods Delaware joins Dot's two other facilities in the Northeast: Dot Foods Maryland, located in Williamsport and Dot Foods New York in Liverpool.
"It is a great day when we get to announce a new distribution center," said Tracy. "The Delaware location will give us more capacity in the East. This is a high-volume area of the country where we expect to see continued growth. Our Delaware location will service customers in Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. We've received a warm welcome from folks at both the state and local level in Delaware, and we look forward to continuing to build more relationship as we establish operations in the area."
"We're really glad to see this great project move forward," said Damian DeStefano, Director of the Delaware Division of Small Business. "Dot Foods' choice to locate its new facility in Delaware is a testament to the state being an excellent place for businesses to grow and thrive."
"We are excited to partner with Dot Foods to offer hundreds of quality job opportunities to Delawareans," said Matthew Meyer, New Castle County Executive. "We win the future when we attract one of our nation's leading food distributors to set up here in New Castle County."
Founded in 1960 by Robert and Dorothy Tracy, Dot Foods remains family-owned and operated today. Headquartered in Mt. Sterling, Illinois, Dot buys full truckloads of product from 930 manufacturers and consolidates those products in 11 distribution centers across the country. Dot then resells products in less-than-truckload (LTL) quantities to distributors on a weekly basis.
Food manufacturers are experts at product development, production and marketing, but their transportation systems are only set up to efficiently sell full truckloads of their products. In the United States, there are more than 15,000 distributors. Most of them regularly order from manufacturers in less-than-truckload quantities, which can lead to many inefficiencies. Through Dot Transportation Inc., Dot distributes more than 127,000 food service, convenience, retail and vending products in LTL quantities to distributors in all 50 states and over 35 countries with short lead times. This business model effectively addresses ordering and logistics challenges for everyone in the food supply chain.
Dot recorded $7.1 billion in sales in 2017 and sits at #63 on Forbes' list ofAmerica's Largest Private Companies.Dot and Dot Transportation currently employ more than 5,300 people nationwide.
Source: Dot Foods
