AM Route Driver Of The Year: Nina Williams

A good route driver takes the time needed to service the location properly. An outstanding route driver takes the job personally and goes above and beyond what is expected, establishing rapport with the customer and keeping machines clean, filled and working.

Then there is the super outstanding route driver; one who lives, eats and sleeps the job. This is the type of driver the average vending manager will rarely see over the course of a lifetime. The type of route driver who arranges his or her personal life around the job.

Nina Williams of Mid-South Food Services in Aberdeen, N.C., is a super outstanding route driver. The 2008 Automatic Merchandiser Route Driver of the Year, Williams is someone that most vending managers can only wish to have on their team.

Williams is the fifth Automatic Merchandiser Route Driver of the Year and the first female to win the honor. She was nominated by Larry Pugh, general manager of Mid-South Food Service. The annual contest is sponsored by Kraft Vending & OCS.

EXCEPTIONAL COMMITMENT

When employees were stranded at a location on account of a winter storm, Williams got ahold of a tractor and plowed through 14 inches of snow to get them food.

In 1999, when she gave birth to her son, Brandon, she was on the job the day before going into labor.

It is not unusual for Williams to drive to one of her biggest accounts on Sunday afternoon after attending church to fill machines.

Williams, 40, lives and breathes every moment to make her machines sparkle, filled with products customers want. Her mission: to make herself, her manager and her company look good to every person who enters the break room.

Williams is the most productive driver for a company whose routes well exceed the national average, based on the National Automatic Merchandising Association’s Operating Ratio Report. She has never lost an account for service reasons.

BEGINNING IN THE TEXTILE TRADE

Resourceful and dedicated, Williams credits her first job in one of the local textile mills for teaching her how to be a productive worker. In the textile mill, she was paid based on her productivity. She taught herself how to make the best use of her time. “I’m a schedule person,” she explained. “I just like to have everything done.” That job was limiting in terms of financial growth, however. After seven years on the job, she was ready for a better opportunity.

Williams heard about a route job at Carolina Vendors in Biscoe, N.C. when a long-time driver was retiring. She didn’t know much about vending, but she reasoned that it had to be a pretty good job if the person retiring had stayed there close to 20 years. “I just knew it was such a better job than what I had in that hosiery mill,” she said.

Williams applied for the position at Central Carolina Vendors and was hired. The supervisor taught her the driver’s responsibilities and told her that she needed to spend as much time as necessary to get the job done.

DRIVER ROLE: MORE RESPONSIBILITY AND OPPORTUNITY

Williams realized there was a lot to remember about the machines and the products that went in them. There was also a lot of paper work; collection tickets, food stale forms, and menus. But she nevertheless liked the job immediately. “You’re pretty much on your own,” she said. “I never had a job like that.”

Williams realized the job had its challenges. Mainly being personable at all times when interacting with customers. But the challenge inspired her. “You’ve got to have that determination,” she said. “You’re the sales person.”

Since the pay was partially based on commission, Williams realized she had some control over her compensation, and she liked that. She was fortunate in that her supervisor was very thorough in teaching her how to fill and clean the machines.