News West 9 Midland/Odessa- Food Bank trucks needing costly repairs, hindering deliveries
News West 9 Midland/Odessa- Food Bank trucks needing costly repairs, hindering deliveries December 15, 2011
By Jen Kastner
NewsWest 9
ODESSA- The West Texas Food Bank has had a hard time filling their shelves for the holiday season, but now they're faced with a new problem. They're having a difficult time getting the food to those who need it most.
Thomas Keeton is a truck driver for the food bank. He says, "This job gives me a good feeling. I don't have any trouble sleeping at night."
He loves his job, but making his food deliveries is now tougher than ever.
Earl Graham with the Food Bank says, "About 95 cents of every dollar we take in, we use to procure food, but it's starting to change where we're having to use more of that money to keep the fleet running."
The Food Bank is having enough trouble getting food donations. Now, they're facing a transportation issue.
Their fleet of trucks is aging. Most have been in use three times longer than the industry standard. The mileage is high and so are the repair bills.
Graham says, "If a truck or two breaks down, we can't deliver the food. It takes a lot of money to repair them, which takes away from our budget to buy nutritious food to pass out to the people."
The wait-time for repairs is lengthy.
"The industry standard around here is that if you take a truck like we use to the repair shop, it's going to take at least a week before they start working on it," Graham said.
The Food Bank tells NewsWest 9, there are 11 trucks that operate through the entire west Texas region. That figure still isn't enough. Plus, the region is huge.
Graham says, "We cover 450,000 square miles. It's from Odessa to El Paso and down to the Big Bend area. That means they're buying up more gas. Fuel cost has gone up 40% for us. And, of course, it's all diesel," Graham said.
Most of the trucks were donated years ago. The Food Bank would eventually like to upgrade their fleet, but says that right now they simply need to make sure they're able to keep their shelves stocked.
Keeton adds, "You try real hard and sometimes it feels like you're shoveling snow off the sidewalk when it's pouring down snowing."
If you'd like to donate money or repair services to the Food Bank, please visit http://www.wtxfoodbank.org/.
