Port Manatee staff show their appreciation to truckers with goody bags and lunches
As truck drivers pulled their big rigs up to the secure gates of Port Manatee on Friday, port staff cheered and applauded them, and handed each driver a prepackaged lunch from Popi’s Place and a gift bag.
The port’s fifth annual Trucker Appreciation Day, a highlight of National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, brought smiles and thumbs up from truckers .
Each goody bag contained a trucker appreciation face mask and T-shirt, ear plugs, pens, note pads, hand sanitizer and more, said Virginia Zimmermann, the port’s senior manager of communications and government relations.
“The truckers are essential workers. Without the truckers, the stores wouldn’t be stocked, and we wouldn’t have fuel in our cars. So we are here today to thank them for the hard work and commitment to make sure that all the goods reach their destination safe and on time. We are here to thank them, honor them, and show our appreciation by giving them gifts and lunches,” she said.
Port Manatee generates more than $3.9 billion in annual economic impact for the local community, while supporting more than 27,000 direct and indirect jobs, without the benefit of property taxes.
Primary imports at Port Manatee include tropical fruits and vegetables, citrus juices and beverages, forestry products, refined petroleum products, finished phosphate fertilizers, non-ferrous metals, cement and cement clinker, steel, and project cargo such as power plant and bridge components, heavy machinery and over-sized vehicles.
Primary exports include finished phosphate products, citrus juices, construction and road building equipment, used vehicles, heat exchangers and power generation units.
Port Manatee opened Aug. 7, 1970, making it 50 years old this year.
