Desperate to deliver their goods, New York Food suppliers are hiring mercenary truckers from Alabama — and they’re putting them up in hotels in the Bronx because they can’t find local drivers. It’s just the latest example of dire measures companies are being forced to take in response to a nationwide worker shortage that is plaguing the food industry. In addition to hiring workers from out of state and boarding them, businesses say they’re turning to middlemen to recruit them — a costly measure that’s also helping drive up prices for consumers, sources told The Post.
“Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine we’d be doing this — putting people up in hotels to work for us,” said Christopher Pappas, chief executive of Chefs’ Warehouse, a $1 billion Bronx-based food supplier for restaurants, hotels and other businesses. Pappas said he was forced to start renting some of his workforce “from Alabama and other other states” when the economy starting bubbling up a few months ago.
