Questions about having to throw away food from Food Pantry Coordinator

Basically it's due to being refused by the company receiving it. Normally nothing wrong with it. You could try contacting the companies that deliver in your area and asking for them to have their drivers deliver those to you. Or the companies receiving it. To make the same suggestion. But there's no guarantee.

 

I only have 1.5 years as a reefer (refrigerated truck) that is nearly a decade old.
With that said, a lot of my receivers (customers I delivered to) refused a lot of loads I hauled in that 1.5 years. Granted over the course of this, it was usually a pallet or two, or much more commonly, a relatively small number of cases of their products.
In that time, I donated all I could when I had refused goods. To waste food is a cardinal sin in my world.

That said, I always contacted local food banks.
I always found the food banks via google maps.

Regarding the decision factor, is it almost always at their discretion, unless things have changed. If you have truckers contacting you, it’s likely because their dispatcher/broker told them to get rid of the overage/declined freight.

This happens a lot. By the way. The American consumer is very picky. Across the board. Receivers (the people dealing the freight shipment) often as not will 86 for almost no reason.

The last question you ask has a complex answer, and by that I mean this is a transactional relationship. I don’t say that, so that you think there’s a profit margin or anything to be gained on one side or the other, but rather to highlight to fact that you’re both helping one another.
You need fresh, safe, edible food; and this trucker needs these fresh, safe, and edible foods off of their truck.
The trucker has been told to dispose of the "refuse." And has contacted you.

The best way to respond to this is simple; get it off his or her truck in a timely fashion, and preferably, like yesterday.

How you accomplish that, is ultimately up to you.
I will tell you, when I was still a reefer driver (refrigerated) I trucks appreciated food banks that came forewarned with the appropriate tools and volunteer staff to unload the donation. And by that I mean, pick up trucks, and a lot of guys to get it off my truck.
I think a good starting point is to ask the driver approximately how many pounds they have of, what? And go from there, disbursing your resources as you see fit.

one thing you’re going to have an issue with? These guys pass through towns quickly. And their paychecks are determined on how quickly they run. So, expect to be disappointed on at least several occasions.

Hope this helps.
And best of luck helping those less advantaged.