Delivery Driver Helper

801 Industry Ave, Cloquet, MN, USA | Hourly | 21.00 per hour | Full Time

Start Your Day with Purpose

As a Driver Helper at Upper Lakes Foods, your day begins early-often before sunrise-as you partner with a Delivery Driver to ensure customers across the Upper Midwest receive the products they need. From independent restaurants and schools to assisted living facilities and regional chain accounts, you help deliver food products safely, accurately, and on time.

Supporting Deliveries Every Step of the Way

Throughout the day, you'll work side-by-side with the driver, assisting with unloading products at customer locations using hand carts and truck ramps. You'll help organize deliveries, move products efficiently, and ensure orders arrive in excellent condition. Your support is essential to keeping deliveries on schedule and meeting customer expectations.

Maintaining Food Quality and Accuracy

Product quality and order accuracy are critical to success in this role. You'll work in a variety of environments, including refrigerated and freezer compartments, while helping maintain food safety standards. You'll verify customer orders by comparing invoices to delivered products, ensuring shipments are complete and accurate. In addition, you'll assist with temperature monitoring and required documentation to support food safety compliance.

Prioritizing Safety Every Day

Safety is at the core of everything we do. Before and after each route, you'll help perform vehicle inspections, identify maintenance concerns, and ensure trucks and trailers are operating safely. During deliveries, you'll assist with securing loads, navigating delivery locations, and maintaining a clean and organized vehicle. By following company safety policies, DOT regulations, and proper lifting techniques, you'll help create a safe environment for yourself, your teammates, and our customers.

Delivering Outstanding Customer Service

As a Driver Helper, you are a direct representative of Upper Lakes Foods. You'll interact with customers throughout the day, providing professional, friendly, and respectful service. Whether answering questions, assisting with deliveries, or helping resolve minor concerns, your positive attitude and commitment to customer satisfaction help strengthen the relationships that set Upper Lakes Foods apart.

Thriving in a Hands-On Role

This position is ideal for someone who enjoys physical, active work and being part of a team. You'll spend much of your day standing, walking, lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling products in a fast-paced distribution environment. The role frequently requires lifting up to 50 pounds and occasionally more than 60 pounds, making physical stamina and safe material-handling practices important to success.

Building a Career with Upper Lakes Foods

No previous experience is required to begin your journey as a Driver Helper. We provide an opportunity to learn the food distribution industry from experienced professionals while developing valuable delivery, warehouse, and customer service skills. For individuals interested in growing within the organization, this role can serve as a pathway toward obtaining a CDL Class A license and pursuing a career as a Delivery Driver.

Schedule and Work Environment

Driver Helpers typically work 4–5 days per week, Monday through Saturday, with start times ranging from 12:00 AM to 5:00 AM. The position involves working both indoors and outdoors and in varying temperatures, including refrigerated and freezer environments, while supporting delivery operations throughout the region.

Why Upper Lakes Foods?

At Upper Lakes Foods, you'll join the largest independent wholesale food distributor in Minnesota, serving customers from our locations in Cloquet, Northfield, and Janesville. Our success is built on the values that guide everything we do:

• Strong Work Ethic – We believe in hard work, perseverance, and reliability.

• Positive Attitude – We encourage flexibility, optimism, and teamwork.

• Integrity – We act with honesty and consistency.

• Teamwork – We achieve more by working together.

• Professional Appearance – We take pride in presenting ourselves professionally.

• Respectful Interaction – We foster a safe, positive, and respectful workplace.

  The Ideal Candidate

The ideal Driver Helper is dependable, hardworking, safety-conscious, and customer-focused. They enjoy physical work, work well with others, maintain a positive attitude, and take pride in contributing to a team dedicated to delivering exceptional service every day.

"We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin."

See full job description located on the Upper Lakes Foods website.

Final candidates are required to successfully complete a background check, pre-employment lift evaluations (if applicable) and pre-employment drug screening prior to their employment start date.All offers of employment are conditional and contingent upon the Company's receipt of satisfactory results from a comprehensive background investigation and a negative result on a pre-employment lift evaluation and drug screen.Failure to successfully complete either requirement may result in withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment, to the extent permitted by applicable federal, state, and local law.