Anthony Maldonado of Dot Foods' Vidalia, Georgia warehouse in narrow-aisle competition

Dot Foods Inc awarded free vacations to winning operator-order selectors Josh Hall, Nick Blayney and Aaron Walker in the food distributor's forklift rodeo grand nationals.

Each of 30 entrants from eight Dot distribution centres carried a trash can while balancing a basketball through a timed obstacle course. A safety infraction or contact with a course boundary resulted in a penalty.

Hall of the Burley, Idaho warehouse won in the sitdown-forklift category. Hall, a Burley resident, edged out Noah Sheckler from the Mt Sterling facility by 1.4 seconds.

Blayney, a resident of Heyburn, Idaho and also employed at the Burley warehouse, won in the narrow-aisle category. His margin of victory was 7.2 seconds.

Walker, a resident of Versailles, Illinois and an operator at the Mt Sterling frozen warehouse, won in the pallet-jack category.

Dot Foods conducted qualifying rounds at eight distribution centres and provided all-expenses-paid trips for those advancing to the grand nationals on 23 June at its headquarters facility in Mt Sterling.

Dot held the 2011 competition on a dry dock and gave contestants the choice of taking a longer path with fewer hazards or a shorter route with more chance of penalties. Two stop-and-honk intersections were built into the course.

"The contestants did a great job of focusing on safety first (and) then speed," says Rocky Vecera, assistant warehouse manager of the Dot centre in Cambridge City, Indiana. "This was evident in the low number of infractions issued due to not stopping and honking."

The Burley warehouse accumulated the best overall score and was declared the all-around distribution centre champion.

Dot Foods and Dot Transportation sell and deliver 100,000 products from 700 food industry manufacturers to distributors in 50 US states.
In addition to the Idaho, Illinois and Indiana sites, Dot has distribution centres in Modesto, California; Vidalia, Georgia; Williamsport, Maryland; Liverpool, New York; and Ardmore, Oklahoma.