Amazon employees Austin Baggett, left, Mario Howard and Richard Miller prepare to order their lunch from the Chick-N-Nooga food truck Monday outside the Amazon distribution center in Enterprise South Industrial Park.
FAST FACT
Packages in Amazon’s Chattanooga distribution center move through about 2,500 scanners in the building, which has the floor space of an estimated 28 football fields.
Lauren Hannah has worked at Amazon's sprawling Chattanooga distribution center for the past three years and likes to grab lunch from the food trucks which regularly service the facility.
"You get a lot of food at a really good price," she said this week outside the Chick-N-Nooga truck parked in front of the center. "It's very convenient, and it comes really quick, too."
Amazon has arranged for food trucks to help feed the internet retailer's teeming workforce of 2,500 full-time employees. The trucks come each day around 11 a.m. for the day shift and then at 10:00 p.m. or so for the employees who work at night.
"It's a fun perk," said Amazon spokeswoman Ali Hutchins.
Amazon has about a half dozen facilities in Tennessee. While other fulfillment centers have relationships with local vendors, including food trucks, the Chattanooga operation is "the most robust one," according to Amazon.
Hutchins said a variety of different trucks come on alternate days of the week to help serve the Chattanooga workers, offering employees everything from chicken to fish to tacos to barbecue.
Mario Howard, an area manager at the Enterprise South industrial park center, said there are market kiosks in break rooms at the facility where workers can buy food. Or, they can bring their own lunch if they want.
Howard said he eats at the food trucks about once a week because, sometimes, "It's too good to pass up."
Melissa Dorgan of Bayou Bites said she and husband Heath have operated food trucks across the country, but they decided in 2016 to come to Chattanooga and stayed.
The Amazon stop is profitable, she said, but they also do catering and corporate events.
Bruce Smith, owner of Chick-N-Nooga, said his food truck serves about 50 to 60 people each day he's at Amazon. But, during the peak period around the Christmas holidays when hiring ramps up sharply at the distribution center, he'll see between 70 and 80 customers.
He, too, said the Amazon service is profitable for him.
"It keeps me going," Smith said.
He, too, services other clients, though he someday might like to open a small restaurant.
The Amazon center is one of Chattanooga's largest employers as workers help navigate packages though the 10 miles of conveyor belts throughout the building.
Amazon announced in 2010 that the company was building 1 million-square-foot distribution centers in Chattanooga and Charleston, Tenn., investing $139 million and creating more than 1,400 full-time jobs.
Amazon started with about 700 full-time workers in Chattanooga and 300 in Charleston when it began operations in 2011.
Now, combined with the Bradley County facility and part-time employees, the Seattle-based retailer has close to 4,000 workers in Southeast Tennessee, according to the company.