Meet The Fresh Fruit Delivery Drivers Bringing Produce to You

It would be pretty fantastic if the fruit in your office could magically replenish overnight. Imagine apples dropping from the ceiling like Christmas presents sliding down the chimney! The FruitGuys’ R&D department is training our flock of fruit faeries. But for now, we rely on a human team of fresh fruit delivery drivers who are so good that they’re almost magical. 

In this blog, you’ll meet Alex and Thomas, two drivers who navigate traffic snarls and weather troubles to bring fruit and snacks to offices like yours. Plus, we’ll answer all of your burning delivery FAQs. 

Now, let’s set the scene. 

Up Bright and Early

It’s 1:30 a.m. on a Monday morning in San Francisco. All over the city, night owls are turning off their lights and crawling into bed. But for delivery driver Alex Troubetzkoy, the day is just getting started.  

“We’re the early morning people on Mondays,” Alex said. “… We start at about 1:30 a.m., and we drive to the warehouse where we load up the boxes on our truck.”

Alex and his brother Andy own AT Transport, and they’ve delivered for The FruitGuys as independent contractors for thirteen years. Alex is the primary driver, and his truck is outfitted with custom shelves to hold FruitGuys boxes filled with farm-fresh fruit and snacks. The shelves keep the produce in peak condition as he traverses the winding streets of San Francisco. 

At The FruitGuys’ warehouse in Dallas, Texas, Thomas Boothe starts his day just a few hours after Alex hits the road. Thomas is The FruitGuys’ client delivery and operations specialist, so when he arrives at the warehouse at 5 a.m., he doesn’t just load his own truck. He also helps out other couriers who contract with The FruitGuys to deliver fruit to Austin, Houston, and the rest of the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex. 

“On Mondays, I get in and I’ll haul the palette with [the Houston courier’s] boxes to the load-up door and get him loaded up and on his way. Then I load myself up with my boxes in the FruitGuys van. After I do that, I haul the palette of boxes for our two couriers who handle the other DFW deliveries, and stage those by the same load up door ready to go,” Thomas said. “Then I go outside, get in the van, do my checklist, and start my day.”

White Glove Fresh Fruit Delivery

On an average Monday, Alex and Thomas deliver to all kinds of FruitGuys customers—from office towers and sports stadiums to libraries and fire stations. Some of those deliveries are “white glove,” meaning they use keycards to enter the building, head up to the customer’s kitchen or break room, and personally unbox and display their fruit. Often, Alex arrives before opening hours, so he gets to know each building’s security guards.

“I find out what type of fruit they like, and if I have leftover fruit I give the guards the fruit—just for better service and better personal interaction,” he explained. “I also make sure I learn all of the security guards’ names and make a little small talk with them.”

Thanks to those personal relationships, Alex can get in and out of each office quickly and easily. Then, he jumps back in his truck and heads to the next dropoff. 

In Texas, Thomas also likes to make personal connections at his stops. Chatting with porters and receptionists is one of his favorite parts of the job. 

“While I’m doing the white glove part of my service, I see the porters, so we’ll chat about how their weekend was and what we did,” he said. 

Only a few of Thomas’s deliveries are white glove. The others are more routine, but still take expertise and experience to complete. He leaves his boxes at a range of designated dropoff points including service elevators, reception desks, store rooms, and supply carts. Thomas has delivered for The FruitGuys since 2017, so he knows exactly where to leave each box. 

He also makes first-time deliveries to new customers whenever he can so that he can introduce himself and hand over his business card, even if their office is on another Texas courier’s delivery route. In all, Thomas drives about 150 miles every Monday.

Tangling With Traffic

San Francisco’s narrow, one-way streets, morning traffic, and lack of parking make each fresh fruit delivery a challenge for drivers—but Alex is used to the hustle. He and Andy were born and raised in the nearby suburb of Burlingame, and have been navigating San Francisco’s streets their entire lives.

“I’ve been here for fifty-one years,” he told The FruitGuys proudly. Alex got to know the city even better during the COVID-19 pandemic when he made more home deliveries to remote workers. 

Traffic can be tricky in Dallas, too, especially when accidents cause backups on the freeways. To keep on top of the latest wrecks, Thomas listens to local radio stations while he packs his truck and uses alternate routes when he can. His two biggest enemies, he said, are “time and traffic.” 

Weather could easily be third on that list. On May 28, a nasty storm rolled into the Dallas area. It downed power lines, knocked over trees, collapsed construction sites, and snarled traffic, making the busy delivery day after Memorial Day weekend even more complicated. The rain was so heavy at the warehouse that Thomas worried about carrying his fruit boxes through the storm. 

“I backed up the back end of the van into the warehouse, past the giant roll-up doors, so that I could load up from the back end and not get drenched,” he said. 

Why They Drive 

Alex and Thomas come from different backgrounds, and they enjoy their work for The FruitGuys for different reasons. 

When Alex isn’t on the road, he and Andy run a second business painting houses. He also raises bees and grows vegetables in his garden. Delivering for The FruitGuys felt like a great fit for him because he’s a huge fruit fan. His vegetarian mom and grandma taught him to appreciate produce at a young age, and fresh fruit delivery feels like a natural extension of his childhood visits to farm stands.

“Fruit is a happy product to deliver,” he said. “When you deliver the fruit it puts a smile on people’s faces. It’s really funny. They ask, ‘What are you delivering?’ I say, ‘Fruit!’ and everybody smiles.”

Thomas moved to Dallas from Lafayette, Louisiana, and has a background in retail sales and operations. One of his favorite parts of the job is chatting with other people and making connections, but he also likes the quiet time on the road. He thinks through his day or plans his weekend while he drives with classic rock or sports on the radio. 

“Sometimes you feel lonely, but sometimes it’s like, ‘Well, I have my thoughts and I have myself so I’m good,’” he said. 

A Big Thank-You

The FruitGuys couldn’t do what we do without hardworking drivers like Alex and Thomas. They may not actually be magic, but they get up before the sun to make sure our customers get their fruit and snacks. As the client delivery and operations specialist, Thomas also handles paperwork and attends FruitGuys meetings. Plus, as Alex said, they bring smiles to everyone they meet! 

For those reasons and many others, we’d like to thank Alex, Thomas, and all of our courier partners and drivers nationwide. Hopefully, you think of them next time you bite into a piece of fresh FruitGuys fruit.

FruitGuys Fresh Fruit Delivery FAQs

1. Where does The FruitGuys deliver? 

We deliver everywhere in the continental US, plus Alaska and Hawaii. Unfortunately, we don’t deliver to Puerto Rico at this time. To see which FruitGuys products are available in your region, enter your zip code into our shopping cart.

2. Does The FruitGuys deliver on holidays?

The FruitGuys is closed for federal holidays. If your regular delivery is on a day of the week that is a holiday, we will contact you about changing it to the next day. You can also skip your delivery or forward your order to a local charity through our Donate-a-Crate program. 

3. How long does fresh fruit delivery take? 

We aim to deliver every order within 48 hours of receiving the shipping receipt. However, our process is human-powered, so delivery times may vary, especially during the holidays. 

4. When can I expect my fresh fruit delivery to arrive? 

The FruitGuys doesn’t guarantee specific delivery times, but we do take requests and work with our clients to fit our deliveries into their schedules as best we can. If you have questions about your delivery time, please reach out to customer service. 

5. Can I track my order?

Because we love working with small businesses like AT Transport that operate independently, The FruitGuys doesn’t currently offer real-time order tracking. 

6. What is included in white glove service? 

Our white glove delivery service varies depending on what each customer needs. Often, customers ask our drivers to bring their deliveries into the office, unbox the trays in their break rooms, arrange their fruit and snacks in FruitGuys displays, and remove the packaging materials when they’re finished. To learn more about our white glove options, please reach out to customer service. They’ll connect you with a delivery expert. 

7. Does white glove service cost extra? 

White glove service includes an additional cost to compensate drivers like Alex and Thomas for their time and effort. To learn more about our white glove options, please reach out to customer service. They’ll connect you with a delivery expert. 

8. Does FruitGuys deliver in sustainable packaging? 

All of our packaging is designed with sustainability in mind. In 2021 we made changes to our box design to reduce the volume of material needed for our packaging and minimize its environmental impact. Our packaging is non-toxic and recyclable, plus, all of our fruit and snack boxes are easy to reuse. The large fruit and snack boxes are handy for storing file folders. They’re the perfect size! The smaller boxes with dividers are great for packing delicate items like cups, knickknacks, or ornaments.