Seattle-Tacoma was honored at an award presentation as one of Freightliner Trucks’ “Hardest Working Cities.” The recognition program was created after an economic data review revealed a relationship between investments in work trucks and thriving economies.
The city received the award for its employment in construction and manufacturing and significant investment in infrastructure projects, as well as being in the top 20% in North American for contribution to gross domestic product, according to Freightliner. Washington State Senator Pam Roach accepted the award on behalf of the city and spoke about the hard work put in by Seattle-Tacoma workers, most notably in the ongoing $470 million expansion of the Port of Seattle International Arrivals Facility.
"The ‘Hardest Working Cities’ program is a great way to celebrate the people working hard towards positive growth," said Mary Aufdemberg, director of product marketing at Daimler Trucks North America. "We believe it's important to acknowledge cities such as Seattle that value work trucks, and the hard working men and women who operate them, for essential jobs such as building highways or loading and unloading cargo from ships to trucks.”
To further thank workers, Freightliner said it made three visits to work sites around the area – Potelco, Food Services of America and Miles Sand & Gravel.
To determine the Hardest Working Cities, Freightliner noted it conducted a review of more than 400 metropolitan areas in North America. The review measured 11 categories ranging from improvement in unemployment rate to infrastructure investment and the number of jobs in key industry sectors including construction, manufacturing and logistics. Seattle-Tacoma is the ninth city to receive the award since the launch of the program last year.
