Well before the Nasdaq opening bell on Dec. 17, Medline’s listing day began with a MedTrans truck threading its way through crowded Manhattan streets. At the wheel was Joe Ruiz, navigating toward Times Square, where his truck, bearing Medline logos and a smiley-face sign he affixed himself, would help mark one of the biggest milestones in the company’s history.

As Medline went public that morning, with Ruiz’s truck the centerpiece of the company’s “takeover” of Times Square on its first day as a Nasdaq-listed company, “you could feel the pride and accomplishment,” Ruiz said.

A MedTrans driver of more than seven years, Ruiz has seen almost everything when it comes to supply delivery. Based out of Medline’s distribution center in Montgomery, N.Y., one of the company’s 45 DCs across the United States, he makes frequent trips in and out of New York City, where narrow streets and dense traffic can make for tricky routes.

The thought of parking a truck in the middle of Times Square hardly fazed him.

“Times Square isn’t really that bad,” he said. “Once you leave that area, it starts to get – how can I say it? – a little challenging. Especially at certain times of the day.”

On listing day, Ruiz, who starts a typical shift long before the sun comes up, already had made three deliveries to Medline customers in Manhattan, beginning at 1:30 a.m.

“I got straight in, took care of my three accounts, and then I headed over to Nasdaq,” he said.

The morning was chilly and cloudy but did nothing to dampen Ruiz’s sunny demeanor – a point of pride and part of the reason he was chosen for the Times Square job.

“My truck, in the front, has a sign with a big smiley face that says, ‘Have a nice day,’” he said. “At least a couple of times per day, I’ll have people who see it and say, ‘You, too!’”

On being picked to represent Medline, “I was very honored and privileged to do it,” Ruiz said. All his fellow drivers at the Montgomery DC share the same commitment, he added – working hard to fill orders for customers in the region.

“The guys here, they really hustle,” he said.

And the sense of accomplishment is sweet. At a Medline DC, seeing the sheer amount of product moving is “like a dance,” Ruiz said. Delivering orders to healthcare providers can be deeply fulfilling, knowing the impact that Medline products have on people’s lives. Some of Ruiz’s family members work in healthcare and frequently are impressed by both the quality of Medline products and the speed at which they are delivered, Ruiz said. Medline delivers next-day to 95% of U.S. customers with a fleet of more than 2,000 trucks, helping healthcare providers do what they do best: keep patients safe and healthy.

“It’s not just dropping stuff off,” Ruiz said. “You are making a difference.”

He recalled a delivery he once made to a children’s hospital in New York. As he dropped off the order, a curious young patient, hospitalized with an illness, asked him what it was like being a MedTrans driver.

Ruiz cheerily explained what he does every day. Thinking about how it affected patients like him, the child then thanked Ruiz for making the delivery.

“I got kind of emotional,” Ruiz said. “The stuff we deliver can sustain life, save a life or maybe make somebody comfortable if there’s nothing else that can be done. So, the thought of delivering what somebody needs today? That’s what gives me my drive.”

Interested in becoming a MedTrans driver or helping Medline serve customers in other ways? Visit the careers section of Medline.com.