Booming Drive-Thru Traffic | Video

Alex Hagan | 6/22/2012

Thousands of workers in western North Dakota are constantly on the move every day. Which means the workers don`t always get much time to eat. In many cases, that means a trip to the drive-thru. Which means employees at the Golden Arches in Dickinson have their hands full.

It`s lunch time in Dickinson, and workers at McDonalds are under the gun. Putting burgers together and taking orders even faster than usual.

"It`s a combination of the number of people in the Dickinson area now and also because of the number of travelers coming through the summertime especially," said customer Jim Wilson.

From the drive-thru to walk-in traffic, Kelley`s McDonald`s just off the interstate is slammed with customers on a daily basis.

"It`s crazy here, you can never find parking. You end up having to park like down the street and crossing the street. With her, I don`t like doing it." said customer Jessica Dutton.

The increase in customers through the door creates a fast-paced and slightly more stressful environment for each person on staff.

"Working here at McDonalds, it`s not for everybody because it can get very very stressful if we`re short on help." said owner Mike Kelley.

Kelley is now calling in some help from Dickinson State University. Through a program on campus, students from around the globe are given jobs around the city, including several at the golden arches.

"We have people from Macedonia, Jamaica, Russia. They`re really good, they`re really good and without them I don`t know what we`d do if we didn`t have these people."

And Kelley admits, they`re always looking for more help.

"We probably have 90 employees and we`re probably 15 or 20 short."

Despite the constant drive-thru traffic, customers say McDonalds employees are doing a great job keeping up.

"It`s very clean and the tenants seem to clean the tables off very quickly and we are able to get our food relatively quickly and it`s always been very good service," Wilson said.

A team that restaurant workers say runs like a well-oiled machine.

"They`re really good about sticking us where we`re comfortable with here and we just work well as a team," said employee Marie Olson.

One of the busiest fast-food chains in America, and that`s no exception in the heart of oil country.

Kelley owns another McDonalds in Williston and is already in the process of building a new restaurant there.

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