COMPANY / CORONAVIRUS UPDATE – 2nd November 2020
We hope you are all well and staying safe. With the Government announcement about a second lockdown from Thursday 5th November, it is clear that we are heading into some uncertain times. As per our previous updates, we are currently operating at maximum capacity and are now waiting for advice from customers about any expected changes to volumes through this lockdown and in the run up to Christmas. What is very clear is that we have to focus extremely hard on the business to maintain our intensity, and ensure that we keep all vehicles moving and operating efficiently. We are expecting some changes to certain customers’ despatches, with some becoming quieter through lockdown and others busier – most likely food, drink, packaging etc. with significant deliveries to supermarkets and RDC’s. Now more than ever, we need to be as flexible as possible to those customer demands to ensure that we continue to be their hauliers of choice – it is very easy to quickly lose our reputation and credibility if we are not flexible enough to meet our customers’ demands. With that in mind, and expecting an increase in weekend work, we need to remind all drivers that your co-operation and support towards the end of the working week (Friday / Saturdays) is and will be essential in the coming weeks. We need all drivers to be flexible towards running in to home depots on Saturdays and your traffic planning teams will look to discuss and put in a fair rota for Saturdays over the coming days. We do expect support from all on this to ensure that the individual driver / vehicle revenues remain viable. This support and the individual weekly revenue figures are always relevant to ensuring that we can keep the vehicles on the road in these turbulent times. Disciplinary action can be taken against any driver refusing to complete a reasonable request. We do urge you to be safe, sensible and extremely vigilant towards COVID and to also be very mindful of the products that we are carrying. We are likely to be carrying ‘thief desirable’ goods during the run up to Christmas, and we need all drivers to understand this, taking extra care to ensure that the product remains secure at all times. Safe overnight parking is a critical focus, and we encourage conversations with the planning teams to ensure that this is maintained. We will try to keep all members of staff updated as we hear any changing news, and we look forward to your continued support over the coming weeks. Stay Safe.
Regards
Stuart