What happens to the transport industry after a viral pandemic comes under control? It’s a question many drivers, dispatchers, and others have been asking amid the COVID-19 crisis. No doubt the outbreak has had a massive impact on commercial transport activity. While some fleets fared better than others, there was (and still is) a significant drop in business. Despite being deemed an essential service, many commercial drivers and others have been furloughed, while others have had more work than ever. Firstly, Human Resources is going to have a considerable amount of new challenges to deal with. Many workers will be called back to duty, and we might even see a surge in demand for drivers and logistics personnel as the world will be relying more and more on the rapid movement of goods. It’s still unclear how the economy will rebound, and the supply and demand of talent might undergo some dramatic fluctuations. In addition to recruiting key talent, HR will need to evaluate the performance of remote workers, and help everyone to transition back to office environments while respecting certain distancing measures. Secondly, ongoing health and safety measures will have to be rigorously enforced to prevent workers from letting their guard down. Even as transmission rates slow down, it doesn’t seem like we are getting out of the woods any time soon. Many employees will continue to work from home, and drivers will continue to wash their hands with vigor after every interaction, and keep close interactions to a minimum. Masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer will continue to be paramount weapons against the offending virus. Again, HR and upper management in transport companies will have to enforce best practices and keep their teams supported and updated with official protocols. Finally, technology will play a big role in how just about every fleet will move forward. Thanks to the solutions that enable people to work remotely, many transport companies were able to function normally. The companies that hadn’t previously invested in this kind of tech infrastructure have undoubtedly adopted these critical solutions, and will be looking into adding even more robust tech going forward. In the past, cybersecurity might not have been top of mind for managers of trucking companies, but it will be now. We saw serious data breaches in companies of all kinds during the pandemic. As all industries, including transport, will be relying on progressive tech to streamline operations and to minimize human contact, investing in cybersecurity will be a must. This will have an impact on the drivers who must learn to use various new apps and softwares, dispatch teams, admin staff, and others; not to mention a growing need for a dedicated IT team – something that wasn’t as necessary 15 years ago! We are having to live day by day with an incredibly uncertain future, and with a lot of unanswered questions. The freefalling economy doesn’t provide many comforting thoughts, but one this is certain: essential freight will always need to flow. We need truck drivers and logistics teams to ensure that people can eat and get what they need to function.Going forward, we only can hope for a return to normalcy, though it seems there will be some protocols and news ways of working to keep in mind.
If there’s one good thing that has come from this pandemic, it’s that commercial drivers are finally getting the appreciation they deserve!
