Coronavirus Logistics Update 6 (COVID-19)

This is our weekly update on the effects of the Coronavirus and its impact on the logistics sector. The current status of the coronavirus is still very serious. The latest news from the Chinese is now they appear have the Coronavirus under control in China. The news is reporting new transmitted cases for the last two days. Logistics operations within the country are slowly return to normal with many restrictions outside of Wuhu being lifted and factories increasing production. However our agents are reporting a large drop off in export bookings which will no doubt continue to cause ripples through out international supply chains.

Unfortunately the rest of the world is still attempting to get the virus under control. More and more of Europe is restricting people’s movement, with borders being closed and people being asked to stay at home. Currently though freight is being allowed to move to try and reduce the impact on supply chains.  In the UK there are currently 3269 reported cases with 65 cases reported full recovered. It is expected this is to grow exponentially over the next few weeks until the various isolation measures take effect. From today all schools are closing for all pupils apart from those whose parents are working in jobs classed as essential. The one advantage of these containment issues will be reducing traffic on roads considerably. This is at least going to make essential deliveries to shops and other stores easier for transport operators.

Within the UK the government is looking at a series of measures to help move freight around the country. One of these measures is giving freight trains and their routings priority over passenger trains for the first time since the second world war. Normally this would not be possible as it would result in major disruption to passenger services. With passenger services being reduced from Monday, this will means the effect from the change in policy will be reduced making this a viable option. This should help central distribution centres being able to get more goods in and then have the ability to send goods out. The government has announce a temporary relaxation of vehicle driving hours for trucks delivering foods products, cleaning supplies and medical supplies. This again is to try and increase the frequency of deliveries to shops and other outlets.

The industry body, the Association of Pallet Networks, which represents the networks including Palletways and Palletforce have offered their combined distribution network to the government for the movement of  urgent medical goods. The association feels it is uniquely positioned to handle this any urgent distribution demands due to the large existing network of warehouses and trucks covering the country.

Multimodal 2020 has as most people would expect been cancelled and moved to November. If all the events currently being moved to this period do go ahead it is going to be one of the busiest periods, with people just going from event to event for several months. Finally while the government says it is serious for everyone, if you are normally heathy adult  if you catch the virus you would be expected to fully recover from it. There is plenty of food in the UK supply chain network, so panic buying is not required either.