COVID-19 makes its own adjustments to the work of carriers

The road cargo transportation industry, like many other areas of activity, is experiencing certain difficulties due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic. Of course, the situation here is not as stalemate as in the following industries:

• Tourism.
• Restaurant business.
• Hotel business.

But, nevertheless, the owners of logistics companies have fully felt the impact of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the fact that the borders of the countries are closed to the movement of people, trucks continue to cross international cordons. Such a rise is associated with the need to deliver essential goods in order to eliminate their shortage. The same applies to the transportation of goods inside settlements. Everything is closed, but cargo carriers continue to perform their direct functions.

The trend of increasing demand for carrier services was observed only before the introduction of quarantine measures. During the first week in the conditions of strict quarantine, a decline in activity in this area began to be sharply recorded. If compared with February 2020, the number of applications decreased by about a quarter.

Cargo transportation with the risk of coronavirus infection

The decline in demand for cargo transportation both inside and outside the country is only one of the problems that have arisen in connection with the pandemic. First of all, it should be noted that the main braking factor is that all drivers, without exception, have to work in high-risk conditions. The person who carries the cargo, in addition to contact with other people, must manually fill out invoices, put signatures and contact the transported goods. As statistics show, cases of infection among drivers are not uncommon. In addition, numerous complications and even deaths have been repeatedly recorded here.

The second factor is the downtime of the car due to getting into the quarantine zone. Here, financial losses are simply inevitable. In the best case, the customer will receive the goods after the removal of quarantine measures. 

Another problem that has arisen in the cargo transportation industry is too high fines and traffic jams on the way. Due to the closure of borders, checkpoints are overcrowded, which also makes it difficult to deliver goods to their destinations on time.

Summing up the risks, it is worth mentioning the cost of cargo transportation. If we take into account all the listed problems, this indicator by definition cannot be low. But, to pay a lot of money when the economy is almost completely worth it, not all customers agree. Consequently, carriers are forced to take part of the costs themselves, thereby losing profits and making their work simply unprofitable.

Where can we expect help from?

Since the situation in the freight transportation industry in recent years leaves much to be desired, these problems have only worsened the situation. Many owners of logistics companies have already been going through hard times. But, today these problems have multiplied significantly.

Due to the rapid reduction in demand for the services of carriers, the load on the roadbed has significantly decreased. In connection with quarantine measures, there is a certain softening of the tightening of control. Also, many carriers hope for a certain discount and a symbolic payment in excess of permissible norms and standards.

The only correct solution in this situation is to develop the delivery of goods using light trucks. But, there are certain risks here: the demand will be exactly as long as the quarantine will last. And no one knows how long the pandemic and temporary difficulties in the freight transportation industry will last