The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about dramatic changes in the way every business has to operate and companies in the transport and logistics sector are no exception. The most vital requirement of all is to make every effort to keep both staff and customers safe from infection.
This is always at the front of mind in every action taken by Relay and the following is an update on procedures currently in place:
Limiting postcode deliveries
Back in March of this year, Relay's Managing Director Hugh Reid communicated our Covid-19 Business Continuity plan to customers and stakeholders, which can be viewed on our website.
He explained then that Relay had "a robust business continuity plan in place and will be regularly assessing our response day by day."
Our operational response to the pandemic has been regularly updated, and one of our decisions, albeit a difficult one to make, was to reduce the frequency of days that we deliver to certain postcodes in the UK, typically from a daily basis to every alternate day. The spreadsheet image with this article shows the structure in place for each of our three depots.
This not only has the benefit of allowing our customers to know exactly which areas are being covered on a given day and plan accordingly, but additionally, Relay trucks are travelling fully loaded and making fewer journeys, which has environmental benefits.
Maintaining strict safety measures
As would be expected, Relay is taking the strictest measures on safety and hygiene to protect our staff and customers. Relay's vehicles are rigorously disinfected before and after every trip and our delivery crews are equipped with washing and sanitising materials. Our customers will also be becoming familiar with the Relay branded facemasks warn by our crew members.
Other measures we have taken to protect against the potential spread of infection include staggering the arrival times of crews at our depots so they have as little contact with colleagues outside their individual crew bubbles as possible.
The early months of lockdown showed the number of deliveries Relay was making plummeted, but since then the figure has steadily climbed to approximately 70% of pre-pandemic levels. We believe this is encouraging news for Relay and shows a revival of the businesses of our customers across a range of sectors.