Covid-19 and Trucking — Best Fleet Practices During a Pandemic

Covid-19 and Trucking — Best Fleet Practices During a Pandemic

Here at US Special Delivery, we are doing our part to keep our employees and customers safe and healthy! We provide our employees with a variety of PPE (personal protective equipment), including gloves, facial masks, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes. YOU…the Most Important Part of US!

We also do temperature checks at all of our facilities, have “COVID-19” Stations (with contactless thermometers, gloves, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and face masks) and require all vendors and visitors to wear masks.

Here are some other Tips and Practices that everyone can use!

Tips and Practices

Common sense is the key here and most everyone knows the recommendations by the WHO (World Health Organization) but for delivery drivers who are in constant contact with many people in many different areas, it is easier to spread this faster. That is why it is imperative for delivery drivers to take extra precautions to keep everyone safe.

First the basics. You may already know some of these but it is a good refresher and you may find things you didn’t know about in the list. Here are the WHO recommendations.

• Physical Distancing — try to keep 6 feet away from everyone. Although the WHO recommends 1 meter (3.28 feet) it is better to be safe than sorry.
• Wear Masks — This greatly reduces the risk of exposure. Especially if worn by both people!
• Keeping rooms well-ventilated — Increasing the airflow increases the safety of people in that room.
• Avoid crowds — Even if you go to a gathering where you know everyone does not mean that you are automatically safe!
• Wash your hands — Your hands are in constant contact with everything around you and since Covid-19 can stay on surfaces for up to 24 hours and be infectious on cardboard, 4 hours on copper, etc. it is important to wash your hands or wear gloves. For more info on this study and the time period of other surfaces follow this link.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth — You never realize how much you do this until you make yourself conscious of it.
• Where you cough and sneeze — Since our hands are in constant contact with everything it is a good idea to cough into the crook of your elbow and sneeze into a disposable tissue.
• If at all possible avoid spaces that are crowded (cannot maintain safe distance), confined (restricted access), and closed (no airflow).
• Meet people outside as much as possible.
• If you have to work in a room increase ventilation by opening a window.
• Clean and disinfect areas — Especially the areas frequently in contact such as doors, door handles, sinks, trash cans, etc.
• If you are feeling the symptoms stay home.
• Keep up-to-date on the latest information from TRUSTED sources like the WHO (World Health Organization or the CDC (Center for Disease Control). Not your friend Bob.

Here are some additional Practices that delivery drivers and recipients can take.

• Have drivers wash their faces and hands thoroughly before entering the semi.
• Have two containers for pens. One sanitized and one to be sanitized.
• Wipe down clipboards after every use.
• If you share a truck cab with other drivers be sure to wipe down everything with sanitation cloths. Be sure to do a good job on the following items.
• Start by going over the outside of the truck by cleaning the following:
• Keys
• FOBs
• Door Handles
• Hood Handle Areas
• Support Bars used to get into the Truck
• Fuel Filler Cap and Surrounding Area
• Mirrors if they have to be hand-adjusted
• Any other area that you know hands will be.
• After entering the truck pay attention to cleaning these areas:
• Starter Buttons
• Ignition Area
• Steering Wheel
• Rear View Mirror
• Shifters
• Turn Signals
• Touch Screens
• Power Door and Window Switches
• Door Handles
• Dash
• Visors
• Center Console
• Armrests
• Seat Adjustments
• Radio
• Glove Box
• Any Other Area that is Frequently Touched by Hands
• You can download our truck cleaning guidelines here. Guideline for Cleaning your truck step-by-step.
• Wash and dry linens, clothes, handkerchiefs, and cloth laundry bags.
• Dispose of plastic bags used for garbage and dirty laundry.
• Keep up your personal hygiene by taking showers regularly.
• Turn the above into an SOP (standard operating procedure) and make it available to your employees.
• Try to schedule it so that the sharing of truck cabs is reduced to a minimum.
• Being in a truck cab for long periods of time can become hazardous so it is important to keep the area well-ventilated. Crack that window and fan then crank up the heat!
• Make it a habit to sign papers on a dock instead of an office.
• Wear gloves outside of your cab when handling products, using fuel pumps, touchpads, and meeting with people then disinfect the gloves afterward.
• Disinfect your equipment.
• Avoid using driver lounges.
• Don’t accept a package from your customer’s hands. Instead, have them leave it on the dock and pick it up after they have left it.
• Have drivers use their own pens instead of using the customers.
• Sanitize your hands before and after contact with a customer.
• Provide your employees with PPE (personal protective equipment).
• Set up temperature checks for your employees. Even though you can have the virus for several days without any symptoms this still can help cut down on spreading the virus.
• Set up Covid-19 stations to supply masks, sanitizer, and wipes for everyone. Then make sure it keeps STOCKED!
• Focus on providing fast and adequate training, as you may need to quickly train new drivers to fulfill openings in certain verticals.
• Train your drivers on new protocols and SOPs (standard operating procedures) that deal with the pandemic.
• Post posters on what to do and encourage employees to stay home when they show Covid-19 symptoms.
• Review the CDC guidelines for long-haul truckers.
• Employ a hotline for employees to anonymously voice concerns.

Develop a ‘Covid-19’ team and put someone in charge to get all of this done. This will ensure the safety of everyone by not making them distracted by their other duties.

By following these guidelines not only are you making it safe for your employees, vendors, and customers but you are ensuring a profitable future.

Contact Us today to see what we can do for you!

The article was written by Michael Rock of The Internet Presence, LLC, and US Special Delivery is the source.