Carter Heavy Haulage
How Carter Heavy Haulage is protecting our people and our business
It’s hard to take a step without hearing the words Coronavirus or COVID-19, particularly within the transport industry.
With the constant flow of news (some real, some fake!), it is easy to get overwhelmed … so we want to take a moment to assure our staff, customers, and their loved ones that we are committed to their health and safety.
We understand that concern is growing in the community, and we believe have a responsibility as business owners to ensure that our staff and workplace are as safe as possible. We are taking this very seriously, monitoring the situation, and considering the possible impact on our team, our business, and our industry.
How is COVID-19 affecting demand, and supply?
We all laughed when people started panic-buying toilet paper, but with many supermarket shelves empty of other items, it suddenly feels a little more serious.
Retailers are seeing an unprecedented increase in demand for pantry staples like rice, pasta, tinned vegetables and long-life milk, as well as bulk packs of easy to freeze meats, and they simply can’t restock fast enough. And that’s just groceries!
Hospitals across Australian are preparing for a potential influx of patients, requiring an urgent increase in the stock of essential medical supplies such as face masks, intubation kits, and even basic bedding.
Meanwhile, the Government are now encouraging reduced social interaction, and flexible work policies (such as working from home), however as we know, this isn’t possible in the transport and logistics industry.
As the demand increases, the pressure on suppliers increases. They need more stock on hand, to deliver in larger quantities, to more customers, with shorter lead times. Subsequently, in order to get these groceries and medical supplies off the shelves and into the stores, they need more drivers on the roads. We deeply appreciate the many drivers who we know are working longer hours in difficult conditions in order to help sustain our community.
What can we do to support our workforce?
As you know, at Carter Heavy Haulage, we’re all about safety. In fact, we’ve even won awards for our approach. But how can we protect our crew and customers from COVID-19?
By keeping our workers informed, and by following the advice given to us by the experts.
This week, we provided every employee with a copy of our Dealing with Coronavirus in the Workplace Policy, which outlines both our commitment as an organisation and our responsibility as individuals to help slow the spread of the virus.
The information and advice we have provided includes:
- strongly encourage all staff to follow the guidelines set by the World Health Organisation regarding infection control measures
- direction to Government advice in the case of potential exposure or diagnosis
- amendments to our flexible work policies, allowing remote work where possible
- compulsory internal reporting of travel or transit through any countries nominated by the Australian Government as ‘high risk’
- guidance around how we will ensure the continuation of business operations
By being prepared, and remaining considerate of each other – both in and outside the workplace – we will get through this difficult situation together.
What’s next?
While the entire Carter Heavy Haulage team sincerely hope that this virus is contained quickly, none of us can anticipate how long we will be in this situation, or how significantly we will be affected.
As time progresses and circumstances change, it may become necessary for our business to adjust, and we are committed to taking whatever actions necessary to comply with Government advice, ensuring the ongoing safety of those within our workplace and the wider community.
For current advice regarding in Australia, we recommend following official health alerts from the Australian Government Department of Health. They have also released some helpful videos and print resources for business owners, as part of the COVID-19 campaign.
If you are a client or employee and would like to know more about our policies, please call us on 0412 994 742 or email us at admin@carterheavyhaulage.com.au.
