How to Survive Covid and Weather (As A Shipping Manager)

The last year has been hard on all of us. Back in December I wrote a blog post about how your freight is going to be late. Because it is. That has not changed. Here are a few tips on how to keep going in spite of the plague and the weather.

1. Ship early. If you have a firm in-hands date give yourself at least two extra days of transit. This will help. Given that most carriers have suspended guaranteed service during the pandemic you need to plan ahead. Nothing is going to happen quickly.
2. Use regional carriers when possible. It’s not a guarantee, but personally I have seen fewer pickup failures when dealing with small carriers as opposed to national. This isn’t always feasible, but something to keep in mind. DO NOT use regional carriers when they will need to interline for delivery though. That is more likely to cause delays.
3. Be patient. As I type this about 2/3 of the US is digging out from a couple major winter storms that ground some states to a screeching halt. There is nothing you can do about this. There is nothing anyone can do. Accept the things you cannot change and be at peace with it.
4. Have a backup plan. If a terminal that handles your freight en route has a Covid outbreak, they will have to quarantine for 14 days. That means your freight will either not move, or move very slowly as a skeleton crew works on transferring it, for 14 days.
5. Get some perspective. If your freight is going to a state with no power or water, and people are literally freezing to death, your freight is not going to be the most important thing in their lives. If your freight is going to a state where thousands of people are sick or dying, that freight is not going to be #1 on the priority list. Everyone is trying their best, but there are a lot of emergencies going on.

As I write this another one of our carriers has imposed an embargo to certain zip codes because Covid has left them so short of staff there is no way to handle all of the freight. Take some time to think about how serious that is. This is apocalyptic stuff. Keep human priorities in perspective.

Good luck to us all!