Good and thanks for that information.
I’m a heavy truck driver for a grocery chain with stores all across Iowa and into surrounding states. We’re in the cities, but specialized in serving small to medium sized towns where we’re often the only grocery source for many miles around.
I’ve seen one store in the last 48 hours where the manager had to post a one package per customer limit on toilet paper. They did it in time to preserve a sufficient stock for everybody to get what they need. I think corporate pushed that out to all stores yesterday so the people in communities that depend on us don’t walk away empty handed. Meats and staples are in good supply.
Our drivers are all healthy, and the warehouse people, while swamped, are keeping up so far. The inbound lots are still full of outside carriers’ trucks supplying our warehouses. Company president posted to all drivers the usual recommendations and stated that any guy who has doubts should stay away. If that bug gets passed around our driver staff and in the back door of our stores, a lot of people are going to be screwed. The posting hinted that they’re developing a stiff counter measures procedure for quick implementation in the next few days. We drivers are fortunate in that our system requires little human contact on-duty.
A sickness that sidelined 10% of our drivers would put tens of thousands of customers in a tight spot, but we’d all muddle through. Truckload logistics in the last 20 years has moved into a just-in-time paradigm, so not many businesses anywhere have huge stockpiles of anything warehoused. If something severely hampered the trucking system for a week or two, things in my opinion get feral and primitive instantly...nationwide...most especially in the cities.
I would look for the feds to use their emergency declaration powers to suspend the commercial drivers’ hours of service limitations for the duration. It’s not just groceries, but basically everything sold by anyone that has to get there in a big truck. Assuming that people would like to keep eating and having an economy, commercial drivers are essential workers to the uninfected majority as vital as doctors and nurses are to the infected minority. Hell, even those people need their drugs and medical supplies brought in promptly from other time zones.
Federal Motor Carrier regs already contain a provision to suspend hours of service (HOS) limits for individual truck drivers who are hauling supplies and equipment for relief of officially-designated disaster areas. I think that extending that nationwide soon would give carriers the flexibility to offset freight hauling capacity losses that will ensue from a percentage of truckers being taken out by sickness. That’s just going to happen. Preventing those supply chain disruptions would be a lot more pleasant for every citizen than enduring a frantic, chaotic catch-up ordeal after things were allowed to go to pot.
It’s not on the public’s radar, but I hope the President has prodded the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to dope out a plan for this and get it in readiness for swift implementation.