The world as you know it has been unceremoniously shut-down, as governmental restrictions designed to stop the spread of COVID-19 have forced the majority of Canadians to self-isolate and flatten the curve. Schools are closed, entertainment postponed or cancelled, and depending on your employer, you could be either working from home or unemployed. And yet, amidst the crisis, vital supply chains have continued to operate. It’s clear there are many unsung heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many of them are working for trucking companies in Ontario.
Essential Transportation Workers the Key to Stable Social Order
Canadians have discovered that the workers they thought were “essential” to maintaining a stable economy and access to consumer goods are not sitting in board rooms. Instead, they are the grocery clerks, the line cooks and the delivery people who have helped maintain some semblance of normalcy during the COVID-19 crisis. Transportation workers and logistics employees of international freight shipping companies have also been deemed essential given their vital role in keeping goods moving from suppliers to consumers.
For trucking companies in the GTA, the list of essential workers keeping operations going are often unsung heroes. Let’s start with the truck drivers behind the wheels of the rigs rolling back and forth across the border keeping supply chains running and goods flowing. Given their potential for exposure while driving across state lines, the Canadian border and provincial boundaries, their job is entirely high risk but vital to ensure food and medical supplies can continue to be purchased in Canadian retail outlets. Behind the scenes, it’s the truck dispatchers who are helping to coordinate the huge fleets of transport trucks and trailers racking up the kilometres to deliver goods. Warehouse workers are the backbone of the important warehousing networks currently working overtime to manage hectic shipments of in-demand products bound for markets. Without their labour efforts trucks would be empty and the real impact of the pandemic would be felt across the country.
Machinery and infrastructure vital to supply chains needs to be operating at maximum capacity, and the mechanics and technicians working at trucking companies in Ontario are critical to ensuring the mechanical health of trucks and transports. A well-maintained fleet of transport trucks is truly essential to keeping the economy rolling. Along the way, regulatory requirements must be addressed, which means commercial vehicle inspection stations workers can’t be at home; instead, they’re staffing the inspection stations and helping truckers remain in compliance and ensuring our roads aren’t filled with rogue truckers hauling unsafe loads.
NATS Canada Remains an Essential Service to Trucking Companies
As a respected 3PL provider in Canada, NATS Canada has become an industry leader by developing a reliable, cost-effective international network of freight trucking companies operating across North America during the pandemic. Their team is working hard to ensure the shipping and receiving of package goods, industrial materials and manufacturing equipment and supplies continues to keep Canada operational during these extraordinary times.
Learn more about the variety of services offered by NATS Canada.
