Moving Words – Post Pandemic

Timothy Brady

“Covid is likely to persist once its pandemic phase has passed and circulate each winter alongside the flu. Even after more of us contract coronavirus infection and develop immunity to it or even after an effective vaccine arrives, some people will still get very sick.”  – Scott Gottlieb

After 16 months of lockdowns, quarantines, masks and whether to get the vaccine or not, at least we’ve got a bit of sunlight at the end of the tunnel. The question on most people’s minds: “Is the pandemic really coming to an end or is it just taking a pause?”  According to Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (2017 -2019) said on April 23, 2021, “I don’t think we should be thinking about achieving herd immunity.” He continued, “The U.S. May never achieve ‘true herd immunity’ to COVID-19 .” So what does this mean to movers?

1. The virus is not going to go away; the pandemic may end, but the virus or one of its many variants will continue to impact the health of many Americans. It may become very similar to the seasonal flu where in the warm months it is nearly nonexistent, but in the colder months, because people tend to congregate more indoors, it will rear its ugly head.
2. Since movers travel nationwide and work in enclosed environments with close proximity to others, being diligent with certain precautions should continue to ensure the health and safety of moving crews and our shippers. Wearing masks, using hand sanitizer as preventives come to mind as a continued means to hold back the virus. The question many agencies and van lines will wrestle with is whether to require their van operators and moving crews to be vaccinated. According to Dr. Gottlieb, “It will require people exercising some civic virtue to get vaccinated even if they individually feel they’re at low risk of the infection,” he said. “Because even if they’re personally low risk they can still get and transmit the infection, and you can’t eradicate a disease where you have a significant contingent of people who are going to continue to catch it and transmit it.” And with the mobility of movers going from city to city and then spending several days in direct and close content with shippers and local agency personnel, it might be something worth considering

So where do we go from here? We must continue to provide our moving and storage services, continue to strive to profit and grow our respective companies. With the emergence from any crisis there will always be opportunities, some worth taking advantage of, others to be left.

Being ready to take on these opportunities will be paramount to the continued success and profitability of your company. It’s been projected additional moving companies will be hanging up their hats over the next year or two. Each time a mover closes their doors, its customers will be searching for other companies to fill the void. It will be very important to monitor what’s happening with your competitors and their customers.

On the other side of the coin, so your operation isn’t one of those tossing in the hat and closing, REMEMBER – If the primary customer of a mover has to downsize because of economic conditions, that can mean disaster for the moving company, especially if that customer represents the majority of the hauler’s loads and revenue. What are your customer’s plans? Will they be increasing or decreasing their employee transfers? Are they moving more towards many their employees working remotely from home? Will the company be downsizing their office space due to more employees working remotely? Will employees who work remotely be looking to move closer to family or further out into the suburbs or more rural? While each moving company’s customers will deal with the post pandemic world differently, it will be up to you to inquire as to their plans so you can adjust accordingly.

What are some signals of a potential opportunity?

• A sudden increase in available shipments from a customer for which you occasionally haul could indicate the major hauler of the account is in trouble.
• An article in the local paper about a reduction in staff for a local company which could indicate several transfers on the horizon.
• Information about a customer changing focus from the area they serve to a region in which you are currently providing service.
• Your competition is suddenly having equipment sales to reduce fleet size, usually an indication the company is starving for cash.
• A sudden increase of drivers and Owner/Operators from your competition asking about openings with your company.

The idea here is to always keep your ear to the ground and listen to what is going on with your competition and the customers for which you all service.

The pandemic has changed how we view the world and how we will operate into the future. Our normal has changed and we all must adjust to the ‘new normal.’ But isn’t this what the human race has done for 6 million or so years?

“COVID-19 is not the first pandemic and it won’t be the last.” –  Norman Swan