Globally, the health impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic have affected the transportation system, workforce and supply chains. The impacts of the pandemic condition have resulted in some communities in the world experiencing food crises, even before the obvious severe health problems. Some of the indicators of the fact that the pandemic has caused insecurity in the grocery industry include; local food supplies are hard to get, industries that relied on imports and exports are struggling and the disordered economic events. If the problem persists, some areas in the food industry, such as labor shortages in food transportation may soon become a problem.
The rapid worldwide spread of the coronavirus has affected the grocery industry in a number of ways, such as resulting in shortage of truck drivers. This has disrupted supply chains, since there are not enough drivers to deliver food products to the various grocers. Many grocery companies have found it difficult to hire long haul drivers to deliver food in many grocery stores where the shelves run in shortages. However, my grocery has been able to recruit truck drivers to deliver grocers for a few hours and within a shorter distance.
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Despite the challenges posed by the Coronavirus (COVI-19) pandemic in the food supply, grocers are constantly adjusting their operations to compete with customers who are day-by-day emptying the shelves amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. At my facility, the first step in doing this is ensuring employees’ safety. We also anticipate continued production so as to fill the emptied shelves but, we highly recommend social distancing amongst our employees so as to keep them safe. Customers are advised to pay via cashless systems to avoid the risk of transmitting the virus through physical monetary exchanges and must maintain a distance of one meter between each other in the queue and when at the payment counter. My employees use breathing masks to enhance their safety, and the gloves in their hands get disposed off regularly. The new culture of regular washing of hands by use of water or disinfectatnts is also embraced here. It is a new operations culture at my grocery but we are all abiding by it as the only way of ensuring constant supply of products to our customers while ensuring our safety, given the high risk of contracting the virus as we come into direct contact with strangers in need of our services.
If the pandemic situation persists, there plans to develop a self-driving system for trucks to deliver grocers from California to Quakertown, Pennsylvania. Also, the announcement by America’s transportation department to limit rules for truck driving hours especially those truck drivers delivering essential supplies such as food and sanitizers will be of help if implemented. These measures will help ensure a continuous supply of food in the grocery stores. There is also a suggestion to begin making home deliveries to our customers.
