CORONAVIRUS – Operations Update

Ieuan Rosser – Managing Director

I’m contacting all of our customers and carriers with a reassuring update for you on FLS’ current position regarding the spread of the Coronavirus and its potential threat to your logistics requirements.

FLS continues to operate as normal 24/7

Drivers and Transport – whilst the Government are predicting between 20%-40% reduction in driver availability, no significant impact is currently being felt at FLS. We have worked very hard to create a supply chain of quality carriers to support the growing business demand, and the vast amount of carriers and vehicles available to FLS will no doubt support you in mitigating potential negative impacts on your business through vehicle availability or time delays.

Border closures – generally the restrictions do not apply to freight drivers and the transportation of goods and as yet we have no issues shipping freight through any of our European lanes including Italy and Slovakia, it’s still business as usual with some small delays at delivery sites and borders with drivers being asked to complete self-assessment health questionnaires. FLS are again taking proactive measures to mitigate any issues by gaining completed questionnaires from any driver with cross border commitments.

Import – China seems to be slowly returning back to normal and we expect supply chains into the UK to return to previous levels over the next few weeks.

For Carriers – If you find yourself with increased availability please let us know we will do our best to try and help you. Also please make sure you keep your fleet profile UpToDate on the FLS Carrier Portal (https://fls.haulageexchange.co.uk/) where you can see all our available jobs when logged in – for access details give us a call or email: [email protected]

FLS operational coverage – We have no issues at present but we would like to highlight how we will ensure the continuity of the service we provide.

• All our systems are agile cloud-based solutions that operate completely independently of operator location, so we are well set from a business continuity perspective.
• We are preventing all drivers of vehicles originating from ‘locked down’ countries from coming into contact with employees when/if delivering to our on-site facilities and they are also being asked to complete a health questionnaire.
• We have vigorously tested all functions within the business, and have no issues in functioning in any office restriction scenarios for any of the business departments.
• We are offering all clients the option to conduct operations meetings via video conference.
• All purchasing and finance functions have been tested, to ensure continuity of payment to all key suppliers.
• Along with implementing “less contact” and “social distancing” protocols for all personnel, we have introduced additional cleaning schedules and provided sanitising stations and supplies across all business areas.
• We are displaying NHS and government advice across all areas and continually updating.
• In the unfortunate situation of complete remote working, all our staff has laptops, with all phone and business systems cloud-based to continue providing services as normal.

We are committed to continuing our successful operations and keeping both our employees and those of our customers safe through these difficult times and we will continue to monitor the situation as it develops and update you of any significant changes to our contingency planning.

Should you have any questions or wish for any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Ieuan Rosser