vaccinations

Cross-Border Truckers to Receive Vaccinations Through Canada-North Dakota Partnership

June 8, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Canadian and North Dakotan leaders are collaborating in an effort to help Canadian truckers who often work across the border to easily receive COVID-19 vaccinations.

The Essential Worker Cross-Border Vaccination Initiative was recently announced by Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who, along with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, explained that a memorandum had been signed stating that the essential workers delivering goods across the North Dakota-Canada border would be given easy access to the vaccine due to North Dakota’s northern border’s reach across both Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

These efforts come as a step toward improving the wellbeing of truckers, particularly those who work to boost the economy in both North Dakota and across these Canadian provinces.

“With adequate vaccine supplies and all North Dakotans having access to [the] vaccine while Canada is dealing with a vaccine shortage, we want to do our part to ensure essential workers from Canada who are frequently traveling through our state are vaccinated,” explained Burgum. ”The timely and effective administration of vaccines is essential for public health and the eventual safe reopening of our shared border.”

The Drayton rest area, a North Dakota Department of Transportation rest stop off of Interstate 29 located across the Red River from Minnesota, will transition into an official vaccination site for truck drivers and will also offer vaccinations to North Dakota locals who are at least 16 years of age. Drayton is conveniently located 31 miles south of the North Dakota-Canada border, which should make it easy for cross-border truckers to receive vaccines here.

Close to Saskatchewan’s North Dakota border, another site will be initiated for both truck drivers and energy workers local to Saskatchewan who work across the border frequently. The DOT has yet to announce which exact site will serve as this particular vaccination location.

Over the next two months, truck industry experts and government officials will determine which truck drivers are immediately eligible for a vaccination appointment and will schedule those appointments during each trucker’s regular drives across the border. Nurses and staff members will be dispatched by the North Dakota Department of Health to administer both vaccine doses to participating truck drivers; truckers must also be sure to get both vaccine doses in North Dakota.

“The Saskatchewan Trucking Association knows how critical vaccines are to fighting COVID-19, and is pleased to see the partnership between North Dakota and Saskatchewan,” said Saskatchewan Trucking Association executive director, Susan Ewart. “Providing necessary vaccines to professional drivers and oil field workers crossing the border will ensure the safety and protection of these workers as they continue to drive the economy.”

Currently, waiting times for each dose of the vaccine is between three and four months in Manitoba, lamented Terry Shaw, Executive Director of the Manitoba Trucking Association. Additionally, Manitoba vaccine eligibility is only available for certain groups of qualifying people.

This new initiative will allow truck drivers to much more easily receive the vaccines they need, as they can do so during their usual hauling schedules.

“These truck drivers will be completely vaccinated much, much quicker through this North Dakota program than they will in Canada,” said Shaw. “We’re not even at the point in Manitoba where, if you want a vaccine, you can go get it. North Dakota had more vaccines than arms and Manitoba had more arms than vaccines.”

Many truck drivers based in Manitoba also have to travel through North Dakota frequently, Shaw added. Some shipments begin in Alberta or Saskatchewan and still travel through North Dakota on their way to other states.

“Whether it is trade activity with North Dakota or through North Dakota, it’s a very major corridor for our trucking industry here in Manitoba and, quite frankly, in Canada,” he explained. “Manitoba truck drivers find themselves running through North Dakota with great regularity.”

Boosting the health and safety of these truck drivers is especially important for both countries, as the United States considers Saskatchewan and Manitoba to both be vital economic partners–with 217,992 truck crossings occurring at the port of entry in Pembina, North Dakota (which connects directly to Manitoba) and 80,101 truck crossings at the Portal, North Dakota port of entry (which connects directly to Saskatchewan) in 2020, according to data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

“We are grateful to Premier Scott Moe for his partnership on this initiative, which will ensure the safe delivery of goods and services across the border and strengthen the longstanding friendly relationship between North Dakota and our northern neighbors,” said Governor Burgum in a recent tweet.

Trucking Companies Making Major Efforts to Get Employees Vaccinated

June 2, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The coronavirus pandemic has continued on, and the nation’s truck drivers have remained on the frontlines to ensure individuals, medical institutions, and grocery stores are always able to receive the deliveries they need on time.

Luckily, trucking companies across the country are working hard to make sure truck drivers and other employees are able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as quickly as possible in order to keep the number of potential illnesses down and to ensure the industry is able to keep up with its duties efficiently.

Now, fleets are helping their employees to utilize paid time off, giving them access to on-site clinics, and creating online platforms to help them stay healthy and get their vaccines right away. For example, UPS Inc. workers have been given additional paid time off, vaccination appointments, and other medical benefits through COVID-19 compensation packages, according to Matthew O’Connor, a spokesman for the company.

Cargo Transporters has also been making efforts to ensure all of its drivers are vaccinated and has worked in collaboration with North Carolina’s Catawba Valley Health System in order to do so.

“The drivers will call into human resources,” said the company’s vice president of human resources, Kristy Hedrick. “Human resources then gets them an appointment.”

Cargo Transporters will also make sure its employees’ second vaccination appointments are scheduled within about four weeks after the first vaccination. According to Hedrick, the company makes sure all second appointments take place at the same location as the first, and drivers have ongoing communication with company leaders in order to make sure this process goes as smoothly as possible.

To help all employees get the vaccine quickly, Ryder System Inc. is providing six hours of paid time off to all of the company’s workers. Since the end of March, nearly 700 Ryder employees have used this opportunity to get vaccinated.

“Our employees have been very receptive to it,” explained Ryder System’s chief human resources officer, Frank Lopez. “I think they welcomed it and they appreciated that we were doing what we can do to ensure that they have the ability to take the vaccine.”

Melton Truck Lines has also been making getting vaccinations as easy as possible by implementing an on-site vaccination clinic, and by helping employees get their vaccinations at other locations if needed.

“We partner with CareATC and have a clinic on-site at our main terminal in Tulsa,” noted Melton’s vice president of human resources and safety, Lisa Mason.

In areas where resources are easily accessible and employees are eligible, Yellow Corp. has been making similar efforts, and is working in collaboration with pharmacy providers to offer on-site vaccinations, as well.

“Yellow is providing all employees with essential services documentation to assist them with getting prioritization of the vaccination,” said Heather Nauert, spokeswoman for Yellow Corp.

Many trucking companies are also doing what they can to keep their truck drivers–and all employees–well-informed in regards to all aspects involved with receiving the vaccine. These efforts include providing workers with information about the best locations for them to get vaccinated and what they need to know about their eligibility in their respective states.

Werner Enterprises, in particular, has been focusing on spreading as much helpful information as possible by launching a website just for its employees to find the state-by-state information they need in regards to becoming vaccinated.

“The company is seeking out opportunities where we can provide easy access to vaccine clinics, whether it be on-site or close to one of our network locations,” explained Werner’s vice president of human resources, Stefanie Christensen.

FedEx Corp has also been helping employees find the most efficient ways to utilize their eligibility in their own states.

“We strongly encourage all team members to take advantage of vaccination opportunities as they become available, and are actively working to ensure team members are aware of opportunities,” said a spokesperson for the company.

Companies like U.S. Xpress Enterprises are taking their informative efforts a step further by bringing in resources like licensed physicians who can help answer vaccination-related questions and address any employee concerns.

“We’re using regular touch-points like town halls, newsletters, and even social media content to communicate key information,” explained the company’s chief people officer, Amanda Thompson.

Cold Chain Shipments Face Major Obstacles During Pandemic

May 19, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“I’ve been inundated with packaging providers and other manufacturers coming forward with innovative ideas about how to help manage the temperature regimen,” said Larry St. Onge, Life Sciences and Health Care President for DHL, regarding the changes brought to cold chain shipments by the pandemic. “The big focus at the moment has really been on the vaccines.”

Cold chains have had the task of adapting to innovative new methods of shipping medical supplies deemed essential throughout the coronavirus pandemic, with shipping containers undergoing redesign strategies and temperature conditions needing boosted monitoring methods. DHL Group, in particular, has been collaborating with partners like pharmaceutical manufacturers to determine the best ways to avoid any monitoring or packaging mistakes.

For the vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech, conditions must be regulated at 94 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, which will require thermal sensors that are enabled by GPS and that have a location- and temperature-tracking control tower to closely monitor every single shipment of vaccines.

“An example of innovation that we’ve seen come forward is the ability to be able to utilize passive containers where you can easily replace the dry ice and essentially have an effective temporary storage unit,” explained St. Onge. “Certainly, we’re considering the context of the solutions we’re bringing to bear for customers as we go forward.”

Condition tracking, especially when it comes to temperature monitoring, has been extraordinarily important for trucking companies transporting the vaccine, even among companies that are well-accustomed to shipping vaccines, like Boyle Transportation.

“It would often be performed at the truckload level, but not necessarily at the individual package level,” said co-president of Boyle Transportation and vice chairman at American Trucking Associations, Andrew Boyle, in regards to strategy updates surrounding temperature tracking.

Many cold chain shipment companies find no surprise in these vaccine-distributing challenges, and some say that COVID-19 has only brought increased focus to the difficulties that often arise with these efforts.

“The pandemic has drawn incredible scrutiny on the cold chain because of the exact temperature requirements of these vaccines,” said Joe Battoe, CEO of Varcode.

In October, Sensitech and Carrier, subsidiaries of Carrier Global Corp, were met with monitoring and packaging challenges when the Carrier Pods system was announced. Carrier Pods was developed in order to help vaccine distribution efforts with capabilities including product visibility, data analytics, deep-freeze cooling, and real-time telematics.

Another issue that arose with the desperation brought about in the difficult circumstances of the pandemic–vaccine, medicine, and medical equipment theft occurring on big rigs.

“Many concerned with theft and diversion are adding additional layers of risk mitigation,” said a spokesperson for Sensitech. “Others are more concerned with keeping a closer eye on temperature changes for their vaccine shipments and want an early warning signal if the temperature is trending in the wrong direction.”

Varcode, in particular, had already developed a specific bar code that can change via chemicals to display certain information to a viewer, including whether or not a particular package has reached temperatures outside of what was intended. The company began collaborating with PL Developments in January for the purpose of boosting not only the capabilities, but the overall availability of this monitoring method.

“COVID itself, not just the vaccine, has brought all these issues into focus and brought new challenges,” said Varcode’s Battoe. “There are wildly different temperature requirements at a scale that’s just absolutely unprecedented. That is driving innovation.”

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, biopharma typically loses around $35 billion each year due to temperature-controlling failures, according to the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science. The International Air Transport Association determined that nearly 25% of all vaccines have become degraded upon arrival, as well.

Because of major distribution and monitoring challenges like these, a huge boost in innovations for cold chains focusing on temperature control and real-time visibility has been a long-term top priority for the industry, said Andrew Stevens, an analyst for Gartner Research.

“The cold chain is very much multilayered, in that there are approaches that you can take both in terms of protecting the inherent temperature of the product across all of its logistics and transportation phases,” Stevens said.