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The Daily Bale
Natasha Post, Author
TractorTransport.com
How Has COVID-19 Changed Farm Equipment Transport
COVID-19 has upped life from what we knew it. Learning was interrupted, social gatherings were discouraged, and some countries imposed curfews and lockdowns. Industries have continued to suffer from the negative effects of the pandemic. In particular, COVID-19 affected changed farm equipment transportation. Farmers provide essential services as the country depends on them for food. This necessity means that it is important to have prompt, timely, and smooth, but very safe farm equipment transport across the United States.. Unfortunately, the transport of these essential equipment was affected, and thus changed in several ways.
Longer Wait Times
As the pandemic ravaged across countries, industries such as manufacturing slowed down. Such industries also cut down their personnel and staff due to reduced incomes. The number of employees in factories and industries was also reduced in efforts to reduce interactions and curb the spread of COVID-19. There are fewer on-site personnel as there are restrictions on the number of people allowed on such sites. Such unexpected changes clogged numerous receiving schedules for farm equipment. Consequently, there were slower turnaround times. Farm and tractor equipment delivery, therefore, took longer than usual due to the unexpected changes.
Reduced International Farm Equipment Transport
With COVID-19 still plaguing countries, farm equipment delivery across international boundaries has become slower. The international haulage space, in fact, has been among the most hit. There are numerous checks all through the countries as efforts to reduce the virus are enhanced each day. Further, since the WHO called for social distancing and minimal to zero interactions to combat the spread of COVID-19, there are few staff and personnel in the many checkpoints. Seeing that there are numerous industries that greatly rely on, the process has become painstakingly slow with reduced personnel.
Reduced Service Volume
COVID-19 led to loss of jobs for many individuals. Other people had their salaries slashed while some businesses closed down due to insufficient operating capital. With job losses and reduced salaries, the amount of disposable income that people held reduced drastically. Other individuals also became ill while some died. These changes meant that there was lesser money in circulation, particularly that which could be expended on non-basic spending. Consequently, farm equipment transport was reduced drastically. Some routes became unsuitable for farm equipment transports as restaurants and rest shops were closed down. Without restaurant and rest facilities, it became impossible for drivers to take order deliveries in some areas. Consequently, the volume of farm equipment transportation services reduced significantly.
However, even with the negative impact, there have been some positive changes on farm equipment transport.
Increased Appreciation for Paperless Technology
At Tractor Transport, we held fruitful virtual meetings with customers. This was time-saving and quite convenient for both parties. We exchanged information easily and provided clarifications promptly. While most farm equipment transport companies’ have always been big on physical paperwork, COVID-19 pushed most heavy transport haulers to appreciate paperless technology. This shift was not only for efficiency gain but also to limit physical contact and enhance safety. Most farm equipment transport companies have learned that they do not necessarily need to use the paper system for a successful business. As long as clients and employees are technology savvy, paperless technology has been fundamental through this COVID-19 season. It also seems that this trend is likely to be retained post-COVID.
Office Redefinition
At Tractor Transport, some of our staff and logisticians have been working from home since COVID struck. While this was a fairly new concept to some of the members, Tractor Transport has realized that with a dedicated and skilled IT team, this is a plan that can be embraced for the long-haul. More farm equipment transport organizations employees have been working from home. This means that the physical contact between employees and clients has reduced drastically as a big percentage of the negotiations are done remotely. The approach has also enhanced a work-life balance for many farm equipment transporters. Subsequently, there may be a downsize in physical offices, resulting in more savings.
Farm Equipment transport remains among the essential services during this COVID-19 period. Transport of farm equipment has not been spared by the virus’ impacts. On the downside, waiting times have been longer, international haulage has been affected, and the volume of services has gone down. On the positive, however, farm equipment transport companies have embraced paperless technology and adopted more telecommuting.