There were many new transportation updates in the shipping industry last month. Check out some of the top stories and transportation updates of November 2020!
Pfizer prepares a distribution plan for the COVID-19 vaccine
An American pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, gets close to releasing a COVID-19 vaccine that proved to be 90% effective. Supply chains gear up for the largest vaccination transportation boom. Pfizer itself has developed a distribution plan. The company stated that it will provide custom freeze containers for 10-day vaccine storage – more than 350 of these containers are already built. The medical giant plans to deliver 100 million doses of vaccine in 2020 and around 1.3 billion in 2020. “It’s the biggest-ever vaccination campaign. If we get the FDA approval, we will be able to ship the vaccines very shortly after,” – said Tanya Alcorn, Pfizer’s supply-chain vice president.
ATA will partner with Biden on an infrastructure plan
The American Trucking Association has congratulated Joe Biden on winning presidential elections and vowed to be a “constructive partner” in future cooperation endeavors. ATA was known for its vocal support of Donald Trump. American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear commented: “We congratulate President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris on their hard-earned victory, and we look forward to working with their Administration to strengthen the economy and rebuild our national infrastructure”.
UPS allows beards, afro hair, tattoos, and piercings
The shipping giant UPS has recently lifted its restrictions on the employees’ appearance. Workers can now have a beard, tattoos, piercings, afro hair, and braids. There are also no ‘gender-specific’ appearance requirements in the company’s policy. Earlier, UPS issued a statement saying, “We’ve updated our uniform and appearance guidelines to reflect our values and desire to have all UPS employees feel comfortable, genuine, and authentic while providing service to our customers and interacting with the general public.” Drivers benefit from recent HOS changes, study shows
On September 29, new changes to the hours of service (HOS) rules have officially taken effect. This was the most significant rule change in recent years and now it’s time to analyze what changes were implemented and to what effect they actually had on freight carriers and drivers. According to research by Truckers News, 40% of drivers said they have benefited from the changes, and 20% said they benefited moderately.
