Page 12 - ATR 2 2020 digital

NEWS IN BRIEF, Vietnam, using a passenger jet to ferry windows, these are largely inaccessible
Continued from page 10 the cargo. to truck drivers who cannot move their
The U.S. airline industry will trucks through these lanes. A company-
healthcare and emergency responders. receive some aid from the $2.2 trillion wide safety policy prevented employees
Their aim is to produce one million coronavirus relief package, but the stip- from accepting orders from customers
masks a month and begin donating ulations require that they keep paying who walked through instead of driving
them to police, EMTs, firefighters and employees and maintain service to most up to the window.
other healthcare workers. of their destinations.
Cargo-only flights are not enough
AIRLINES MOVE FREIGHT WHEN for airlines to make up for lost revenue,
PASSENGER BUSINESS DRIES UP but it allows them to maintain some of
The airline industry has been their workforce and take advantage of
one of the first and hardest hit by the the low fuel costs.
economic effects of the COVID-19
outbreak. Major passenger airline opera- PATRIOTS’ PLANE SCORES 1.2
tors—including American, Delta and MILLION MASKS
United—have all run cargo-only flights. Another plane that’s getting a new
assignment is the New England Patriots’
team plane that usually takes NFL play-
ers to games, it was recently used to
transport 1.2 million N95 masks from At some locations, McDonald’s
Shenzhen, China, to the United States. is allowing drivers to place curbside
The Wall Street Journal reported orders via mobile order and pay, with
that Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker a designated trucker curbside pick-up
and Patriots Pres. Jonathan Kraft nego- area. Drivers can place an order on the
tiated the flight to acquire the masks McDonald’s app when arriving at a
for a strategic stockpile in Marlborough, restaurant, select curbside service, walk
Mass. to the designated trucker pick-up area,
Patriots owner Robert Kraft praised and pick up their order there when it is
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s leader- ready.
When passenger demand dropped ship throughout the COVID-19 crisis “As the world continues to address
90% on a flight between Fort Worth, and wanted to do something to help the quickly changing landscape, we are
Texas, and Frankfurt, Germany, the city, he told CNN. “[Cuomo]’s at in this together with you, our valued
American Airlines used the Boeing 777- the epicenter of this crisis, and he has friends in the trucking and transporta-
300 to transport medical supplies and a calming way about him. He brings tion industry,” Bill Garrett, McDonald’s
other cargo in place of the passengers. confidence. And I have a personal tie to senior vice president of operations said
“Challenging times call for creative New York City; Columbia was good to in an open letter. “Thank you for every-
solutions, and a team of people across me, and gave me a full scholarship as thing you are doing to keep essential
the airline has been working nonstop a kid. I love the city. I love the people parts of our economy going.”
to arrange cargo-only flight options for there. I don’t think what’s going on is
our customers,” Rick Elieson, president something any of us could imagine. LUNCH IS SERVED
of cargo for American Airlines, said in a The hardships truck drivers face
statement. MCDONALD’S INTRODUCES when their food options dwindle made
Bloomberg reported that, for CURBSIDE ORDERING AND headlines all over the country when res-
American, the shift represents the first DELIVERY FOR TRUCK DRIVERS taurants and even rest stops closed their
flights for the carrier without passen- In March, McDonald’s joined res- doors to slow the spread of COVID-19.
gers since 1984. taurants around the country in closing Taco Bell has also created a drive-
Foreign carriers have also respond- their dining rooms to slow the spread thru experience for truck drivers. The
ed to the lost revenue of decreased of COVID-19, leaving fewer options for fast food chain served free meals to
passenger demand by moving freight the 1.8 million truck drivers still on drivers at their corporate headquarters.
instead of travelers. Korean Air reported the road delivering critical supplies to Taco Bell recently announced their
that most of its flights have been affected communities. “Truck-Thru at HQ” events at corpo-
grounded, but it was able to transport Though the fast food chain con- rate headquarters in Irvine, Calif. To
emergency supplies from South Korea to tinued to do business via drive-thru serve the vehicles like semi-trucks that

12 Issue 2 2020 | ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT