Doorco has announced that it is starting the phased reinstatement of its transport department with 70% of the company’s fleet due back on the road by 19 June. This is said to be part of Doorco’s return to work strategy which aims to focus on staff welfare while we monitor customer demand.
Dan Sullivan, Doorco’s MD, commented: “Since starting a phased return to operations on 4 May, we’ve been carefully considering our position daily, centering on the welfare of our staff with being able to meet customer demand. Business is far from ‘back to normal’, but there have been some really positive signs over the last week or so, and we feel that it is the right time to reinstate our transport department and recommence UK deliveries.
“Doorco originally invested in our own fleet to ensure our doors were delivered with the personal touch, so it is imperative that this level of service is available to our customers as soon as is safe and viable to do so,” he continued.
“We’ve seen a rise in orders over the last couple of weeks. In fact, numbers of prepped doors are currently exceeding pre-COVID levels, which is really encouraging. Close relationships with our external transport partners have been maintained and they have supported us throughout the re-opening of our business. But bringing down lead times and fulfilling our normal delivery promises is reliant on our in-house transport team.
“They have worked hard on the logistics of a phased return, as well as ensuring our drivers are fully equipped with the personal safety equipment and procedures. These include hand sanitisers in every cab, stringent and regular cleans, as well as new ways of delivering: our drivers will not exit the van when they make a drop off but call the delivery in and wait for the van to be unloaded. No paperwork will change hands, it will all be dealt with electronically, so we all have a record of safe delivery.
“Our plan is to have 70% of our fleet back by the 19th the intention of having the full fleet back in the near future to cover our usual delivery network,” Dan concluded. “This remains fluid as we continue to monitor health and safety and sales, but we are delighted to be able to make this announcement as it’s another step towards our business, and indeed industry, recovering from the Coronavirus Pandemic.”
