TIA Daily COVID-19 Update – March 25th (Afternoon Edition)

As TIA continues to monitor the situation surrounding COVID-19 and it’s impact on the 3PL and transportation industries, here is your Afternoon Update for March 25. As a reminder, you can find all the latest information, resources, guidance, and news from TIA’s COVID-19 Response Center.

CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE:
The Senate agreed on a stimulus package (Phase III of relief efforts) early this morning and will likely pass it this afternoon. It remains to see when the House will take it up.

They could do it by unanimous consent (UC), but rumors are circling that the New York delegation could oppose a UC. Setting up a situation where House Members would have to come back to Washington and take a roll call vote on the package. Stay tuned for more details.

DHS UPDATE:
On a call with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Chris Krebs, it was reported that they have notified as many political and police entities as possible about the essential nature of trucking.
They want to know about problems by emailing to [email protected].

CISA Director Krebs also suggests that people carry letters indicating that they are part of an essential industry.

AMERICAN LOGISTICS AID NETWORK UPDATE:
On a call with the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) this morning, it was reported that some warehouse operators are experiencing problems with people coming to work. It was also reported that some local law enforcement was harassing truckers.

If you’re experiencing any challenges, please let us know by emailing [email protected] or [email protected].

It was reported to us that some retailers are refusing the delivery of containers of goods they ordered. This could lead to excessive demurrage charges. Again, if you’re experiencing this please let us know.

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR UPDATE:
The Department of Labor (DOL) has released guidance documents and resources for employees, employers, and FAQs, on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which the agency has been tasked with implementing.

TIA understands that these documents will not be the final guidance on the issues, as we await rulemakings from the DOL in the coming days. Stay tuned for more updates on this issue.

NÖEL PERRY’S DAILY COVID-19 UPDATE:
Yesterday was had modestly hopeful results with improvements in several Western European countries. Note there are five countries whose numbers yesterday fell, but who also gained the previous two days (highlighted in yellow). That could be an early sign of inflection.

The yellow cells in the Days to Inflection column have had a promising trend across at least three days. The big negatives were Spain and, especially, Iran. Iran is now 30 days in with a still increasing count.

As expected, the US had the biggest increase in cases. We are still clearly in the upward trend stage and should not slow down for four or five more days.

You can see the effects of the length of contagion in the comparisons by region. Western Europe continues to lead the tragic parade. However, its new case percentage has fallen dramatically while North America’s has risen. This is an expected result.

A week from now Europe should be even lower and North American substantially lower. That is a good benchmark to watch. If that number does not lower, then the pandemic may be headed for the scale discussed in worst-case scenarios. There is little yet to suggest that, besides Iran’s data. Still, these numbers will tell us the outcome relatively soon.

MISCELLANEOUS:
DAT is also putting out information regarding COVID-19 on a regular basis, which can be found here.

Finally, thanks to Scott Marks, TIA’s new Government Affairs Manager, for his work putting together guidance for SBA loans.

—————————–

We’ll be back tomorrow with the Morning Edition featuring COVID-19 updates and information that came through overnight.

Hoping that Noel is on the right path, here’s Duke Ellington & Ella Fitzgerald’s “I’m Beginning to See the Light.”

TIA is the premier organization for third-party logistics professionals in North America and abroad. Membership at TIA adds value to your business and provides resources for growth.
Learn More

Alliances