How Covid-19 affects your shipment – second time around

Sweden is facing its second wave of COVID-19 and companies are bracing themselves wondering how it will turn out the second time around. What experience can be drawn from the past year and how will your shipments be affected?

– The transition that took two weeks is now being implemented in a matter of days. In some cases hours. Our clients can be assured that we are in a good position to face the challenge the second time around, says Oscar Törnqvist, CEO of InterEast.

COVERED IN THE ARTICLE:
Borders and Delays – What the past months taught us and what we expect to happen

Suppliers – Why relations is key

InterEast – How the inhouse operation will adjust

InterEast is working actively to ensure that your goods will arrive at your doorstep on time. Covid-19 creates new challenges every day and with those challenges follow a lot of uncertainty. InterEast would therefore like to keep you up-to-date on what they DO know.

Borders & Delays
A large portion of InterEast´s transport is to and from Europe and Sweden. Since the start of the pandemic, the borders between countries newer completely closed for transports. That may come as a surprise when the news is filled with headlines such as countries closing down again. Despite all of that, the shipments are for most parts moving steadily along.

There are a few examples where countries closed their border during the spring. It was often at specific joints or airports, harbors, and during a brief period a time. When it occurred there was usually a workaround but delays were inevitable.

If the state of the pandemic worsens to a degree that can´t be foreseen, no one knows exactly what we can expect. But the border personal and the drivers have better routines which minimize the risks considerably. With those routines in place should keep the transport flow operational even if bad turns to worse.

– We do our utmost to secure lead-times and agreed costs. If we’re not able to maintain cost or transit during this period we kindly ask for your understanding, says Anton Brink, OpsM of InterEast.

InterEast will continuously update the article on their website – and publish a selection of places where delays are occurring at the moment: https://bit.ly/InterNews-Nov20

Suppliers
InterEast has worked with the majority of its suppliers for years. There is a constant dialog between your freight forwarder and the carrier to ensures that the countries COVID regulations are followed.

– When you order our services you can always expect it to be of high quality and that the work is carried out in the right manner, says Oscar Törnqvist, CEO of InterEast.

If you are struggling to get your wares shipped across the sea, note that InterEast has block-space agreements and can help you.

How the inhouse operation are adjusting
In march 2020 COVID caught us by surprise. Companies and organizations had to quickly readjust how they operated – and so did InterEast.

– The transition that took two weeks is now being implemented in a matter of days. In some cases hours. Our clients can be assured that we are in a good position to face the challenge the second time around, says Oscar Törnqvist, CEO of InterEast.

InterEast is divided into teams and the majority are working from home. If a colleague gets sick the client’s shipment will still be cared for and InterEast does not risk having to shut down the entire operation. If you were to visit InterEast´s office (which you can´t) you would find new regulations communicated everywhere. For example, all rooms have a limit on how many people are allowed there at the same time.

Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our staff. We follow the recommendations of the Ministry of Health (Sw. Folkhälsovårdsmyndigheten) to ensure a good and safe work environment, says Anton Brink, OpsM of InterEast.

InterEast offers logistics services and transportation of goods to and from Eastern Europe and Asia, particularly for manufacturing companies in the engineering and textile industries. The company has 30 people employed in Romania, Turkey and at headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden. InterEast has annual revenues of approximately SEK 150 million and was founded in 1992 by the Törnqvist family, which owns and runs the company. http://www.intereastgroup.com/en/