b'4American Journal of Transportation ajot.comSPONSORED CONTENTRyder proves holistic approach critical during pandemicBy AJOTWithmorethan50,000to our drivers to ensure they customers, one of the largesthadtherightlevelsofPPE commercialtruckfleetsinandensuretheyhadaplat-North Americaandservicesform to let us know how we thatrangefromtransportcouldbettersupportthem, management to warehousing,said Regan.Ryder is deeply attuned to theThepandemichasbeen challengesofmodern-daystressfulonbothRyderand supply chains. The COVID- itscustomers.Toovercome 19 pandemic severely testedthis,Ryderdevelopedan that expertise. More than anyinternal task force with daily othercrisisindecades,thecheck-ins to mitigate issues in pandemicstretchedsupplyreal time. For one, customers chains to the breaking point.saw huge swings in business. OperatingunderenormousSomesectorssurged,while duress,logisticsprovidersotherstapered,oftenwithin suchasRyderhavehadtodays.Ryderhadtorespond constantly prove their mettle,in real-time. The volume for instantlyadaptingtorapid(APPROACHcontinued changesandwildswingsinon page 7) Ryder has one of the largest commercial truck fleets in North America.both supply and demand. Someninemonthsin, werestillevolving,said TomRegan,RydersviceThe Premier LTL & Truckload president of dedicated trans-portationsolutions.Regan\x06b7\x02\x03rrb1-omexplains that the entire Ryder teamsteppedupanddeliv-eredsincedayoneofthe pandemic,andwasableto procure PPE expeditiously to keep employees and custom-ers safe. We were reminded"\x18\x07v\x02o;u|_;uo-7\x02voom\x02ruob7;v\x02v|u;-lbm;7\x02|u-mvrou|-om\x02justhowcriticalanddedi-cated our employees were tovou1bm]\x02=ou\x020o|_\x02|u1ho-7\x02-m7\x02\x15$\x15\x027;b;ubm]\x02-\x021olr;;\x02;7];\x02|o\x02ou\x02our customers and our coun- o;u-\x02ruo1u;l;m|\x02ruo1;vvtry, he said.Ryderexemplifiesthe critical and increasingly com-plex nature of logistics. It also demonstrateshowlogistics providers must double down onknowledgeandexperi-ence during times of extreme\x03|ol-|;\x02!\x1ev\x02-m7\x02v-;\x02 \x0b|;\x021-uub;uv\x02om\x02lou;\x02crisis.Resiliency,flexibil- 0;\x02u;vou1;\x02l; |_-m\x02rub1;\x02-om;ity,visibility,andeffective communicationcontinueto be key attributes of a healthy\x1brlb;\x02o;u|_;uo-7\x02 \x06b7\x02v|u-|;]b1\x021-uub;u\x02supply chain, said Regan.Inthepast,Ryderhad|u-mvrou|-om\x02vr;m7 r-u|m;uv_brvworkedinternallyandwith customers on what are called businessresumptionplans, BRPforshort.Butitwas more about natural disasters, moreaboutgeographically basedchallenges,suchas asnowstormorhurricane, not a nationwide pandemic, said Regan. COVID forced us to rewrite our BRP play-book on-the-fly to ensure we couldnotonlyoperate,but operate safely.NOW One immediate emphasis INCLUDESwas on our front-line employ-TRUCKLOADeesincludingourdrivers. Our drivers were operating in states and municipalities with various regulations and chal-lenges. It was critical that we providethemwiththeright PPEandoveralltoolsthey needed to ensure they could operatesafely.Inorderto stay connected to their driv-ers, Ryder utilized its innova-tivedigitalcommunications platform,RyderDrive. Forexample,[email protected] | 770-486-5800 | www.smc3.comenabledustosendsurveys'