OTA Dispatch Issue 3, 2020

13 www.ortrucking.org Issue 3 | 2020 Overcoming Challenges and Making Adjustments During the Pandemic LILE INTERNATIONAL A Moving Company ’ s Perspective Early on during the COVID-19 crisis when masks were not available to the general public and being reserved for medical professionals and staff, OTA member and well known in the moving and storage industry, Lile International had to think fast. The solution to “make their own” masks was the result of an inability to obtain them any other way while continuing to operate as an essential business. Two Lile employees, Thitiphan and Charles Braxton, worked with company leaders on a project to make 250 masks for the team! Here is the story in the voice of Charles. “About two to three weeks ago, Kori DiStefano, our HR manager, sent out an email asking if anyone knew someone who could sew masks for Lile employees. As it happened, my wife and a friend of hers were already making masks for a company that sells them online. I checked with my wife to make sure she was willing to do the project (take note, this is how you stay married). She was ready, willing, and able. Once we got approval for the project, my wife went to the store to hunt up suitable fabric patterns and the accompanying supplies we needed to produce that many masks. Each mask takes us about 15–20 minutes to make, start to finish. We wanted to produce the masks as quickly as possible so that Lile employees with the greatest exposure could get some protection. We spent a few late nights assembling, inspecting, and packaging the masks. I would be happy to never tie another piece of elastic for the remainder of my life! I want to thank Lile for going the extra mile to protect our front-line crews as best we can during this crisis. Also, to my fellow employees who are on the front lines taking care of our customers, thank you for your hard work and dedication!” “Unlike many of my fellow truckers who focus on stocking shelves and bringing in needed and essential supplies, we found ourselves helping individuals and companies that had made employment and/or real estate commitments that were contractually binding. The decision to move from a house you have sold or a business facility where your lease is expiring typically cannot be delayed, pandemic or no pandemic. For our household goods customers, the pandemic added to what is very often already a stressful situation. We, therefore, spent some time explaining the processes we had developed and implemented to protect them and our employees from exposure. In many cases, because we were able to explain the steps we were taking to ensure the health and safety of our crews and customers, we were able to relieve or eliminate any added stress, and we had a number of customers thank us for taking the time to address this very important wrinkle in their moving experience. We have been especially challenged because we generally work in crews of two or more and because a necessary part of our work requires teamwork to relocate many items and face-to-face communication with our customers. Partly due to the processes we put in place, and I’m sure also due to a lot of luck, we have only had three confirmed cases of coronavirus amongst our crew of about 200. In each case the virus was contracted from a family member not employed by Lile. One of our cases was asymptomatic and the other two have recovered well so we are happy to have all of them back at work.” – Diane DeAutremont, President, Lile International Companies