Development around the COVID-19 – March 17, 2020
We would like to inform you about the current situation and developments concerning the coronavirus and transport in Europe.
Measures taken by European governments
The various European governments decided to take far-reaching measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus. For example, all schools, universities and catering establishments are closed indefinitely, people must work at home as much as possible and meetings are no longer allowed.
Consequences for your transport
At the moment, we do not know of any addresses that cannot be unloaded or loaded. We also expect this to continue. Even if the authorities were to decide at a later date to restrict passenger transport, it is unlikely that this would also happen for freight transport. After all, this would immediately endanger the supply of food and other necessary products.
Nevertheless, before issuing new pick-up or delivery orders between 17 March and 3 April 2020, we ask you to first check whether the shipping address is open and accessible and whether we are authorised to deliver or pick up goods.
If this is possible, we will be happy to execute the transport order for you.
If this is not possible, we ask you not to send a transport order, but to wait for confirmation from your customer/supplier that the goods can be delivered or collected.
If it turns out that the shipment cannot be delivered along the way, we will probably have to send the shipment back to you. In this case, we will charge you the corresponding costs in accordance with existing agreements.
Consequences for distribution in Europe
You will understand that we do not know what to expect now that the virus is spreading so rapidly and that the measures taken by the various authorities are being followed at such a rapid pace.
Due to the various additional control and security measures regarding loading and unloading addresses and limited personnel both on our premises and at the loading and unloading sites, delays that are difficult to estimate may occur. Of course, we try to limit them, but we naturally follow the instructions of customers and authorities. We therefore hope you will understand that we do everything in our power to maintain our service at the highest possible level.
Of course, even in this exceptional situation, we will do our utmost to handle your shipments with the utmost care and will ask you to contact us if you have any questions.
Van Mieghem Logistics
