A transportation contingency plan update on Hurricane Sandy

To say Hurricane Sandy has made her presence felt is very likely the understatement of the year. In this space yesterday, we basically speculated what the impact would be and now a day later it is clear this could very well be the biggest storm we have seen and been part of in our lifetimes.

Yesterday, I stressed safety and I hope you are all safe and sound (and warm and dry, too). I am without power for who knows how long in Southern Maine, but some family members are not so I can keep banging on the keyboard.

That said, we wanted to give you an overview of what is happening with various freight transportation carriers, providers and ports. What follows below are verbatim statements from company Web sites to keep you informed in a brief and concise manner. Again, please be careful out there today and for the next several days:

-ABF: “ABF is closely monitoring Hurricane Sandy. We are taking precautions to ensure the safety of employees and to minimize service disruptions for our customers. However, with a storm of this magnitude, service disruptions are inevitable. For this reason, customers may monitor the latest service center closures by visiting www.abf.com/closures. Customers with freight currently in ABF’s care can rest assured that we are taking the proper steps to keep it safe until we are permitted to deliver it. Following the aftermath of a hurricane, ABF is bound to federal, state, and local municipality safety mandates, which dictate service areas we may conduct business in. We will resume service in these areas as soon as conditions allow.”
-YRC: Several YRC terminals are closed. For a full listing, please click here;
-A. Duie Pyle: “As the remnants of Hurricane Sandy continue to pass through the Northeast many areas are still hazardous and impassable. Because of this issue we are not running any Pickup and Delivery operations Tuesday morning. As the day progresses we are planning to bring drivers in to perform pickups as our customers get their operations up and running. Please call customer service at 800-523-5020 for more information.”;
-New Penn: “New Penn facilities will be closed and not operating Tuesday, October 30. Additional updates will be posted on NewPenn.com when conditions change;
-Pitt Ohio: The following terminals are closed for deliveries as a result of Hurricane Sandy: East Windsor NJ, Baltimore MD, Cherry Hill NJ, Cumberland MD, Hazleton PA, Allentown PA, Harrisburg PA, and Norristown, PA. All other terminals are operating. Our linehaul is limited to the Western part of our service territory due to weather conditions last evening. We have power outages in Norristown PA, Allentown PA and East Windsor PA resulting in no phones at this time. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and understanding.”;
-UPS Freight: “As Hurricane Sandy transforms into an overland storm, UPS Freight will resume operations in some impacted areas as soon as we can do so safely. In those areas, UPS Freight people will be out making pickups and deliveries for customers whose businesses are open and require service. To schedule pickups, please log in to My LTL Freight or call UPS Freight Customer Service at 1-800-333-7400. Power outages, flooding, snow, road closures and civic restrictions will still affect service today. Disruptions can be expected in Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., New Jersey, New York, West Virginia, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and coastal and northern Virginia.”;
-FedEx Freight: “Unavoidable service delays should be expected due to local road conditions. FedEx Freight is committed to providing service to the best of our ability in areas that can be safely accessed and where conditions have improved. We will continue to monitor the situation to minimize the impact on service. Please continue to check fedex.com for updates.” More information for FedEx Freight can be found here.

As for other modes, LM’s Patrick Burnson reported this morning that various ports are closed /article/hurricane_sandy_poses_ongoing_challenge_for_logistics_managers/ and in this space yesterday, it was reported that CSX and Norfolk Southern have contingency plans in place.