As surgeries begin to resume across the country, so too will your facility’s freight management needs. The following checklist from our OptiFreight® Logistics team will help ensure your facility is ready to resume shipping on a larger scale.
Checklist
- Have your shipping/receiving hours changed? If so, notify carriers and couriers of the revised hours.
- Has your shipping/receiving (dock) location changed? If so, notify carriers and couriers of the location change.
- Do you require temperature checks for drivers in order to enter your facility? Drivers from most major carriers will submit to non-contact temperature checks. Additionally, major carriers have instituted non-contact pickups and deliveries.
- Do you require any other protocols of your carriers and couriers? If so, contact them AHEAD of any scheduled pickups or deliveries to ensure they have appropriate time to prepare.
- Before shipping outbound, verify the recipient is open and available to receive shipments.
- When shipping packages, do you require signatures upon receipt of delivery? Major carriers have temporarily suspended most signature requirements. If you still require signatures for packages, drivers may manually enter the recipient’s initials and/or ask the recipient to show government issued photo ID.
- If you are trying to execute an inbound international shipment of personal protective equipment (PPE), your shipper/supplier must be able to provide a commercial invoice inclusive of all required information and must be registered with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Also, confirm if you have a preferred customs broker or need one sourced on your behalf.
General reminders
- FedEx has suspended its money-back guarantee for all FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight and FedEx Office services effective immediately until further notice.1
- Until further notice, UPS has suspended their Service Guarantee for all shipments from any origin to any destination. For all U.S. origin shipments, the Service Guarantee suspension became effective as of March 24, 2020. Commitment times for UPS Next Day Air Saver® and UPS 2nd Day Air A.M.® services scheduled for delivery on or after March 30, 2020, are extended to end-of-day until further notice.2
- Circumstances are changing regularly. If you have concerns not mentioned, contact your carrier. Note that FedEx and UPS are currently experiencing longer than normal wait times.
FedEx: 800.463.3339
UPS: 888.742.5877
The latest updates from FedEx and UPS can be found on their websites.
For more information on how Cardinal Health is addressing COVID-19, and additional resources and tools, visit cardinalhealth.com/covid19.
1https://www.fedex.com/en-us/coronavirus.html
2https://www.ups.com/us/en/about/news/important-updates.page?