Corona wave
Supply chains: Logistics industry proposes emergency measures
Due to the spread of the Omikron variant, experts fear problems with maintaining the critical infrastructure. Photo: Christian Charisius / dpa
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The German logistics industry is preparing for restrictions caused by the spread of the Omikron variant. A plan from the first wave in March 2020 should also help.
The German logistics industry is proposing emergency measures to maintain supply chains in a feared fifth corona wave.
Dirk Engelhardt, spokesman for the Federal Association of Freight Transport, Logistics and Waste Management (BGL), told the Tagesspiegel Background specialist service that he could imagine that the “Pact for Supplying Germany” concluded in March 2020 will be reissued at short notice. “We all have to hold our breath and hope that it doesn’t get as tight as we feared.”
In the spring of 2020, several industry associations promised in the first Corona wave to ensure the “functionality of the supply chains nationwide and at all times”. In coordination with the Federal Ministry of Transport, they want to talk about a new freight transport pact at the beginning of January, said Engelhardt. “It must not be repeated that the shelves in the supermarkets remain empty or that industrial companies are not supplied with parts.”
Because many drivers from Eastern Europe had returned to their home countries due to Corona in spring 2020, some supply chains collapsed. Freight forwarders stepped in, trucks were converted and rerouted, and supplies were resumed. “But that only works selectively,” said BGL board spokesman Engelhardt. The association is now relying on the fact that the vaccination gap in the industry is closed. According to Engelhardt, three quarters of the drivers are vaccinated.