To Our Valued Vendor Partners

To Our Valued Vendor Partners,

We certainly are in unprecedented times.  All businesses are scrambling to determine the next best steps forward and creating contingency plans, as the fluid nature of the COVID-19 pandemic progresses.

All of us at Central Oregon Truck Company, Inc. appreciate all that you are doing to keep our drivers safe, healthy and productive during these difficult times.

One of the most important tasks we need to execute, is our ability to communicate, well and in advance.  We have appreciated your communications and only felt it was reasonable to provide you with information regarding how we are doing and reacting.

While we certainly are not panicking here at Central Oregon Truck Company, Inc., we are actively monitoring the situation, creating new policies and developing contingencies.  Please find below, the steps we have enacted in preparation for both the current situation and possible future scenarios.

• We have increased communications with our internal staffing and driving teams regarding personal hygiene, especially frequent hand washing, and social distancing practices.
• We have advised our teams to self-sanitize eating areas while on the road.
• We have created a 1-800 hotline for any driver to reach out for any needs or concerns they may have.
• We require all drivers to wash their hands prior to entering our facility.
• We continue to have our in house housecleaning staff clean and sanitize daily, with all door knobs and frequently used or touched surfaces being done every two hours.
• Our facility here is being deeply sanitized on weekends
• Upon entry to the yard, our drivers are asked to exit the truck and wash their hands immediately, as we have staff sanitize the truck door, steering wheel and gear shift surfaces (this increases the protection of our maintenance staff).
• We have successfully tested our ability to work completely from home, even if during a lockdown.  Phones may be a little clunky, but everything else works extremely well.  We are addressing our phone concerns and will have a resolution soon.
• We have developed a policy for driving team members to self-quarantine, should the need arise.
• We have developed a policy regarding the recovery of truck or load from a sick or quarantined driving team member.
• We have asked all employees to be aware of their personal health and if they feel, to sick stay home or notify us if on the road and avoid all contact with others. (Self-Screening Policy)

We feel our best line of defense is prevention and our policies are structured as such to avoid infection.  Our desire to remain healthy and able to serve our customers, while keeping our staff safe and employed, is our number one goal at the moment.

Thank you all for your support, our goal here is to maintain operations as much as allowed and as much is available.  Let’s keep the economy moving by doing our part through focused, common sense decisions and know that we cannot accept financial ruin during this crisis for our employees and their families, if at all avoidable.

One final item to keep in mind.  Our drivers are out on the road; they do not have a home to hole up in.  While we understand the temptation to close all outsiders out, please just ask that they follow your local protocols and not deny them the use of basic human needs.  This includes the use of a restroom and a place to wash up.

Thank you,

Rick Williams

CEO

Central Oregon Truck Company, Inc.