Companies step-up efforts to supply PPE—Covid-19 roundup, May 1

Companies from across the supply chain continue to step-up their efforts to get personal protective equipment (PPE) and other needed supplies to those on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of the latest efforts include supplying fuel for flights delivering PPE nationwide and continued retooling of manufacturing facilities to make hand sanitizer and face shields for essential workers.

On Wednesday, oil and gas company BP said it will supply 3 million gallons of jet fuel to FedEx Express charter flights and Alaska Airlines at no cost to support timely delivery of PPE and other essential goods to areas of the United States at greatest risk for the novel coronavirus. BP said it will offset the carbon emissions of all donated fuel deliveries through its Target Neutral carbon emissions reduction program. The donation builds on BP’s commitment to supporting frontline workers by offering a 50-cents-per-gallon discount on fuel for first responders, doctors, nurses, and hospital workers.

The donation to FedEx Express, supplied by Air BP, will be used solely for international air transportation to and from the United States to deliver critical medical supplies, including gloves, gowns, ventilators, and masks, that support the effort to fight Covid-19, BP said. Supplies will be coordinated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Alaska Airlines program will help with delivery of food, medical supplies, mail, and emergency passenger services in remote Alaska communities.

Other PPE efforts include: 

• Employees at Jacksonville, Fla.-based third-party logistics provider (3PL) Atlantic Logistics have started a hand sanitizer bulk rebottling program that will serve local truck drivers. Employees are partnering with TravelCenters and TA-Petro to set up personal distribution of hand sanitizer and masks to drivers at the travel center’s truck stop at I-10 and U.S. Hwy. 301 in Jacksonville. “Most Americans want to give back and say, ‘thank you’ to the truckers that keep the shelves stocked and the country moving,” Rob Hooper, Atlantic Logistics’ CEO said in a statement. “I’m so proud of the initiative our employees took to help make these folks’ lives a little safer and simpler.”
• Household and professional cleaning products maker SC Johnson has built new capacity to produce up to 75,000 bottles of hand sanitizer per month to meet pandemic-related demand. The company converted a production line at its largest global manufacturing facility in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, that is typically reserved for testing new products to now produce hand sanitizer. SC Johnson is partnering with Dow Chemical Co. on the project. Dow will make a one-time contribution of bulk sanitizer to produce 25,000 8-oz. bottles for Dow to distribute to its production sites; SC Johnson will make the remaining amount of hand sanitizer needed to reach 75,000 bottles, the company said.
• Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG) is assembling face shields that will be delivered to healthcare workers across the state. KMMG delivered an initial supply of 15,000 face shields to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) and will gradually increase production to reach a capacity of 200,000 units per month to support donations scheduled to medical facilities in Southern California and New York. Kia said the effort is the latest extension of its Accelerate the Good program, which has pledged to donate $1 million to non-profit partners that assist homeless youth nationwide, including Covenant House, StandUp for Kids, and Family Promise. Kia has also donated N95 masks and gloves to medical facilities throughout Orange County, Calif., where the firm’s U.S. headquarters is located.

To see further coverage of the coronavirus crisis and how it's affecting the logistics industry, check out our Covid-19 landing page. And click here for our compilation of virus-focused websites and resource pagesfrom around the supply chain sector.