For over 35 years, SFCT has operated and cooperated with PortMiami to serve cargo carriers from around the globe, bringing essential goods in for the South Florida community as well as those markets further North in Florida and throughout the United States. These incomparable times of unseen viral spread and “social distancing” forced our operation to expand its safety awareness efforts to include not only the physical safety of those working in the terminal, but also the immune safety of all those we consider fellow employees: The International Longshoremen Union, contractors, vendors, truckers and our own company employees. SFCT considers the continued health and safety of these workers to be of utmost importance in order to continue servicing our community in this time of unexpected business closures and stay-at-home orders.
Since this outbreak, SFCT has stayed in constant communication with the Port Authority, US Customs, ILA locals, trucking companies, local companies and our Steam Ship line customers to coordinate and communicate our efforts as we learned more about the spread of COVID-19. The ILA local has started performing temperature checks at their hiring hall to ensure anyone showing signs of the virus are sent home in order to stop its spread throughout their hall or while on a job. SFCT has started the same procedure at our main entrance to check our own workers along with ILA checkers and mechanics.
We requested that all construction companies working at our terminal to follow the same procedures we follow to ensure the safety of their workers and stop further viral spread. We have begun installing hands-free speakers at our gates to eliminate any sharing of physical equipment amongst truckers. We believe this effort will help curtail the spread of this virus and keep healthy those who are fortunate to be considered “essential” to keeping our community’s supply chain moving at this time. We don’t just work in and for South Florida, it’s in our name, and it’s where our employees live.
In addition to the scheduled daily cleaning of the offices, disinfectant wipes are now handed out to our labor to clean their machines daily before beginning their shifts. A specialized company has been hired to deep clean and disinfect all our equipment to further stop any viral spread. Portable hand wash stations have been situated around the terminal yard, as well as hand sanitizers in each office. Working with our parent companies, we continue to procure gloves, masks and disinfectant wipes for our employees to provide the best defenses we have against getting sick.
All our office employees who can work from home are doing so, and we are working with all employees to receive intermittent days off, ensuring our employees get the necessary rest both physically and mentally from the hectic reality of continuing to operate our terminal during these trying times. We remain diligent in learning all we can about this serious pandemic to ensure that we continue to operate safely and efficiently in our efforts to keep our community supplied. SFCT has grown alongside this community, and in its time of need, we shall do everything in our power to help everyone get through this.