In an instant, delivery platforms and services have become the last link between quarantined consumers and the struggling service economy. As a result, these companies are rolling out best practices and guidelines as fast as possible to comfort employees and customers alike.
Delivery.com is among the companies rapidly adapting their business practices to serve customers under lockdown, CEO Jed Kleckner told Cheddar.
The online platform is using distributed text-based training to get its 1,700 drivers up to speed on the safest way to handle deliveries without transmitting COVID-19.
The company has partnered with a group of New York City-based technologists headed by Dan Teran, founder of Managed by Q, that is working to develop coronavirus-related solutions.
“With them, we’ve put in place a technology that enables us to train in a short text-based — either through SMS or WhatsApp — messaging drills that they can do daily over a seven-day period to certify them as having best-practice guidelines, whether it be from the [World Health Organization] or the CDC,” Kleckner said.
Basically the training provides guidance on how to avoid direct contact with customers.
“We will keep on sending the drills until they pass them with 100 percent,” he said. “Right now, we’re making sure we’re pushing out the message to every one of our drivers.”
Customers can also input specific delivery instructions into the platform, which could be crucial for someone who is experiencing symptoms and under a total, no-contact lockdown. That way, the delivery person can leave the order outside of a door or in another safer location.
In addition, the company has opened up its merchandise store to drivers to give them access to
“everything that we can possibly get into their hands, as it were, to help stop COVID,” including gloves, hand sanitizer and even masks, if available.
Kleckner noted how much the restaurant industry is struggling and urged businesses to consider third-party delivery services to help keep themselves afloat through the pandemic.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
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