COVID-19 Business Impact Survey -
Our GPS technology is used by businesses in a variety of transportation and field service industries—industries currently feeling the effects of COVID-19. We wanted a deeper understanding of the concerns and challenges our customers are facing, so we asked our customers to let us know how the outbreak was affecting them. We think the insights that were so generously shared can be helpful as businesses begin to plan ahead for recovery and prosperity after the current crisis ends.
Key Findings
98% of those surveyed said they are concerned about the effect of the outbreak on their business.
Top concerns include:
- Short-term financial impacts due to a disruption in business.
- Long-term ability of the business to financially recover from these impacts.
- Potential reductions in workforce or layoffs during this time.
As of mid-April 2020, 89% of the businesses surveyed were still operational, but more than 75% of those businesses have made adjustments to operations because of the outbreak. Ten percent of the businesses surveyed have closed temporarily.
We asked:
How long do you expect these effects or changes in daily operations to continue as a result of the outbreak?
1-3 weeks
4-6 weeks
2-3 months
4-6 months
6+ months
Fleet-based businesses drive. It’s a simple way to measure the health of their industries: if they are working, they are on the road. We analyzed anonymous mileage data for more than 43,000 customers and broke it out by industries to get a better understanding of which have been the hardest hit during this crisis, and which are starting to recover.
Home and office-based services such as HVAC, cleaning, and restoration have been especially hard hit since March 2020. These industries saw an almost 15% drop in daily mileage from February to April. Construction was another industry showing the impact of nationwide shut downs. Construction customers showed stagnant growth in mileage in March, and a 4% drop in miles driven in April. One industry potentially seeing less of an impact is landscaping. Between February and June, our landscaping customers have increased daily mileage by 47%.
"It has affected every area of our business, our operations, marketing, administrations as well as each of our personal lives."
-Survey Response
Most common adjustments to business include:
- Changes in number of employees.
- Reduction in spending on non-essential business items.
- Reduced work hours for retained employees.
- Precautionary measures for the health of employees including wearing PPE, social distancing, limiting services, and increased sanitation measures.
The majority of respondents anticipate these changes to remain in effect for a minimum of two to three months, and 80% expect a revenue decrease for the current fiscal year. Another key concern is the availability of PPE for employees.
We asked:
Do you feel like your business is taking enough action to minimize the impact of COVID-19?
"Customers ask if we provide gloves and masks for our employees to wear at their moving job. We tell them we do not have any, but if they do, to provide them to the movers when they arrive on site"
-Survey Response
Read More About Our COVID-19 Findings
Read more by downloading our free .pdf, including helpful demographic and industry-specific information including:
- Landscaping
- Construction
- Field Service
- and Trucking/Transportation
