How to keep the lights on in a power cut

When we think about disasters in a road haulage context, our minds usually head straight for the big stuff – fatal accidents, major customers going under, illegal immigrants in trailers, and the like. But in reality, there are some far less dramatic occurrences that can quickly cause chaos, as Lesley O’Brien, MD at Freightlink Europe, Halifax, discovered a few weeks ago when the operator suffered an extended power cut.

“It wasn’t just us, it was the whole area,” O’Brien tells us. “So, of course, we had no internet, no phone, no lighting, and we couldn’t get into our transport management system. We had absolutely nothing.” Short-lived power cuts lasting from a few minutes up to around an hour are irritating and disruptive at best, but this was a far more prolonged outage.

Thankfully, the local mobile transmitter towers were unaffected by the problem, so these could still be used. Freightlink Europe uses a Voice Over IP (VOIP) or internet-based telephone system rather than traditional landlines, so the first thing peoples and governance director Louise Wilcock did was contact its provider. “They were saying the issue was actually hitting pockets of the grid UK-wide, so they were having real problems dealing with the volume of calls,” O’Brien recalls.

“Fortunately they were able to put a divert on the system so all calls went to our mobiles,” she continues. “Then we contacted our IT provider, who created an automated message responding to emails, explaining the situation. We subsequently all downloaded the mobile app, enabling us to both divert calls and take calls on our mobile phones,” O’Brien adds. “ This has proven to be invaluable.’’

From there, operations director Tom Peterson set up his mobile phone as a wi-fi hotspot to link to the internet and access the traffic management system. “Fortunately we’d invested in laptops for Tom and our transport manager Sean Abson during Covid, so that proved to be a real, real advantage,” O’Brien says. “But then, of course, the mobiles and the laptops began to run out of charge, so Tom picked his laptop up and took it home, doing all the programming in from there. Likewise accounts were able to work from home”

While this enabled trucks to be routed, the rest of the office was still unable to continue, but that wasn’t the only issue. Freightlink Europe has storage as well. “The warehouse was dark, and they couldn’t scan anything in,” O’Brien reminds us. “It’s amazing how something as simple as a power cut just brings you to a halt.”

PLANNING AHEAD We ask O’Brien what lessons were learnt from the experience. “When recently reviewing IT requirements to make room for two new apprentices, we decided to invest in laptops,” she says. “That way we can facilitate more remote working if and when necessary. Since Covid we’ve all become accustomed to hybrid working, and that really helps in such circumstances.

“Another thing to think about is how good your backup network of companies is – those supporting you with phone services and email hosting,” O’Brien continues. “The real key there was that we had local companies that had access to our systems, rather than having to go through endless menus to try and speak to a human being.” In an emergency nothing can replace having a personal contact, even if it costs that little bit more. “It’s like any other area of your work – your service can only be as good as your back-up providers.”

Having a back-up power source may be worth considering too, depending on the nature of your operation. Once upon a time, more rurally based companies might have had a diesel generator at the back of the workshop, while a more modern twist might involve storage batteries. Anyone installing solar panels on their roof will almost certainly have these as part of the system – another good reason to consider alternative energy sources.

“You’ve got to weigh up the risk against the cost, haven’t you?” O’Brien points out. “How often does a power cut happen? What’s the cost if it does happen versus the cost to implement back-up systems? If you’re not running a cold store or storing flammable substances, simply keeping a number of power banks around the place and ensuring they’re charged could be as much help as anything. Or of course, ensuring that you can quickly resort to remote working,” she reminds us again. “I suppose that is something we have to be grateful for.”