While some hauliers have seen a surge in business and dedicated themselves to transporting vital emergency supplies during the coronavirus crisis, others have been forced to take vehicles off the road and furlough staff.

Last month, we reported how Wm Armstrong, based at Longtown had added its fleet of trucks to a 23,000-strong armada dedicated to distributing vital emergency supplies across the UK.

At the same time, Eddie Stobart said it was dealing with demand similar to that usually seen during the Christmas-period.

However, Neil Robinson, managing director of Tyson H Burridge based at Distington, near Workington, said his business is running at about 50 per cent capacity. Around half of its staff, including drivers and workshop employees were on furlough, while 20 of its 38 vehicles were still on the road.

The company transports a wide range of goods from packaging to chemicals but work has slowed as the coronavirus shutdown has rippled through the economy.

Neil, who is chair of Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership’s logistics sector panel and the Cumbria Transport Group, said the effect on different players in the industry was very much dependent on the customers they served.

“Everyone is furloughing to some degree, some fleets are parked up pretty much in their entirety,” he said.

“Some companies have laid off their subcontractors and are just keeping their own fleet going. Construction is starting to move again and some builders’ merchants are starting to open, so hopefully we will start to move again.”

Whether or not firms would survive the economic hit depended on their individual circumstances, he said.

“It depends how quickly they can recover and to what degree and how fast our customers can recover.”

AW Jenkinson Transport, near Penrith, has furloughed some staff on a voluntary basis and is now running a fleet of around 550 wagons compared to the normal number, which is over 700.

Finance director Dave Lindop said the main impact on its business had come from a reduction in the volume of recycled wood it was taking to biomass power stations.

He said the firm had also seen a reduction in the number of products it was transporting from sawmills to builders’ merchants as work on construction sites slowed.

AW Jenkinson supplies biomass energy plants with waste wood both directly from the construction industry or from its own processing sites.

Dave said it is still doing this, although the amount of waste wood had reduced in line with the slowdown in the construction sector.

“We are still servicing the power stations and sawmills which are classed as essential,” he said.

“There are a few green shoots in that we have a few more construction sites that are opening. More people are looking at how they can re-open safely for themselves and their customers.”

The company was also busy transporting compost and bark to DIY and gardening retailers, many of which sell goods online, as people confined to their homes during lockdown turned their attention to home improvement.

Staff are working from home where possible, but those that are coming to work are observing social distancing rules, said Dave.

To read a full report on how coronavirus is affecting the logistics sector and others across Cumbria, pick up the May edition of in-Cumbria magazine, available from May 6.