Today’s Pickup: Drivers and delivery workers demand hazard pay and safety equipment

Traffic at Walmart Inc., Costco Wholesale Corp. and Target Corp. dropped for the first time in the weeks since the coronavirus pandemic ramped up in the United States. Traffic was down 6.7%, 8.7% and 20.5% year-on-year for the third week of March for Walmart, Costco and Target respectively.

Quotable

“Manufacturing conditions are likely to get worse. Increasingly strict lockdown measures, both in the eurozone and globally, will shut even more factories. Rising layoffs in the industrial sector reported in March mean factories won’t be able to immediately restore production once containment measures are lifted.”

– Rosie Colthorpe, an economist at Oxford Economics, on sharply declining production and falling new orders across the world.

In other news

Amazon struggles to find its coronavirus footing

Tech giant faces overwhelming demand, mass absences and a restive workforce. (WSJ)

Coronavirus expected to cripple US auto sales

Due to skyrocketing jobless claims, weakening consumer confidence and state orders for residents to stay at home, automakers are expected to report their worst sales declines in years. (CNBC)

Oil giants turn on each other as crude prices plummet

The continued face off between Russia and Saudi Arabia is not boding well for the future of oil. (Oilprice)

On-demand shuttle startup Via hits $2.25 billion valuation following Series E round

Via, which employs about 700 people, plans to use the fresh investment to expand its partnerships and the software services piece of its business. (TechCrunch)

Drivers to Uber CEO: ‘Get out of the way’ of unemployment relief we’re allowed by law

NYC-based drivers’ advocates say that Uber is hindering drivers’ access to unemployment insurance in New York, one of the hardest-hit U.S. states in the pandemic. (Forbes)

Final Thoughts

In a survey undertaken by PwC with chief financial officers (CFOs) of different logistics companies, a growing number of them expected to widen the breadth of their supply chains following the COVID-19 crisis. The share of CFOs planning to diversify their sourcing rose from 30% on March 11 to 42% on March 25 – a direct result of the pandemic. Companies that had their sourcing centered around China and southeast Asia will now look to expand their sourcing locations, ideally spreading them across the planet. 

Hammer down everyone!