Not too far back, we wrote about how Love’s is requiring face masks in all of its over 500 locations. Now, Pilot company (Pilot and Flying J) and TravelCenters of America (TA and Petro) are following suit.
Desperate Times; Desperate Measures
The declarations from the three companies comes off the heels of various state governments once again demanding people take steps to combat the coronavirus pandemic, as the number of cases have had a second upswing from spring into summer. We speculate that the requirement of face masks at all locations is just to simplify policy and its enforcement across all of the stores in the nation.
TravelCenters of America released a list of stores impacted by the new policy. They have also listed additional guidelines such as a heavy emphasis on practicing social distancing and individually wrapping food items such as donuts.
Pilot has a similar release detailing various steps the company is taking to keep its stores a healthy and safe place for all visitors. These steps include:
- Requiring masks of both employees and patrons.
- Cleaning the fuel pumps daily and again as needed.
- Cleaning showers after each use with degreaser, disinfectant, and floor cleaner.
- Cleaning bathrooms more often than normally done.
- Requiring employees to test and self-isolate if under the impression of catching the virus.
- Having hand sanitizer dispensers available to employees and customers.
- Operate eateries at reduced capacity to increase distance between patrons.
- Closing driver lounges.
Conclusion
The coronavirus pandemic will be entering its sixth month come August. It is interesting to see where society has wound up. At first, people were making crazy runs on toilet paper and locking themselves up in their houses. Now, life has mostly gone back to normal only we wear masks whenever we go outside and try to keep distance between other people.
Pilot is cleaning their pumps daily and whenever needed, but that is still enough time for over a dozen people to handle it before you. As we have always said, remember to wear gloves when handling that diesel pump!
