Road-weary travellers often need a break to stay focused on what's happening around them.
ONroute Service Centres operates 23 locations along Highways 400 and 401, a rest area for drivers that were deemed an essential service at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak and have remained open ever since.
ONroute CEO Melanie Teed-Murch said that the locations are open 24/7, 365 days a year and never close, making it crucial for them to act fast when other businesses started closing in mid-March due to the pandemic.
“We prepared a plan and quickly adapted so we could keep being there for Ontarians and to help the much-needed supply chain to keep moving,” said Teed-Murch. “We had been working on policy since January as we watched the pandemic and heard from our shareholders outside of Canada.”
Policies that were implemented included limiting the number of people who could be in an ONroute location at one time.
Teed-Murch said that was difficult but vital as ONroute facilities see more than 40 million people come through the doors annually
“We were able to act swiftly to limit the spread of the virus in our plazas by having mandatory face masks on staff, protocols in place to shut down our dining areas, implemented physical distancing, and actively take the temperature of our staff,” she said.
“Communication and training for all staff was key in all of this and is really the only way anyone can be effective and safe during COVID-19.”
ONroute also went cashless, which Teed-Murch admits was met with some upset customers.
“Trying to be as contactless as possible and becoming cashless was met with quite a bit of heartache from some people. But I must say, we continue to follow that protocol because it's the best thing based on World Health Organization (WHO) health experts to limit the use of hand-to-hand cash,” Teed-Murch said.
According to Teed-Murch, ONroute was among the first to install plexiglass barriers for staff, even before grocery stores.
The CEO explained why they had to get the jump on places that sell food to shoppers.
“We are on the travelling route for the truckers who deliver to grocery stores, the men and women who need to stop to clean up, get a hot meal or park because their log books say they have to,” said Teed-Murch. “We are proud to say we were and are a safe haven for them to park their vehicle and have a rest.”
Teed-Murch says she's happy to see numbers are steadily climbing.
“I would say our 400-series has seen the best recovery of traffic since COVID-19 began in the province,” said Teed-Murch.
With several different eateries in an ONroute location, from Swiss Chalet to New York Fries to Tim Hortons, visitors need not worry that cleaning protocols are different, Teed-Murch noted.
“We actually run all of our establishments, with the exception of A&W, so we’re the franchisee,” she said. “That is not always known by our customers, but it allows us to set the cleaning protocol.
"We clean our facility every 15 minutes and hold ourselves to a very high standard.”
A map of where all 23 locations are is available at the ONroute website by clicking here.
