/// Guest post by contributor Nate Oland, Federated Insurance
Imagine that all you’ve worked for goes up in smoke— literally. Or that your business is hit by a tornado, hurricane, or earthquake. All of your efforts are simply “blown away” by a natural disaster. Financial protection resulting from a disaster is a reason to partner with a financially strong insurance company.
The travel plaza can have a unique role during a natural disaster. For example, a travel plaza might be relied on by those seeking a shelter-in-place during an ice storm or blizzard. Demand for food and fuel often increase with a response to the disaster by those traveling to and from disaster areas such as where hurricanes, tornados, and wild fires occur.
A community cannot survive a natural disaster unless businesses like yours survive, and a business cannot survive unless its employees survive. Federated has developed a plan of action to help protect your business, its employees, and your community from the aftermath of disaster.
A periodic review of policy limits is important to determine if sufficient coverage is provided in case of a total loss. Some things can be difficult to replace, if not impossible. Federated recommends coupling your insurance program with a disaster planning and recovery strategy to help you protect people and property, resume critical business operations, minimize downtime, and keep customers.
Consider the types of natural disasters that have historically occurred in your geographic area. Define the risks that have a high severity of impact to your operations. Prepare to protect your business from the vulnerabilities and exposures that could develop.
Identifying potential aid sources in advance could be useful to address issues like the use of refrigerated warehouse space and relocating spare generators to operate fuel dispensers. Make a deliberate plan to sustain or get back into business. Have a back up of the plan kept at a location that would not likely be impacted at the same time of the disaster.
Periodically review your plan to account for any changes. Conduct a table top exercise or dry run of your plan and make sure employees know what to expect. Being prepared can make the difference between the loss of your business and its survival.
Federated Insurance® has developed a plan of action to help protect your business, its employees, and your community from the aftermath of disaster. The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) and its Open for Business® Toolkit is available to policyholders. Not only does IBHS offer tools to protect your business, it also has tools and guides for employees to learn how to prepare their families and homes in the case of a disaster. To find out more, go to our website and select Open for Business/Disaster Planning.
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Editor's Note: In conjunction with Federated Insurance, NATSO is offering a free webinar on the numerous ways you can and should prepare for emergencies. The Truckstop Emergency Preparation and Recovery Webinar is scheduled for Tuesday, December 11 at 11:30 a.m. EST, 10:30 a.m. CST, 9:30 a.m. MST, 8:30 a.m. PST. To join the meeting and be automatically dialed on Tuesday morning, click here. If you would like to listen in on the telephone only and not view the slides, dial (800) 531-3250 and enter the passcode of 3441502271. Following the presentation, a toolkit of the materials will be posted. - AT |
{Guest Post} Guest post provided by Nate Oland, Federated Insurance. For more than a century, Federated Insurance Companies has provided peace of mind to business owners through valued insurance protection. Learn more about Federated Insurance.
The opinions and advice given by guest post contributors are not necessarily those of NATSO Inc. The posts should not be considered legal advice. Qualified professionals should be sought regarding advice and questions specific to your circumstances.
This article is intended to provide general information and recommendations regarding risk prevention only. There is no guarantee that this information will result in reduced losses, lower premiums, or lower experience modification factors. The content provided is accurate as of October 2012 and is subject to change. This information may be subject to regulations and restrictions in your state and should not be considered legal advice. Qualified counsel should be sought regarding questions specific to your circumstances and applicable state laws. © 2012 Federated Mutual Insurance Company.
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