---
title: Running a dealership during corona – interview with Joe Malone of Ballinlough Refrigeration
description: Find out how Joe Malone of Ballinglough Refrigeration, winner of Thermo King’s Dealer of the Year award in 2020, handles the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in an exclusive interview
---
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# Running a dealership during corona – interview with Joe Malone of Ballinlough Refrigeration
[Best practices](https://www.thermokingnews.com/tk-stayfresh-blog/tag/best-practices), [Services](https://www.thermokingnews.com/tk-stayfresh-blog/tag/services), [DOTF](https://www.thermokingnews.com/tk-stayfresh-blog/tag/dotf), [Market Stories](https://www.thermokingnews.com/tk-stayfresh-blog/tag/market-stories)
*In January of this year, Ballinlough Refrigeration in Dublin (Ireland) won Thermo King’s [Dealer of the Year award](https://europe.thermoking.com/mediaroom/thermo-king-awards-its-dealer-service-network/). “Winning the award came as a huge surprise”, Managing Director **Joe Malone** says. “We know how good our colleagues across the EMEA region are!” *
“But only one dealer could win, and we received congratulations from a lot of customers – telling us the award is well-deserved. I think the jury appreciated our rapid mobile services and in-house Thermo King training program. **The award was a huge morale boost for our Sales, Service & Administrative team.**”
> Luckily, we are considered an essential service!
> - Joe Malone, Managing Director of Ballinlough Refrigeration in Dublin
## Keep providing essential services
While 2020 started with an economic boom, the COVID-19 outbreak is **severely slowing down business in Ireland**. At the time of writing, Ireland is still in full lockdown.
“Everything is much quieter. Chassis and Trailer OEM’s are closed and a lot of potential orders from the hospitality industry are pushed back to next year or canceled altogether. We have certain food service customers with 75% of their fleet parked up – which means **our service parts & labor requirement dropped significantly**.”
But there is a silver lining, Joe Malone adds. “**Luckily, we are considered an essential service**. Our dealership maintains the fleet of [home delivery vans for Tesco](https://www.globalcoldchainnews.com/tesco-orders-thermo-king-truck-and-trailer-fridges/), a multinational retailer. Additionally, we maintain other essential services such as [ColdCube™](https://europe.thermoking.com/accessories/coldcube/coldcube-connect-containers/) maintenance for Blood Transfusion Service Board to carry red cells, plasma, and platelets.”
## Effective safety measures in place
“We do still perform mobile services. And we’ve noticed that we run them much **faster since there’s almost no one else on the road**.”
But Joe Malone stresses that **safety is of the highest importance at his dealership**. They all practice social distancing with the majority of his administrative and sales force working from home.
But how about technicians? “We split our service teams so they could never meet each other. Also, half of our service technicians work on the road or stay at home when there’s no work. And finally, we’ve **stored replacement parts at agreed locations** so there would be no risk of transmitting COVID-19 from one technician to another.”
## Keep up the good work
“Throughout the outbreak, Thermo King has been great. We get regular updates from the Management Team and we receive updates on iService with the latest literature, dealer webcasts, network coverage, and safety measures at the manufacturing plants”, concludes Joe Malone.
From our side, **we’d like to thank our amazing dealer network for continuing to offer great service** during these difficult times. Because of you, our grocery stores receive their products on time, medicine gets delivered to hospitals, and the cold chain remains intact.
Thank you, Thermo King dealers!
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