Conshohocken company using trucks for mobile COVID-19 testing

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. - A Conshohocken company is designing a new kind of COVID-19 testing site and it’s on wheels. 

When the pandemic hit, Larry Borden, the founder and CEO of Aardvark Mobile Tours had to change his fleet that was originally built for marketing companies at big events. 

“I read an article that Israel was taking shipping containers and placing them all around the country to do testing,” said Borden.  “One of the issues is that they need cranes to move them and they didn’t have electricity.” 

Borden knew his team could do better, building COVID-19 testing trucks that are air conditioned for nurses and separate them from patients by a glass shield. 

The trucks can collect between 200 and 2,000 tests each day, depending on the size of the truck. After the COVID test is taken, nurses can immediately walk it over to a built-in laboratory. 

“Everything is done in one spot and you could find out a lot faster than you would traditionally.” 

Borden says the demand is huge: “We are getting calls from Dubai, we are getting calls from Washington State, all over the country. Everybody wants these trucks.” 

As the pandemic progresses, Aardvark Mobile Tours is speeding up production, deploying to hard hit areas, and serving vulnerable populations. 

“The sooner they get the truck on the road, the sooner they get people the care they need,” said Borden. 

In his fleet of 115 vehicles, he calls these trucks the swiss army knife of mobile medical units. When testing is over, he says they can convert to administer the COVID vaccine and local health screenings. The company says trucks will soon be available for testing in the Philadelphia area.

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