Trucking companies sound alarm, say Canada's draconian vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers will devastate economy
By jdheyes // 2022-01-19
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Trucking organizations are echoing warnings from individual haulers and trucking companies that vaccine mandates for drivers on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border are going to devastate economics and come at a time when the supply chain crisis continues to leave shelves bare in grocery and retail stores. According to The Post Millennial, around 30,000 truckers who deliver goods and products between the U.S.-Canadian border have yet to submit paperwork indicating they have been vaccinated for COVID-19 following a Jan. 15 deadline requiring them to show proof before they are able to enter Canada, though the federal government has suspended that requirement for the time being. Still, there is a requirement that Canadian truckers entering the U.S. show proof of vaccination that is set to go into effect Jan. 22. And if it remains in effect and/or Canada reverses its decision and reimposes a vaccination mandate, then economic chaos will follow, trucking firms warn. When the COVID-19 pandemic began nearly two years ago, then-President Donald Trump made land border crossings between the U.S. and Canada essential so as to ensure that both countries' supply chains remained intact. But when Joe Biden took office, the fools who are really running his regime told him to reverse Trump's decision, which he dutifully did. Mike Milliam, head of Private Motor Truck Council of Canada, told the Lynnwood Times that vaccine mandates are only going to make current supply chain shortages even worse and will lead to longer-term disruptions. "Seventy percent of the $700 billion in trade between Canada and the U.S. is moved by truck," Milliam said, according to the outlet. "This will have a dramatic effect on supplies and services reaching their destination and getting in the hands of those who need them. "One needs to look no further than the recent U.K. fuel shortage, where the military had to be brought in to deliver fuel as a result of a lack of truck drivers. We are already seeing shortages, if these shortages reach critical levels on items such as fuel, food, blood medicine or medical supplies, we will see real, long-lasting damage," he added. The Lynnwood Times reported that roughly 120,000 Canadian truckers enter the U.S. every day while around 40,000 U.S. drivers enter Canada. Most of the cargo consists of extremely essential items like blood, medical supplies, fuel and food.
"We understand the governments are putting these mandates in place in order to protect our health," Milliam noted further. "If we start seeing shortages of medical supplies in our hospitals because we've mandated drivers to get vaccinated, how much is that going to affect people's health? The idea may be good in one direction but I don't think we've really looked at its effects on health and safety on the other side," he noted further.
He went on to warn that vaccine mandates from either or both countries will result in losing one-in-four drivers, which would be a catastrophe.
"We've already had a shortage of driver positions before we brought in any vaccine mandates and on top of that, we've got supply chain issues to begin with. We can usually go to the grocery store now and see at least one item that's not on the shelf but once we wipe out 25 percent of the workforce, I think it's going to become a very common case,” Milliam told the Lynnwood Times.
"Since this policy was first raised in government circles, we have constantly communicated the environment that this mandate would create. We had hoped that both U.S. and Canadian officials would recognize the effects this rule would have on our industry's capacity levels. Unfortunately, at this point neither the Canadian nor U.S. officials have changed their position on this matter," the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada noted in a press release.
While Canada relaxed its mandate for Canadian drivers, Reuters noted that American truckers would have to be vaccinated before entering. Two years after we were told to give authorities "two weeks to bend the curve," COVID-19 insanity continues to destroy our economy. Sources include: ThePostMillennial.com Reuters.com
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