A vaccine mandate is now in effect for cross-border truckers coming into Canada. Canadian truckers who are not fully vaccinated will have to show proof of a negative PCR test collected within 72 hours of arriving at the border and will need to quarantine after arrival, while unvaccinated American truck drivers will be denied entry.
If you thought the supply chain issues were going to work out, it looks like you may have been mistaken. A lot of drivers struggled to make it across the borders to their respective countries before the mandate took effect at midnight
“A few of them put in a 16-hour driving day, but they were not getting stranded down in the U.S.,” Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada CEO Shelley Walker said. “There is a shortage of PCR tests, and where do you go in a vehicle that’s 70 to 75 feet long?” While Canadian drivers will not be denied entry, those who do not follow the policy could face enforcement action or fines. Walker said truckers are planning a convoy to Ottawa in protest, according to a report by CTV News Vancouver.
“You are now looking at an already scarce pool of drivers. Now that pool has gotten a bit shorter. So what you would have to do is you have to re-optimize your trucking, where you would take the vaccinated drivers and hopefully get them across the border,” he said. “It’s a business trade-off because the disruption that a Covid outbreak can cause in a company is much higher than the fact that some of them will not be vaccinated.”
This is only going to get worse too. The United States is planning its own assault on the liberty of truck drivers and the supply chain. The U.S. will also tighten its border restrictions this coming Saturday. At that point, Canadian truckers will be denied entry to the States unless they’re fully vaccinated.
According to The Canadian Trucking Alliance, between 10 to 15 percent of cross-border drivers could be lost, during an already ongoing labor shortage for the industry.
Be ready. Things could start disappearing from the shelves much more quickly in the coming weeks.
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