With resistance by truck drivers to Biden’s COVID vaccine mandates growing stronger everyday, a trade union association representing 97 major labor unions issued a stark warning to “sleepy Joe” to ease up on his draconian decree or face an even worse supply chain disaster in the coming months.
A November 3rd open letter was sent to the administration by the International Foodservice Distributors Association. They asked for “flexibility for transportation and supply chain essential workers, particularly truck drivers who spend most of their time in their trucks and have minimal contact with colleagues and customers.”
The letter made clear that although the IFDA and its members “unequivocally support the use of vaccines,” they are concerned the mandate will “cripple an already strained supply chain.”
Adding; “We estimate companies covered by the mandate could lose 37% of drivers at a time when the nation is already short 80,000 truck drivers,” the group warned.
Remarkably, within less than a few days, the Biden team had apparently taken the veiled threat seriously, announcing that most truck drivers would be exempt from Biden’s harsh vaccine mandates.
The announcement from the administration is being hailed by representatives of the trucking industry as “a huge victory” because the Department of Labor has now decided that the vast majority of truckers will be exempt from the mandate.
However, here’s where it gets a bit confusing. According to the Labor Department’s announcement, not all truckers will be exempt from the mandate. Those who partner with another driver sharing a cab or interact with other vendors and or people while loading and unloading cargo, will fall under the mandate.
So far the Labor Department hasn’t clarified the issue of truck drivers stopping at truck stops they frequent or coming into contact with eateries with less than 100 employees.
Sadaya Morris, a 28-year-old truck driver, before hearing the good news exempting truck drivers from the vaccine mandate, lamented; “It is going to be very detrimental,” she told WPVI-TV in Philadelphia. “I know a lot of drivers that are against the vaccine especially because it doesn’t hold any type of real value to prevent you from getting COVID.”
The administration’s sudden reversal also caught ATA President Chris Spear by surprise, after he had sent out a news release prior to the administration’s announcement exempting truck drivers.
“Drivers spend the vast majority of their workday alone in the cab and outside.”
Adding; “The rule published yesterday exempts employees who exclusively work outdoors or remotely and have minimal contact with others indoors, and all indications thus far from the Department of Labor suggest this exemption does apply to the commercial truck driver population,” he said.
Truckers are exempt from Biden DOL OSHA vax mandate ETS. Is this exemption in the rule, or just by @SecMartyWalsh's oral proclamation, as the story reads? https://t.co/QgRkwB2xkt
— Paul Diller (@dilleradollar) November 6, 2021
Spear said it’s especially critical for the White House to be flexible because there simply aren’t enough truckers.
“Given the nationwide shortage of truck drivers, it is vital that our industry has the relief it needs to keep critical goods moving, including food, fuel, medicine and the vaccine itself,” he said.
Also, if a truck driver is not exempt for whatever reason, he/she will be given an option to submit weekly negative COVID tests to their employer. Ironically this option is currently being denied to most police officers, firefighters, and healthcare workers, which once again simply illustrates the sheer incompetence of this administration.
However, don’t be surprised if the Biden gang suddenly reneges on their promise to exempt truck drivers from the mandates. Lest we forget, this is the same administration that said only a few months ago, they’d never impose any type of mandate on the American people.
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