Like the earlier statement released by the American Trucking Associations, the Truckload Carriers Association, in a letter signed by its chairman, does not take a firm stand declaring that the mandate to vaccinate workers at companies with more than 100 employees is a bad idea. But the statement does say that the mandate “could have wide-reaching implications for our industry and the nation as a whole.”
One specific area of concern mentioned in the statement signed by TCA Chairman Jim Ward, whose day job is president of Maryland-based D.M. Bowman, is the difficulty in vaccinating a workforce of drivers who at any given time are all over the country. That would also extend to testing the unvaccinated, which a company would need to do for that subset of employees. Several other industry officials have described this as a key challenge.
But the bigger concern is the mandate leading to drivers leaving the industry. “A larger fear is that a rule requiring a vaccine or weekly test could lead to a massive driver exodus from this great industry,” Ward wrote. “Already faced with a shrinking pool of drivers from COVID-19 itself, we are all confronted with the pervasive challenge of locating qualified drivers to deliver our nation’s freight safely, effectively and efficiently.”
www.freightwaves.com
One specific area of concern mentioned in the statement signed by TCA Chairman Jim Ward, whose day job is president of Maryland-based D.M. Bowman, is the difficulty in vaccinating a workforce of drivers who at any given time are all over the country. That would also extend to testing the unvaccinated, which a company would need to do for that subset of employees. Several other industry officials have described this as a key challenge.
But the bigger concern is the mandate leading to drivers leaving the industry. “A larger fear is that a rule requiring a vaccine or weekly test could lead to a massive driver exodus from this great industry,” Ward wrote. “Already faced with a shrinking pool of drivers from COVID-19 itself, we are all confronted with the pervasive challenge of locating qualified drivers to deliver our nation’s freight safely, effectively and efficiently.”
Truckload Carriers warns of vaccine mandate’s ‘far-reaching implications’
TCA stops short of saying it is against the mandate, but it clearly is concerned.
www.freightwaves.com
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