American truckers don’t take orders. But, the Biden admin increased the pressure on the vaccine! During the entire pandemic, the truckers endured hardship to keep America’s infrastructure going. They wasted their time waiting to use the bathrooms that weren’t allowed to be used. Some of them even died C-19.
Not, the supply chain is disrupted, and Americans need them now more than ever.
“I’d fight it,” one veteran trucker Mike Widdins stated. “I think a lot of us will be quitting. Who likes to be forced to do stuff you don’t want to do?”
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He isn’t the only one to leave the truck if the vaccines are mandated. Polls shared that 30% of the truckers will consider quitting if the vaccine becomes obligatory. “It would hurt shipping big-time,” Widdins said.
Narrowing Lanes
Biden ordered his administration to mandate the vaccines for the private companies that have more than 100 employees. The OSHA was charged with developing the rule, and the Office of Budget and management is currently reviewing it. This process can’t take more than 90 days.
The trucking industry has companies with less than 100 employees, but most of them would fall under 100.
The majority of the truck companies have approximately six or fewer trucks.
Barbara Smithers, the VP of the Indiana Motor Truck Association, stated, “Truck drivers spend most of their work hours alone in the cab of a truck—literally one of the safest places possible during a pandemic—so why do they need to be regulated in this way?” she said. “Testing hundreds of thousands of truck drivers moving across the country every day is a virtual impossibility.”
For the companies that have more than 100 employees, Biden’s decision may drive away employees at a time when America needs them the most. Approximately 80,000 truckers are required in order to satisfy America’s transportation needs.
The supply chain crisis left Americans in need. With different backups, the shortage isn’t that bad, but the situation will worsen.
Joe Trucker and Joe Biden
Some truckers believe that it’s their job to serve America, but they are relatively low-paid. The virus wasn’t kind towards them; while everyone was at home, they were on the road.
“You’re almost forced, like a second-class citizen,” Victor Morales, a truck driver, said. “They want the goods and services you got, but they don’t even want you to get out of your truck.”
‘’ If they arrived hungry, they waited hungrily,’’ he said. ‘’They weren’t even allowed to use the toilet, only steps away.’’
“You can literally see a bathroom right there behind the glass. But you can’t get out,” said Morales.
“It’s unconstitutional,” said one trucker who preferred to remain anonymous. “We’ll just buy our own damn trucks and run our own company. All we’ve got to do is shut down, and the country doesn’t exist no more.”
Many drivers think that the vaccines aren’t good, and they don’t trust them and won’t get them.
“I had cancer years ago,” said trucker Jack McGregory. “I don’t want to put something that I don’t know exactly what it will do into my body. If I die, I want to die with a little more time on my hands than that.”
McGregory stated that he would quit his job than get the vaccine. Ten other truckers stated that they are vaccinated but oppose the vaccine mandate.
Kevin Hambrick, a driver with Fortune 500 transportation company J.B. Hunt and he opposes the mandate.
“Each guy should make his own choice,” Hambrick said.
“You have to decide for yourself,” he said. “People should do whatever they want to do.”
Drivers are pressured by their bosses. After the year with a pandemic, it seems that the restrictions are even harsher.
“There’s no place in the middle right now,” said one Flagstaff, AZ. “If you want to put something in your body, it’s your personal choice.”
“We run our country,” one said. “They don’t give an [expletive] about this country.”
Roads to Health
The Biden administration stated that America needs new vaccines to increase the protection.
“The vast majority of Americans are doing the right thing,” president Joe Biden said in a press conference on September 9. But he said more people should get vaccinated.
Because the shot efficacy was lowered, people had to take another booster shot.
“We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin,” Biden said to those who had not gotten a vaccine. “Your refusal has cost all of us.”
Some medical experts say clusters of unvaccinated people allow the virus to mutate into a form that can bypass the vaccine.
“It’s perhaps just a matter of time,” University of Alabama–Birmingham medicine professor Dr. Michael Saag said.
“A new variant could emerge where we won’t be so fortunate, and the existing vaccines won’t work.”
On October 20, Biden inked his name on an executive order lifting weight restrictions on trucks and encouraging more people to be truckers.
Collision Course
The truck industry stated that truckers who can quit would do that if the vaccines were mandated.
“Drivers will leave bigger companies and look for smaller ones that don’t have to comply with the mandate, or they will quit altogether and look for another profession,” he said.
“Drivers have leverage,” he said. “It won’t be an empty threat. Nobody is going to be quickly replaced.”
Jim Ward, the DM Bowman president and chairman of the Truckload Carriers Association, said that the truckers are seriously thinking about quitting due to the vaccine mandates.
“With driver availability already limited, any exodus due to compliance with a vaccine mandate would put our nation and its economy in an even more precarious situation,” he said.
“Our nation’s professional truck drivers are the safest, most well-trained operators on the road today. Replacing any driver who leaves the industry is not an overnight process,”
The American trucking industry faced a tremendous driver shortage.
Impact
New workers can’t be compared with longtime professionals. The long-time workers can drive in complex traffic conditions and still arrive on time.
If the vaccine is mandated, most of the experienced drivers will leave.
“The mandate is going to affect the older drivers that have been here a while,” Morales stated. “They’re going to have a choice.”
“If somebody’s done it for a long time and hasn’t had a lot of accidents, they’ve been pretty safe,” he said. “They probably take some pride in what they do.”
If 20 percent of truckers quit because of the mandate, America will lose about 15 percent of its transportation capacity.
“I love this industry, but without us, this country would shut down in three days,” said trucker Jack McGregory.
Backing Up
The vaccine mandate will influence the companies with more than 100 people, but the small companies won’t have the resources to absorb many additional drivers.
“I would love to be able to accommodate 30 people, but the work is not here to support that many,” Falkenstern said. “I don’t want to operate any more than what I have because of insurance regulations.”
“A lot of the bigger companies can keep prices down,” he said. “They can get a lower cost because it’s in bulk.”
“It really hurts the larger trucking companies more than anything else,” Robertson said, adding that whatever the case, the mandate will exacerbate current supply chain issues.
Logistic workers are fighting with the worst supply chain crisis ever, stated Lisa Anderson.
“It’s unprecedented. It’s never happened before,” she said.
“They are more of a lone wolf, always navigating complex situations on their own,” she said. “They don’t like to be told what to do.”
Delays Ahead
If truckers move on with this temp, the American supply chain will be a disaster and will come very fast.
Humans want to assert that they amount to more than mere links in a chain, pulled on command from the federal government.
“It’s just that shoving-it-down-your-throat part,” Morales said. “Our first instinct will be to push back.”
