"The U.S. will close its borders to unvaccinated and partially vaccinated Canadian and Mexican truck drivers on Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday.
“These updated travel requirements reflect the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to protecting public health while safely facilitating the cross-border trade and travel that is critical to our economy,” Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
NEW: Beginning Saturday, January 22, DHS will require non-U.S. individuals seeking to enter the U.S, via land ports of entry and ferry terminals at the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders to be fully vaccinated for #COVID19 and provide related proof of vaccination.
— Homeland Security
(@DHSgov)
January 20, 2022
The restrictions, which apply to all foreign essential workers, had been expected since U.S. officials announced them in October.
They follow a similar rule that took effect at the Canadian border last Saturday.
The border COVID-18 vaccine mandates are coming into force despite push back from the truck industry.
The impact will be felt most acutely for the U.S.-Canada freight market, where around 160,000 truckers regularly cross the border — 75% of whom are Canadian.
Already capacity has tightened significantly, with huge price increases in the spot market.
It adds to existing pressures, including COVID-19 itself, which left many fleets operating below full strength.
“The supply chain is already fragile — so it puts all of us in a precarious situation,” Dan Einwechter, president of Canadian trucking and logistics firm Challenger Motor Freight, told FreightWaves.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance and American Trucking Alliance have projected that 10%-15% of drivers may leave cross-border trucking as a result of the mandates, and exacerbate existing supply chain issues.
On Monday, several dozen Canadian truckers protested near the U.S. border in Emerson, Manitoba."
Canadian trucker Kerry Delaine, a lease operator from Winnipeg, Manitoba, received his first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine recently.
Delaine does not believe the vaccines are safe or effective but said he felt he had no choice. ...
“My company doesn’t have enough Canada-only work, so I’d basically be giving my truck back to them because there’s no way in hell I can afford the payments,” Delaine said.
... The Canadian Trucking Alliance estimates that 22,000 of 120,000 Canadian cross-border drivers would no longer make runs to the U.S. because of the mandate, which was announced in October.
A further 16,000 U.S. drivers could stop running to Canada when a similar requirement from the Canadian government takes effect Jan. 15, according to the CTA.
The consequences could prove devastating to the cross-border supply chain, according to the CTA.
Trucks typically haul over $300 billion of freight between the U.S. and Canada annually, with about 75% handled by Canadian drivers.
Meanwhile, carriers across the country worry about losing large numbers of drivers altogether.
“The reality is, we’re playing a game of high-stakes chicken with the situation the supply chain is in right now,” said Steve Laskowski, president of the CTA, which is pushing for the U.S. to delay the mandate to give the industry more time to improve vaccination rates.
“There are no backup drivers to draw from.”
... Ryan Loyva, an owner-operator from Alberta, hauls industrial equipment between the U.S. and Canada regularly with his flatbed.
Loyva has no plans to get a COVID-19 vaccine, and he will switch to handling domestic freight if necessary — even though it could be a significant cut to his bottom line.
“I’m not going to lose my house.
The only thing that I have a payment on is my truck.
So I can take a pay cut of 50% and still be OK,” he said.
... “Honestly, if it was not forced, that would open my eyes a lot more,” he said.
“I’ve had other vaccines. But as I look at it, it’s a bigger issue than just a vaccine. It’s: where do you draw the line with government overreach?”
Not enough domestic freight for drivers who refuse shot, says trucking CEO
Experienced drivers are in high demand across the Canadian trucking industry.
But reflecting the nature of Canada’s trade flows, more long-haul truckload freight moves to and from the U.S. than domestically.
Furthermore, carriers often integrate domestic Canadian freight into cross-border runs.
“There’s no way that we’d have runs for everyone,” said Dan Einwechter, CEO of Ontario-based Challenger Motor Freight, one of Canada’s largest carriers.
Challenger’s domestic freight services are highly integrated into its cross-border operations.
Its trucks often triangulate — such as running from Ontario to Vancouver and then to Los Angeles before returning, Einwechter said.
Carriers like Challenger haven’t been required to vaccinate employees.
The Canadian government exempted trucking companies from a vaccine requirement for federally regulated workplaces.
However, the U.S. government’s border mandate is indirectly having a similar effect.
... Challenger is still surveying drivers about their vaccination status, but Einwechter expects there will be at least some holdouts.
The company doesn’t plan to create any financial incentives to encourage vaccinations.
... For drivers at cross-border carriers, the decision not to get a vaccine likely means they’ll be seeking work elsewhere.
Shelley Walker, CEO of the Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada, said
... “I think a lot of them will go to private fleets at places like Walmart and Canadian Tire."
Beyond the potential exodus of cross-border drivers, the U.S. vaccination requirement will add another layer of scrutiny at the border.
Laskowski, of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, expressed concerns that the additional requirement will lead to much longer wait times at the border.
“Are you going to ask drivers to pull out their phones to show their proof of vaccination?” he said.
“The delays will be enormous.”
... if the separate border mandate goes forward as planned, Loyva is ready to stay in Canada, even though he’ll miss his runs to the U.S.
“I prefer coming to the States,” he said.
“When it comes to the highway systems, the truck stops, the services that are provided to us, I much prefer being down south.
But I’m not going to cave into a government regulation or rule I don’t believe in.”
freightwaves.com
... U.S. truckers will only be able to cross the border if they can show proof that they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Meanwhile, unvaccinated or partially vaccinated Canadian truckers face testing and quarantines.
... on Jan. 22, the U.S. is expected to implement a similar policy on its borders with Canada and Mexico.
... Since March 2020, truckers along with other essential workers, have been exempt from the various restrictions imposed on regular travelers.
1. What will truckers need to cross the Canadian border?
U.S. drivers won’t be allowed to cross the border unless they can show that they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with shots that are accepted in Canada.
Acceptable vaccines include two shots of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, a single dose of Johnson & Johnson.
Drivers are being told to submit their proof of vaccination in advance through a government app called ArriveCan, but also to have a paper copy too available to show Canada Border Services Agency officers.
The situation is a bit different for Canadian drivers since citizens and permanent residents can’t be barred from entering the country.
Instead, unvaccinated and partially vaccinated drivers face mandatory quarantines and testing after arrival.
2. How many drivers are expected to drop out of U.S.-Canada cross-border trucking?
The Canadian Trucking Alliance and American Trucking Associations have projected that 26,000 of 160,000, or a little over 16%, drivers will no longer cross the border because of the mandates.
Around 75% of the freight hauled between the countries is handled by Canadian drivers.
Meanwhile, about 88% of Canadians over age 12 are fully vaccinated.
As CTA President Steve Laskowski pointed out, “We have a high vaccination rate.
But even at 10% to 15%, that’s a lot of trucks.”
... Despite XTL’s high vaccination rate, Germain said the larger industry will likely see a significant loss of cross-border drivers, especially at smaller carriers based outside of larger urban areas. ...
3. But will that many drivers actually leave?
... Matt Silver, founder and CEO of Chicago-based cross-border logistics firm Forager, said economics will prevail over the desire to remain unvaccinated.
However, the calculus is going to be different for U.S. versus Canadian drivers.
The domestic U.S. freight market is largely more lucrative than the Canadian one.
In short, Canadian drivers take a bigger hit by dropping out of cross-border work.
There’s also more competition for domestic Canadian trucking jobs.
Peter Stefanovich, president of Toronto-based transportation M&A advisory firm Left Lane Associates, thinks any driver exodus will be temporary.
4. What are the markets telling us?
Rob Piccioni, CEO of Montreal-based Fuel Transport, said his firm’s freight brokerage isn’t seeing any significant loss of capacity from its partner carriers.
... Piccioni said he doesn’t expect an immediate, catastrophic shock to the supply chain. But rather a slow burn that will get worse in the spring as volumes go up.
“We’ll see the impact in February and March,” he said. “Right now, it’s too early to tell.”
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