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Truckers Cheer U.S. Vaccine Mandate ‘Exemption’ Without Explicit Rule

Truckers Cheer U.S. Vaccine Mandate ‘Exemption’ Without Explicit Rule

The largest trade group for the trucking industry interprets the Biden administration’s vaccine and testing rules as exempting most of its drivers even without specific language in the mandate.

The industry had been heavily lobbying for a carve-out for truckers before the administration’s announcement Thursday of an emergency temporary standard requiring vaccinations or weekly testing for workers of larger employers by Jan. 4. 

“Drivers spend the vast majority of their workday alone in the cab and outside,” Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations, said in a statement Friday. “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.”

The group is seeking further clarity and confirmation, but Spear called the rule, and comments from Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, an “enormous victory.” 

Truckers Cheer U.S. Vaccine Mandate ‘Exemption’ Without Explicit Rule

A truck driver who meets exemptions, such as working alone or exclusively outside, wouldn’t be covered by the mandate, a Department of Labor spokesperson said. Truckers who work in teams or interact with people in buildings at their pickup or drop off locations would be, the spokesperson said.

“Most truckers aren’t covered by this,” Walsh told MSNBC. “They are driving a truck, they are in a cab, they are by themself.”

The rule estimated that more than 739,000 employees in “truck transportation” would come under the mandate.

‘God Help Our Industry’

Trucking companies already battling a shortage of drivers that has pinched the flow of goods voiced concerns about the vaccine mandate before the Occupational Safety and Health Administration released the rule. A vaccine-or-weekly-test requirement would be “extremely difficult” to carry out, said Greg Gantt, CEO of Old Dominion Freight Line Inc., the largest trucking company in the U.S. by market value.

“God help our industry” should truckers be subject to the requirements, he said while discussing earnings on Oct. 27. “If you think we’ve got supply chain issues now across the country, that could really throw it into some kind of a crazy tailspin, but we’ll see where it goes.”

Roughly 86% of adults in the U.S. have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker. Yet millions of Americans meanwhile haven’t despite ample vaccine availability and data demonstrating the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccinations.

The trucking industry and Republican lawmakers warn that vaccine and testing mandates will further hamper delivery of goods. XPO Logistics Inc. CEO Brad Jacobs said the percentage of vaccine holdouts likely skews a bit higher in the trucking industry.

“If that policy went in right away, it probably would not--short term, at least--have a good effect,” he said during the company’s Nov. 3 earnings call. “You would see a lot of labor leave the market.”

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.