Trucking vaccination rules start amid lingering supply chain issues

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Provincial and national industry experts remain concerned about staffing shortages and supply chain issues as vaccination mandates for truck drivers come into effect.

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On Saturday, all unvaccinated Canadian truck drivers returning from the United States must meet testing and quarantine requirements, the federal government said Thursday. Truck drivers must prove they have received two doses of vaccine to bypass these measures.

Canada’s vaccination mandate comes before the U.S. moves forward with plans to refuse entry to Canadian drivers who aren’t fully immunized beginning Jan. 22.

Rajan Sawhney, Alberta’s transportation minister, said 52 per cent of Alberta’s gross domestic product is delivered by truck, calling the province’s transportation network a vital part of the economy. However, supply chains have faced severe setbacks from the pandemic and recent flooding in British Columbia, she said.

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“We have been working with our industry stakeholders throughout the pandemic to maintain an effective workforce and transportation network,” Sawhney wrote in a statement Friday.

“We have also worked with the federal government to address the challenges faced by our industry, and we will continue to advocate for our interests.”

At the beginning of the pandemic, long-haul truck drivers were considered essential business and exempt from immediate quarantine and other restrictions. Ottawa decided to reverse those exemptions in November with a Jan. 15 vaccination mandate.

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Stephen Lakowski, president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, said the mandate could potentially cause some slowdowns at the border in the coming days if unvaccinated truckers have to turn their big rigs around.

But the bigger concern centres on wider effects on the supply chain caused by driver shortages, which are likely to be felt cumulatively in the coming weeks and months, he said.

The Alberta Motor Transport Association said there’s a shortage of more than 4,000 commercial drivers in the province. Association president Chris Nash said the industry could lose up to 20,000 cross-border drivers because of the mandate.

“They could be repurposed into a Canada-only role, but those are the challenges that we face now,” Nash said.

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The industry supports vaccination but needs more time to improve inoculation rates with education and improved access, Nash said.

Most people have time during the day to get vaccinated, but for truck drivers, weeks spent away from home and long days on the road can make access difficult, he explained. Nash estimated vaccination uptake for Alberta truck drivers was slightly less than the national rate of 83 to 87 per cent.

“We’re promoting, we’re trying to get it done, but we just we need more time.”

Last May, Nash said the AMTA worked with the Alberta and Montana governments to host a three-week vaccination clinic just south of the Canadian-U.S. border. More than 800 drivers were vaccinated during the campaign, he said.

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Regardless, Nash said the mandate’s impact on existing staffing shortages has already exacerbated supply chain issues. Carriers are having to prioritize deliveries with fewer drivers, meaning products will take much longer to get delivered, he said.

“From what we hear from our members, day one (of the mandate) is going impact them,” he said. “It’s going to mean products are not going to move. And that’s really going to be the challenge.”

There was some confusion around the mandate’s application after a Canada Border Services Agency spokesperson suggested unvaccinated truck drivers would not have to quarantine on Saturday. The federal government has since said Wednesday’s announcement was a mistake.

— With files from Bill Kaufmann and The Canadian Press 

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Twitter: @BrittGervaisAB