2.5 million US truckers say they'll quit over vaccine mandate

[oHnK]

LaMalfa says that the Biden administration is not helping, but you know who else is not helping? It's precisely guys like LaMalfa that keep emphasizing that vaccination is a personal choice, that nobody can make people vaccinate if they don't want to, instead of actually sharing the science of how vaccines drastically change your odds of surviving covid and encouraging people to consider vaccinating. They're talking about trucks, but in my country the anti-vaccination moods are so high that while there are already some jobs with mandatory vaccinations, doctor is not one of them because apparently many small towns will be left without crucial doctors if it's made mandatory. Nothing is more unsettling than doctors who don't want to get vaccinated. As for the US, I'm sure they'll figure out what to do. They might take a risk and see if it becomes a supply chain problem. They can override the mandate if it becomes the case.

A very interesting case for someone like me to read.  I really appreciate how idealistic people in the US are, and how different it is for people in a developing country like us.  Government regulations that force all workers to be vaccinated are not given the option of their own will.  Even today, vaccines are not due to the need to increase antibodies against the covid virus but as an administrative requirement only.  Flights must be vaccinated, work must be vaccinated, even to watch movies in cinemas must be vaccinated first.

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[darewaller]

I would say let them go, I am sure there will be people with vaccination who would LOVE to get paid that much. These truckers think that they could feel untouchable just because they are solving a problem? What are we going to do if all doctors said they are not getting vaccinated? What happens if all police force decided not to get vaccinated, what happens if all fast food workers declined it? Are we going to have none of them? Of course not, we are going to find a solution with the people who are willing to get vaccinated.

I am not really kind to anti-vaxxers, they could just become unemployed all I care, just get out if you do not want to get paid for doing your job with requirements which includes vaccination. I am not going to suddenly say "oh man, if truckers quit then I am finished, let them be the only type of work that doesn't require vaccination and KILL people", sorry but I rather starve them then accept their blackmail.

[eaLiTy]

I suppose it hinges upon whether truckers in 2021 are considered skilled or unskilled labor. Would a 2.5 million chunk of the workforce quitting create a vacuum which could easily be filled. The term independent contractors used to describe the trucking industry. Is often used to describe employment conditions that do not fit the label. Mixed martial artists in the UFC and pro wrestlers in WWE are both considered independent contractors. With a great deal of controversy surrounding the terminology and whether it is apt.

It is not just the truckers that are quitting over the vaccine mandate, government officials all over the US are quitting their job including police officers, army, fire fighters are so on and it will create a chaos that can be seen only in movies like purge. The idea behind independent contracts is that they are not getting a monthly or annual salary, WWE wrestlers are getting paid annually and hence they cannot be termed as independent contracts as they work over 250 to 300 days a year, but that is not the case with MMA fighters, they only get paid when they fight and if they decide to take a break for years, they can do so.

Basically when you are paid during your working hours and not contracted to an annual salary you are an independent contractor.

The only thing for certain is, Elon Musk is working somewhere to build trucks with no steering wheels that are robot driven.

Perhaps 2.5 million departing truckers will give Elon the vacuum he needs to push his robot truck drivers. That could rank in the top 5 of the most predictable things happening atm. As crazy as it may sound.

I doubt, AI trucks will be in the roads in the near future, but in the next few years it will be a reality as Elon and team are working on it.

[NeuroticFish]

It is not just the truckers that are quitting

That's correct. Just the truckers quitting may halt the movement of many goods - see what has happened in UK - and they're quite powerful.
But you're right, people from far too many fields are quitting. It doesn't look good at all.
Will this trigger a real crisis? Maybe. And I don't see any other solution than opening the borders widely - then there will be a huge influx of people who will want to get those jobs and do whatever it's needed to get them. Of course, I can't realistically expect that to happen.

Perhaps 2.5 million departing truckers will give Elon the vacuum he needs to push his robot truck drivers. That could rank in the top 5 of the most predictable things happening atm. As crazy as it may sound.

I doubt, AI trucks will be in the roads in the near future, but in the next few years it will be a reality as Elon and team are working on it.

The technology is not as good as advertised. Not yet. They can't do this so soon and at such a scale. Not yet.

[TheNineClub]

I know this is not fully related to the post, but what's the situation with selfdriving trucks? I mean, not to play devil's advocate, but truckers could in the near future loose their bargaining advantage. I mean, if they do quit now that could seriously impact the economic flow.

[Darker45]

I mean, if they do quit now that could seriously impact the economic flow.

What's hurting the economic flow is this vaccine mandate. Everything would be smoothly transitioning into the new normal amidst the pandemic if only the governments not force people to take the vaccine. There's an uprising against this vaccine mandate or vaccine passport almost all over the world.

If mothers are allowed to kill their own child inside their womb because they have the freedom over their own body, why are the governments now taking over the body of every single citizen and force to vaccinate it against a virus that does not really kill?

[Silberman]

My question is why are the truckers refusing to get vaccinated! They will rather quit their job than get the vaccine, is it that there are any noticeable effects after taking the vaccine or what are their reasons! There must be a reason for the not to want it, between quiting their job will not necessarily solve any problem rather they will increase the number of unemployed people in the country,
It is better they state their reason(s) make it clear so that a solution can be made.

Because it is their right, now do not take me wrong, I took the vaccine at the first opportunity that I got, but at the end of the day people by nature hate being forced to do anything and if you try to do it there is going to be a backlash, it is as simple as that, also you need to understand that while it is hard to generalize, a truck driver will spend a lot of time on their own which means they need a certain profile to take this, and that kind of person many times is doing that job because they do not want to take orders from anyone, which is precisely what Biden is doing here.

[Fortify]

Millions of truckers are balking at President Joe Biden’s workplace vaccine mandate, which would be catastrophic for the nation’s supply chain problem if it is enforced, an American Trucking Associations executive told House members this week.

“We’ve tried to be very clear to the administration — I understand the logic behind it — but if you do this, these are the consequences,” said ATA President Chris Spear. “So if you’re trying to solve the supply chain problem, you’re actually compounding it and actually hurting the very problem you’re trying to fix.”

ATA is the nation’s largest trucking trade group. Spear testified in front of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on supply chain problems.

....
Not certain what the implications of this would be. If there are implications.

I suppose it hinges upon whether truckers in 2021 are considered skilled or unskilled labor. Would a 2.5 million chunk of the workforce quitting create a vacuum which could easily be filled. The term independent contractors used to describe the trucking industry. Is often used to describe employment conditions that do not fit the label. Mixed martial artists in the UFC and pro wrestlers in WWE are both considered independent contractors. With a great deal of controversy surrounding the terminology and whether it is apt.

The only thing for certain is, Elon Musk is working somewhere to build trucks with no steering wheels that are robot driven.

Perhaps 2.5 million departing truckers will give Elon the vacuum he needs to push his robot truck drivers. That could rank in the top 5 of the most predictable things happening atm. As crazy as it may sound.

I think being vaccinated is a good thing, but there are certain proposed regulations like this which are too silly to impose and poorly thought out. I'd say trucking should be one of the last professions to be targeted with this sort of mandate as the often work alone in already tough conditions as it is. You are forcing people who are already isolated for 99% of the time they're doing a job - sure they travel long distances and should be sensible enough to wear a mask in crowded places, but beyond that they are some of the least likely people to be spreading it. Anyone in retail or hospitality has way more interactions that could spread a virus like this far easier.

[Lucius]

I would say let them go, I am sure there will be people with vaccination who would LOVE to get paid that much.

If you are not from the US, you certainly don't care what will happen there and whether all the trucks will stop, and you don't understand how much chaos that would cause not only there, but also globally. If you think it’s easy to replace millions of trained truck drivers with others overnight, then you’re grossly mistaken - it’s not a job that has a surplus of workers.

...sorry but I rather starve them then accept their blackmail.

If you ever get into a situation where you’re hungry and you can’t buy food, remember your words. I'm not a truck driver, but I realize how important they are in the whole chain - if they stop, everything else stops.

[alpamar99]

What is certain is that when that many people stop at the same time, it will immediately create chaos everywhere because indeed they are one of the frontlines in several vital shipments, one of which is staple food and other necessities.
This of course will be very influential because the supply that should be sent at the specified time will be hampered a lot because of the absence of a driver who does stop.
The worst thing is that there is definitely a scarcity of a product and goods will happen everywhere.

[shogun47]

This sums up US Covid policy really well, in fact.

A trucker, sitting alone in his/her truck for the majority of the day, would need to be vaccinated to protect who from catching Covid, exactly? The truck? The argument for a vaccine mandate was that an unvaxxed person could transmit Covid to someone that is also not vaccinated, but this begs the question as to how a truck driver is going to infect someone when they're sitting by themselves in a truck for most of the day.

Anyways, the implications of this are more supply chain issues and low economic growth. Shipping and logistics are the base of the manufacturing industries of any country, so removing transportation out of the equation ensures everything grinds to a halt.

They say inflation was due to the supply chain issue, and not a high money supply. Well, what happens to inflation when you stop truckers from doing their jobs if the result is scarcity of goods? More inflation.

The supply chain issues can become really intense. I would say that 2.5 million truck drivers is a number significant enough to cause some serious issues to the most relevant supply chains like food, energy and some other important stuff. Great Britain also collapsed for a while. I think it was around 100.000 truckers over there who stopped working and they had no gas at their gas stations and devastating conditions in the retail area. Now we are talking about 100.000 here. 2.5 million for the United States, oh oh...

[Rufsilf]

We'll see what will happen because either way there will be some implications. I just can't imagine what would be the reason for the truck drivers for rejecting the vaccines over the cost of their work, surely so much families will be affected. Imagine 2.5 Million truckers? There must be a reason to it why they won't like to get vaccinated.
But if eventually they will quit or just stop the job for even a week, the supply chain will surely be heavily disrupted, along the trucker's families and inflation will follow because of the shortage of products. Forget about Elon Musk for now, as if Elon can provide these much trucks or robots to replace this truckers immediately. He can't even get the Tesla model to perfection.

[Ucy]

I expect the desire to  serve should be greater than worries of what wearing mask(when necessary) to avoid vaccine can do. I think using the right mask rules should be alternative to taking vaccines. I'm more concerned about people unintentionally trying to quicken a full takeover. We should use the little time we have to properly prepare and save as many people as possible.
The one they call their leader should remain but the hand of the CREATOR is upon the Nation. So it's HIS Will that's currently being done not the other's will
I think it's important I comment now so people can have some idea what is truely going on. They definitely know that strange things beyond their control is going on... Not talking about the natural disasters.

*No issue will come out of my posting under "things" that currently cause issues. The Wall remains unshakable.

[shogun47]

We'll see what will happen because either way there will be some implications. I just can't imagine what would be the reason for the truck drivers for rejecting the vaccines over the cost of their work, surely so much families will be affected. Imagine 2.5 Million truckers? There must be a reason to it why they won't like to get vaccinated.
But if eventually they will quit or just stop the job for even a week, the supply chain will surely be heavily disrupted, along the trucker's families and inflation will follow because of the shortage of products. Forget about Elon Musk for now, as if Elon can provide these much trucks or robots to replace this truckers immediately. He can't even get the Tesla model to perfection.

I know two people who had to spend several weeks in an intensive care unit with a ventilator. That was in April this year and one very fit guy, no smoking and no alcohol, in his mid-fifties isn't even close to half of a recovery. He ran a successful business and his son now overtook his role. He aged several years in his face within just weeks. Ever since I saw him not too long ago there was no doubt in my mind I would take the vaccine, especially because I also wanted to help protecting my parents.

What I am asking myself how many of these truckers have really seen what can happen to you if you have a bad symptomatic infection? I am not judging anyone of them for their decision even though I think the data is good enough to justify the vaccination. Also how is it possible that really 2.5 million truckers agree so hard on rejecting a vaccine mandate? Are they all sufficiently well informed? Are they making their very own decision after listening to their doctor? There seems to be a lot of group dynamic at play.

[darewaller]

I would say let them go, I am sure there will be people with vaccination who would LOVE to get paid that much.

If you are not from the US, you certainly don't care what will happen there and whether all the trucks will stop, and you don't understand how much chaos that would cause not only there, but also globally. If you think it’s easy to replace millions of trained truck drivers with others overnight, then you’re grossly mistaken - it’s not a job that has a surplus of workers.

Why? Why would you have hard time replacing millions of truckers? Explain to me the exact reason why would it be hard to find people who would be overpaid for a very simple job when there is no qualifications required whereas burger flippers get paid minimum wage which hasn't increased in decades?

I am pretty sure the moment we have "okay we quit" situation going on with truckers, some of them will not give up, I suspect at least half of them will not be quitting their amazing job which allows them to earn way more than their qualifications suggests, and the other half will be replaced within 1 year at the very most if you ask me. Sure that means a bit of a problem at first, and to "train" them will take some time maybe, but in the end it will be a temporary solution. You know what the otherside is?

You do not let them go, you do not mandate a vaccination for truckers because of their blackmail, and then tomorrow librarians will ask for the same, then fast food workers, then office workers, if you give up as soon as someone blackmails you, then there is no mandate anymore.

[DaveF]

The other question is how many of them are large over the road truckers and how many are the local ones.
If more of them are the long haul ones then it's a bigger issue then if it's the local ones.

One of the people I do work for is involved in the food industry, I see a slightly different perspective.
EVERY person who deals with the food, even if it IS just the guy in the truck driving it and never even has ACCESS to the locked and sealed trailer, has had just about every vaccine known, As in it's frozen vegetables, the chances of transmitting Hep A to them is *zero*. BUT you know what, the insurance brokers don't give a fuck. Vaccinate or you don't get insurance.

But if you are hauling car parts, it's up to you. It's also up to the business shipping the parts and the business getting the parts if they want to let someone who is not vaccinated into their facility.

-Dave

[LUCKMCFLY]

The case of vaccination is a problem that for many represents the Non-Security of immunity, what seems very bad to me is that the truckers quit their job, if vaccination is mandatory, it is something else, but that each person Give him a possible compensation contract in case everything goes wrong, there are people who get vaccinated and die, Pfizer goes for the 4th dose, and the other vaccines such as Russia and China are still in development, I don't know what criteria the truckers take or who may be influencing them to make that decision, I know that Canada is closed even by air because there are more than 1000 deaths per day.

[Mahanton]

Well, if they were to quit we will see a big reduction in supply and most of the malls will be on short supply because they're going to be relying on those truck drivers, the only problem is that these people are opposing the mandate even though there's no downside to it besides the fact that they think that vaccines are a bad thing.

We do always have that kind of impression to those people who do really oppose the idea of vaccination  due to some personal reason which is commonly that they've been thinking negatively about it which it isnt surprising that they would really be ending up with these kind of decisions even myself
does really have that kind of views towards vaccine but i do still end up on getting some shot just because i cant enter malls and other
establishments for those people who arent vaccinated which means you dont have any choice right?
They are really good on making people do take the shot.

[stompix]

I am not really kind to anti-vaxxers, they could just become unemployed all I care, just get out if you do not want to get paid for doing your job with requirements which includes vaccination. I am not going to suddenly say "oh man, if truckers quit then I am finished, let them be the only type of work that doesn't require vaccination and KILL people", sorry but I rather starve them then accept their blackmail.

You have the wrong idea thinking maybe (I assume) that truckers deliver only finished goods or food, they deliver a lot of things to a lot of business and even if you think you're not depending o them you might or your supplier will surely do in any manufacturing.
Also, yeah right, you would prefer starving...have you ever gone a week without eating?

Why? Why would you have hard time replacing millions of truckers? Explain to me the exact reason why would it be hard to find people who would be overpaid for a very simple job when there is no qualifications required whereas burger flippers get paid minimum wage which hasn't increased in decades?

I don't know, have you sent your easy fix plan to Boris? The UK might need a bulletproof plan and pretty fast.
Oh, maybe because the part I underlined is not true? Do they test your vision, health, urine, and pass a knowledge test before you're ok to flip burgers?  

Perhaps 2.5 million departing truckers will give Elon the vacuum he needs to push his robot truck drivers. That could rank in the top 5 of the most predictable things happening atm. As crazy as it may sound.

I doubt, AI trucks will be in the roads in the near future, but in the next few years it will be a reality as Elon and team are working on it.

The technology is not as good as advertised. Not yet. They can't do this so soon and at such a scale. Not yet.

Rather than AI trucks they could invest more in railway transport, over long distances there is no way a truck would beat a train in speed and cost, and for short railway stations to deposit transports if everything is planned correctly you can have one truck serving an entire warehouse.
Probably AI forklifts would be needed more as there is a lot of time lost on loading and unloading, I know from a friend who works at a logistic depot every time they tried to use two operators in pair for the same container it has never resulted in an increase in efficiency, a fleet of AI forklifts would be able to coordinate themselves better than humans could ever do with thousands of hours of training.

[Silberman]

We'll see what will happen because either way there will be some implications. I just can't imagine what would be the reason for the truck drivers for rejecting the vaccines over the cost of their work, surely so much families will be affected. Imagine 2.5 Million truckers? There must be a reason to it why they won't like to get vaccinated.
But if eventually they will quit or just stop the job for even a week, the supply chain will surely be heavily disrupted, along the trucker's families and inflation will follow because of the shortage of products. Forget about Elon Musk for now, as if Elon can provide these much trucks or robots to replace this truckers immediately. He can't even get the Tesla model to perfection.

I know two people who had to spend several weeks in an intensive care unit with a ventilator. That was in April this year and one very fit guy, no smoking and no alcohol, in his mid-fifties isn't even close to half of a recovery. He ran a successful business and his son now overtook his role. He aged several years in his face within just weeks. Ever since I saw him not too long ago there was no doubt in my mind I would take the vaccine, especially because I also wanted to help protecting my parents.

What I am asking myself how many of these truckers have really seen what can happen to you if you have a bad symptomatic infection? I am not judging anyone of them for their decision even though I think the data is good enough to justify the vaccination. Also how is it possible that really 2.5 million truckers agree so hard on rejecting a vaccine mandate? Are they all sufficiently well informed? Are they making their very own decision after listening to their doctor? There seems to be a lot of group dynamic at play.

After almost two years of the pandemic I think we can safely say most people around the world are aware of its effects, and just as there are some people that will choose on their own to get the vaccine there are others that will come to the opposite conclusion, what happens is that those that are choosing not to get the vaccine probably think their rights are being trampled upon by being mandated to take the vaccine to keep their jobs, and now they are pushing back against Biden.