Most truckers are not covered by President Joe Biden’s Covid vaccine and testing requirements for private businesses, according to Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, a win for an industry that had warned of potential walkouts that would disrupt already strained supply chains.
Biden’s vaccine or testing mandate for business with 100 or more employees went into effect on Friday, after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration published the requirements in the Federal Register. Businesses have until Jan. 4 to ensure their employees have received the shots required for full vaccination. After that date, workers who are unvaccinated must submit a weekly negative Covid test to enter the workplace. Unvaccinated workers must wear masks indoors at their workplaces starting Dec. 5.
However, the mandate exempts workers “who do not report to a workplace where other individuals such as coworkers or customers are present,” including truckers who are alone in their cab or who are not interacting with others at their point of departure or destinations, according to the Department of Labor. People who work from home or exclusively outdoors are also exempt.
The vaccination and testing requirements would apply to “truck drivers who work in teams (i.e., two people in a truck cab), or those who interact with people in buildings at their destinations or starting points,” a Labor Department.
The American Trucking Associations, which pushed back against the mandates to White House officials at the Office of Management and Budget last month, had warned many drivers would quit rather than follow the rules, further disrupting the national supply chain over the holiday season at a time when the industry is already short 80,000 drivers
