The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), the American Trucking Associations (ATA), numerous Canadian and U.S. industry groups, and 55 members of Congress, led by U.S. Representative Rick Crawford, have called on President Biden to the U.S. border vaccination requirements impacting cross-border truck drivers.
The full text of the letter led by Rep. Crawford can be found here, and the accompanying press release here.
The letter highlights that many essential commodities important to the U.S economy are imported into the U.S. from Canada, and that the vaccination mandate continues to strain the supply chain and hinder the trucking industry’s ability to move these essential goods quickly:
“The trucking industry is already suffering immense labor shortages, especially for drivers, which is raising costs on consumers and limiting the supply of nutrients, food, energy, chemicals, and other major products. Combined with a looming threat of a rail worker strike, we must look to alleviate any outstanding restrictions for our commercial truck drivers to further incentivize not only their return to work, but for onboarding new drivers as well,” the members wrote.
Both CTA and ATA continue to actively work with U.S. officials to remove the U.S. vaccination mandate as soon as possible. The policy applies to all non-U.S. citizens. All Canadian vaccination/COVID requirements were removed as of October 1.
In recent weeks, both organizations have co-signed a letter to the U.S. government requesting removal of the mandate. The Alliance also wrote to the Council of Governors and lauded the Northern Border Caucus for their public support to remove U.S. vaccination restrictions to the benefit of the Canada-U.S. economy and the tourism sector.
CTA will continue to engage with U.S. officials and industry stakeholders on both sides of the border and will update members as soon as possible if any changes are announced.