Calgary Starts to Feel the Pain of U.S-Canada Government Vaccine Mandate on Truckers

Sundance reporting for Conservative Treehouse

It has only just begun.

Effective yesterday, all U.S. and Canadian cross-border truckers must show their vaccination passport in order to deliver their loads.  Approximately 15% of Canadian truckers and approximately 50% of U.S. truckers are not vaccinated.   The logistics and distribution of food supplies into and out of Canada are collapsing.

Pay attention to the scale of impact in this example.  It will only take a few days for this to go from a problem to a full-blown crisis of epic proportions.

CALGARY –  “For the product to be right there and not being able to touch it, we’ve never seen it before in the 12 years that we’ve been open,” he said. “The U.S. is full of product, and we just can’t get it up here.”

The produce warehouse in Northeast Calgary routinely received two or three trucks a day to restock their shelves. Now, when they are attempting to import 80 to 90 per cent of their stock from the U.S., they are lucky to get one truck every two or three days.

[…] This has led to shortages in staples their customers have been accustomed to relying on them for like grapes, strawberries and citrus. When they can get some of those items, the price has gone up exponentially. Grapes that used to be 99 cents a pound are now running $4.99 a pound.

With the trucks Freestone can secure, they are focusing on vegetable deliveries, and the cost of those trucks has also skyrocketed. The average truck out of California pre-pandemic cost Freestone $6,000 to 7,000, now it’s costing them $9,000 to 11,000.

[…] Nash said the backlog is already starting to accumulate at the border, estimating about 100 loads a day, noting the Coutts crossing handles about 800 loads a day. (read more)