NBC Reports Trucker Vax Mandate Scheduled for Jan 22 Might Collapse Supply Chain for Food and Auto Parts

Sundance reporting for Conservative Treehouse

Perhaps the mainstream media is starting to wake up.  NBC is now reporting that cross-border auto parts and food shipments may start being disrupted as the trucker vaccine mandate begins.  Approximately 60 to 75% of all U.S. truckers are not vaccinated.  The cross-border vaccine mandate for American truckers begins January 22nd as part of the Dept of Homeland Security protocol.

In October DHS announced:

…”beginning in early January 2022, DHS will require that all inbound foreign national travelers crossing U.S. land or ferry POEs – whether for essential or non-essential reasons – be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and provide related proof of vaccination. This approach will provide ample time for essential travelers such as truckers, students, and healthcare workers to get vaccinated.” (link)

The Canadian trucker vaccine mandate began January 15th, the U.S. mandate begins this weekend, January 22nd.  Given the scale of out of season fresh fruit and vegetable shipments from South and Central America, as well as Mexico, we can anticipate serious issues in the food supply chain.  The NBC article highlights trade with Canada, but that’s miniscule when compared to the trade we get from Mexico.

(Via NBC) – […] The U.S. mandate, announced in October, requires all essential foreign travelers, including truck drivers, who cross U.S. land borders to be fully vaccinated. Essential nonresident travelers had been able to enter the U.S. during the pandemic regardless of their vaccination status, in part so as not to disrupt trade and to give them more time to get vaccinated.

The forthcoming mandate follows one that went into effect in Canada last week that prohibits unvaccinated truckers from crossing into Canada from the U.S.

[…]  The border restriction will make the automotive supply chain issue worse, said Doug Betts, president of the global automotive division at J.D. Power, a data and analytics company focused on the auto industry. He noted that auto parts come from all over the world and one obstruction in the chain can significantly slow or stop production.

“By the time you map out the supply chain, it’s just a spider web going everywhere,” he said.

“I would be surprised if there are any (U.S.) cars that don’t have at least one Canadian-based part. Canada is a pretty important part of auto manufacturing,” Betts said. “Any part that doesn’t arrive or if there’s something wrong with it, you can’t build it. There’s more points of failure.”

[…]  In Michigan, Brian Hitchcock, owner of MBH Trucking LLC, said he expects his freight transportation company to lose 40 percent in revenue because only five of his 30 drivers are vaccinated, leaving the others ineligible to haul diesel exhaust fuel back and forth from Ontario, Canada, to Michigan.

“And it’s all because we can’t cross the border,” he said. “It’s affecting every sector of what we use in this country.”

Hitchcock, also the interim executive director of the Michigan Trucking Association, said he’s spoken with 15 other trucking companies who have about 400 drivers, 75 percent of whom are unvaccinated.  (read more)

One example below.

Current Canadian potatoes in deep chill storage.

[SOURCE – United Potato Canada]

80 million hundred weight (CWT) is essentially 8 million tons.  Article on excess potatoes without shipment HERE.

Good luck moving 8 million tons of potatoes without truck drivers.