More than 730,000 employees in the trucking industry are included in President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandate, which the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is set to publish in the Federal Register Friday, Nov. 5.
Companies with 100 or more employees will be required to comply with the mandate by no later than Jan. 4, 2022, according to the White House. Multiple trucking agencies had sought an exemption, claiming mandatory vaccine enforcement would place additional pressure on a supply chain that is already under duress, but those calls and warnings went unheeded.
Truckload Carriers' Association President Jim Ward noted that lumping trucking into a blanket labor force mandate was especially troubling given that Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg "has already acknowledged the fact that we're up against a labor challenge for commercial truck drivers, as well as other workers in the industry. It's extremely disappointing."
The mandate requires employers to develop, implement and enforce a COVID vaccination policy or a policy wherein unvaccinated workers undergo regular COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering at work. To comply with the mandate, workers will need to have the necessary shots to be fully vaccinated – either two doses of Pfizer or Moderna, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson – in fewer than 9 weeks from now.
[Related: Attorneys say OTR drivers not subject to vaccine, testing requirement]
For employers who adopt a policy allowing for a testing option in lieu of vaccination, the rule requires employees to be tested at least weekly and wear masks in the workplace. OSHA is also gathering more information about whether it should require more frequent testing than weekly.
