15 per cent of drivers could be lost to new border vaccine requirements: Sask. Trucking

By the end of the week, truckers crossing the border from the United States into Canada will need to be fully vaccinated.

Susan Ewart with the Saskatchewan Trucking Association told 650 CKOM’s Brent Loucks with vaccine rates for truckers between 83 and 87 percent, the industry could lose up to 15 per cent of their drivers when the new begins on Saturday.

“So if our Canadian drivers are down there they’ll need to be fully vaccinated, she said. “Those drivers are moving about $650 billion in trade across that border.”

Ewart sees the restriction as another major blow to the industry that could cause more damage to the already strained supply chain. Some drivers may be able to drive locally, while others are opting for early retirement.

“The drivers are like, ‘Hey I’ve had enough, I am ready to come off the road and I am going to retire.’ So of course there is no pool of people in the lineup going, ‘Hey, I’ll drive’ and that is definitely causing challenges.”

Ewart said Saskatchewan’s trucking industry is already short on drivers with companies already having to reprioritize some of their customers because they don’t have enough drivers.

“We are certainly not immune to what’s going on across the country. Our members are experiencing some of the highest shortages they’ve seen in years,” she said.

According to Trucking HR Canada, the number of transport truck driver vacancies has increased to 22,990 jobs, the highest it’s been since Statistics Canada began tracking vacancies in 2015.

Ewart said the trucking industry has the highest job vacancy rate at eight per cent, second only to the food and accommodations sector.