Steve Scherer

OTTAWA (Reuters), – Canadian trucking leaders warned that disruptions resulting from a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for trans-border truckers will cause prices to rise and shelves to be empty in Canadian supermarkets.

Ottawa has imposed a mandate for six Canadian trucking companies to reduce the spread of the disease. They have lost about 10% of international drivers and some are increasing wages to recruit new workers during what they claim is the most severe labor shortage.

According to Dan Einwechter who is chairman and chief executive of Challenger Motor Freight Inc, Cambridge (Ontario), within two weeks consumers will find “not as many options on the shelves”

He said that eventually, “the prices will be transferred from the sellers to those products because we’re sharing our increases with them.”

Canada’s January inflation rate was 4.8%. This is a record for Canada. The United States saw an inflation rate of 7% year-on-year in December. This was the highest increase in almost four decades.

Justin Trudeau is the Prime Minister of Canada, and he has been a champion for vaccine requirements for Federal employees. Industry pressure has not allowed him to drop or delay the mandate, which was first announced November.

To enter Canada, the vaccine requirement began on January 15, while the entry to the United States starts on Saturday.

Because more than two thirds of C$650 million ($521 billion in goods) traded between Canada and the United States each year travels on roads and truckers were considered essential workers, they could still travel freely even if the border was closed for twenty months.

Trudeau on Wednesday defended his mandate and stated that Canada is “aligned”, with America, the largest trading partner.

Trudeau declared, “We will ensure that Canada gets what it needs while, as ever, making safety and security our number one priority.”

The mandate could result in the expulsion of up to 32,000 truck drivers, which is 20%, from the US and Canadian cross-border trucks. This figure was estimated by the Canadian Trucking Alliance. CTA stated that the industry had 18,000 unemployed drivers before the mandate.

Rob Penner, President and CEO at Bison Transport, Winnipeg, Manitoba, stated that they raised their base rate for cross border drivers by nearly 20% effective January 1. “There are more people than freight right now.

Canada’s Transport Ministry did not immediately comment on possible impacts of the mandate.

BAD TIMING

These six executive managers, with a total of nearly 9200 trucks in their respective companies, have combined experience of 173 years in this industry. They believe that high freight demand will lead to increased prices for consumers when there is a shortage of labor.

“We have been selling out at a rate of 5% to 10% each day for the last four-five months. Mark Seymour CEO, Kriska Transportation Group, Prescott, Ontario, said that all of this could not have happened at a worse time.

According to Monday’s Bank of Canada survey, Canadian companies see a growing labor market and increasing wage pressures. Investors expect that the central bank will raise interest rates next week, for the first time in 2018 – a trend which has been increasing since 2018.

Freight problems are more severe for fresh food because they can be very fragile. But, trucking managers warned that all US imports could be affected.

We have to transport milk. Doug Sutherland is the president of Sutherland Group Enterprises located in Salmo BC.

“Inflation” will have the greatest impact on what is happening here.

($1 = 1.2478 Canadian dollars)