New trucking vaccine mandate is likely to make fruit and vegetables more expensive

• Vaccine mandates for truckers that haul goods over the US-Canada border could cause price hikes.
• The CEO of Canadawide Fruits told Bloomberg the cost of transporting produce climbed 25% last week.
• Canada imposed the mandate on Saturday and the US will require vaccine passports on January 22.

New vaccine mandates for truck drivers are likely to increase the cost of produce.

The cost of transporting fruit from California and Arizona to Canada climbed 25% last week, the CEO of Canadawide Fruits, George Pitsikoulis, told Bloomberg on Monday. 

The Montreal-based executive pointed to a lack of truck drivers who are able to cross the border between the US and Canada due to a vaccine mandate that cuts US trucking capacity in half, according to data from the American Trucking Association. The group estimates that only about 50% to 60% of US truck drivers have been fully vaccinated. Stephen Laskowsi, president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, told The Wall Street Journal that a survey of Canadian truckers suggested that over 10% of truckers in the country aren’t vaccinated.

Canada’s vaccine mandate for truckers was imposed on Saturday. The new rules require US truckers to present proof of vaccination in order to cross the border, while Canadian truckers without a vaccine passport will be required to quarantine and take a COVID-19 test when they reenter from the US.

The US will impose a similar mandate on January 22 and trucking companies have already begun to boost their rates to compete for vaccinated truck drivers.

In December, Fuel Transport, a Canadian logistics company that employs about 90 truckers, began offering a $10,000 incentive to truck drivers who had received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose. In January, one of Canada’s largest trucking firms, Bison Transport, started offering $2,000 signing bonuses for vaccinated truckers — an extra cost that the company’s CEO Rob Penner says will ultimately be passed on to consumers.

Truckload Carriers Association President James Ward previously told Insider that he believes the vaccine mandate will exacerbate the shortage of truck drivers, and make it more difficult to bring in new ones, as well as add to longer wait times at the border.

Eighty percent of trade between the US and Canada moves by truck. Canada accounts for one of the US’ largest export markets. Trade between the two countries totaled over $600 billion in 2019.

Do you work for a trucking company? Reach out to the reporter from a non-work email at gkay@insider.com