Companies with 100 or more employees will be required to comply with President Joe Biden's COVID vaccine mandate by no later than Jan. 4, 2022, according to the Emergency Temporary Standard that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is expected to publish in the Federal Register Friday, Nov. 5.
Multiple trucking industry 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.
American Trucking Associations (ATA) President and CEO Chris Spear pointed out that while the rule didn't offer a specific exemption for trucking, it did exempt "employees who exclusively work outdoors or remotely and have minimal contact with others indoors, and all indications thus far from the Department of Labor suggest this exemption does apply to the commercial truck driver population," he said via statement Friday. “While we complete our due diligence to confirm that fact through official channels, we see quotes from Labor Secretary Walsh as an enormous victory for our association and industry."
According to attorneys at Fisher Phillips – a firm that specializes in workplace safety – truckers that are out on the road driving are subject to Department of Transportation regulations, not OSHA standards, so the vaccine mandate does not apply while they’re out on the road.
“If you're not in the office very often, you'd only have to have a negative [COVID] test within the seven days before you come into the workplace. They've carved out those employees that are not there very much,” said Travis Vance, a Fisher Phillips partner and co-host of his law firm’s media webinar that explored the vaccine mandate.
Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh last week said, "If you're a truck driver and you're outside, you're in a cab driving by yourself, this doesn't impact you. If you're a worker outside working in the area, this doesn't impact you.”
However, Vance said once drivers report back to a company where 100 or more employees work they must either show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within the past seven days. It gets a little trickier for truckers when they make deliveries.
