Blog
Truck Drivers are Exempt from Vaccine Mandate
- By: Shannon Davison
- On: 11/05/2021 15:56:20
- In: Legislative Bulletins
TRALA has learned from its friends at the American Trucking Associations (ATA) that the intent of the Department of Labor's (DOL) Occupational Safety and Heath Administration' s (OSHA) vaccine mandate was to exempt truck drivers.
This indication has come from senior DOL officials who have told ATA that the language exempting employees, who exclusively work outdoors or remotely and have minimal contact with others indoors, exempts solo truck drivers from the vaccine mandate. This interpretation was backed by Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, in an interview last night, when he said that truck drivers who are alone in their cab and people who work outside are not subject to the vaccine mandate.
While TRALA applauds this clarification from the DOL, it will be working with the ATA and other industry partners to receive formal guidance on the trucker exemption from the vaccine mandate. Furthermore, TRALA is awaiting clarification on if this exemption in the OSHA regulation will be extended to carriers who need to follow President Biden's Executive Order mandating vaccines for all federal employees and government contractors. The vaccine mandate released by OSHA yesterday stipulated that employers with 100 employees or more who were also government contractors would be subject to the Executive Order from President Biden and not by the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). If you have any questions or concerns on the vaccine mandate please do not hesitate to contact Andrew Stasiowski at astasiowski@trala.org or Jake Jacoby at jjacoby@trala.org.
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