Truck drivers would walk if jabs became mandatory, says SA transport industry
Hundreds of SA truck drivers could slam the brakes on freight if vaccinations become mandatory, the sector says.
SA News
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The transport sector could lose hundreds of the state’s truck drivers – and thousands across the country – under any future mandatory vaccination direction, an industry association says.
SA Police on Tuesday night backflipped on a rule that truck drivers must have had at least one Covid-19 vaccination by September 24, if entering SA from high-risk states.
Concerns had been aired that many would be unable to get appointments before then and while welcoming the backflip, SA Road Transport Association executive officer Steve Shearer was concerned the rule could be reintroduced later.
He said if that happened, there would be a huge shortage of drivers to transport produce.
“If it’s the same as the general population, 15-20 per cent of people don’t want to be vaccinated,” he said.
“I’ve had a lot of operators telling me that drivers are telling them that if it becomes mandatory, they’ll just walk away.
“The majority are happy to go along with it, but if we lose hundreds of truck drivers – and nationally, it would be thousands – we’d have a serious problem continuing to bring the freight across and sustaining the economy.”
It’s an issue being discussed at National Cabinet, and is also expected to be further considered at state level in South Australia.
This week, SA Police also backflipped on a new requirement that cross-border community members receive their first jab by September 24.
But a spokeswoman said future changes may require these people and other permitted arrivals to be vaccinated before arriving in SA.
Mr Shearer said authorities must consider other measures, such as requiring more frequent Covid-19 testing for drivers who choose not to be vaccinated.
Another recent direction change requires any driver arriving from NSW and Victoria to show evidence having been tested in the previous 72 hours. But after turning some drivers away, police yesterday said officers were now, “as an interim measure”, allowing people to enter provided they tested within 12 hours of arrival.
Mr Shearer said vaccinations and Covid-19 tests were difficult for drivers to fit in to their strict work schedules, and co-locating testing and vaccine centres with border stops would help more meet requirements.
He will meet with senior health authorities and SA Police this afternoon about the issue.
Speaking before the backflip, Wendy Fennell, who runs forestry and logistics business Fennell Forestry, said also said the vaccination requirements were causing “quite a lot of anxiety in the workforce”.
“There’s labour shortages as it is,” she said. “People are getting very worried about how it’s going to affect their livelihoods.”
An SA Health spokeswoman said the government was increasing vaccine appointments in South-East clinics by 800 a week from next week.
Transport Workers Union SA/NT branch secretary Ian Smith said it would be much easier for drivers to get vaccinated if they could do so at the Covid-19 testing centres.
“There are nurses giving the test – surely they could be giving the vaccination,” he said.
An SA Health spokeswoman said the department was continuing to work with the SA Road Transport Association to reduce the impacts of cross border requirements.
“SA Health routinely looks into ongoing measures to help increase testing and support people to comply with direction requirements, including alternative testing sites,” she said.
“A range of cross border Covid-19 testing sites are available including in Mount Gambier, Pinnaroo and Yamba.”
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens previously said the heavier restrictions were needed after Covid-positive truck drivers entered SA in recent days.
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