While hundreds of truckers remained in Ottawa all of last week, other trucker convoys joined with more protesters on Saturday across Canada in other cities including Toronto and Winnipeg. In Toronto, truckers and protesters were prevented from reaching the Ontario provincial government area of Queens Park by blockades and city police. (See more at link to FreightWaves, “More Trucker convoys roll into Canadian cities protesting vaccine mandates”, February 5, 2022, by Nate Tabak)

Hundreds of truckers drove into the small downtown area of Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday afternoon to protest both the Canadian and U.S. vaccine mandates at the border. The convoy was welcomed and joined by large crowds and other pedestrian vehicles also protesting many issues related to the vaccine mandates. (See more at link to FreightWaves, “Trucker convoy rumbles into Canada’s Capital …….”, January 29, 2022, Nate Tabak)

As 2021 came to a close, the Port of Los Angeles experienced four straight months (Sept. through Dec.) of import declines, with December ending 4.5 % down from previous month and down 18% compared to pre-pandemic year of 2018. The Ports of LA and Long Beach together service 40% of the import shipping containers in the U.S. Read more about how these trends possibly influence supply chain pressures at American Shipper, (“Los Angeles imports slump further as congestion throttles volume”, by Greg Miller, January 27, 2022.)

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Transport Topics reported this afternoon that “The Supreme Court has stopped the Biden administration from enforcing a requirement that employees at large businesses, including trucking companies, be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask on the job.” Three of the court’s liberal justices, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor provided a dissent explaining that the court acted outside of its area of competence. (See details at link to Transport Topics, “Supreme Court Halts COVID-19 Vaccine Rule for Large US Businesses”, January 13, 2022, Mark Sherman, Associated Press)

An agreement was reached just hours before deadline on Friday between the Unifor union and Prudential Transportation to avoid a strike by container truck drivers at the Port of Vancouver. There was a similar agreement with Aheer Transportation on Tuesday. This news comes as British Columbia is still in the midst of rail service disruptions caused by recent flooding and landslides. Link to video tour of port.  (See details at link to American Shipper, “Vancouver port trucker strike averted as union reaches deal with 2nd carrier”, December 2, 2021, by Nate Tabak)

After failed talks with the two carriers, Aheer Transportation and Prudential Transportation, the union Unifor announced on Monday notice (72-hour) for a strike on Friday. The union represents about 200 truckers or about 12% of drivers that work the Port of Vancouver, BC. The strike will increase delays and congestion on top of the already 50 plus ships waiting to dock this past weekend. (See details at link to American Shipper, “Port of Vancouver truckers issue strike notice”, November 29, 2021, by Nate Tabak)

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