Truck company offering $10,000 to vaccinated drivers as Jan. 15 deadline nears
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/12/2021 (1747 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
MONTREAL – Amid an ongoing labour shortage, a Canadian logistics company is offering a $10,000 bonus to all truck drivers who have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine by mid-January.
Fuel Transport, whose payroll counts about 300 employees — including roughly 90 truckers — says it hopes the incentive will retain employees and boost vaccination rates as well as head off potential delays at the border.
“It wasn’t just a pure play to motivate them to be vaccinated, but the opportunity was there to put it in and it was well-received,” CEO Rob Piccioni said in a phone interview.
“‘We know we kept you out of our buildings. We know we kind of alienated you. … Thank you for sticking through it,'” he said, summing up his message to big-riggers.
The federal government announced last month it will close certain loopholes in its vaccination requirement for international travellers, including for essential service providers such as truck drivers. As of Jan. 15, all truckers looking to cross into Canada will need to be fully inoculated.
Non-residents who are not fully vaccinated will be turned away at the border, while residents of the same status will have to show proof of a recent negative test and quarantine for two weeks.
The trucking sector, which suffered from an acute labour shortage even before the pandemic, is feeling the workforce crunch more than ever as demand ramps up amid an e-commerce surge.
Angela Splinter, CEO of Trucking HR Canada, says the rule change next month will have an impact, “we just don’t know how severe.”
Fuel Transport, which ships products ranging from pharmaceuticals to pulp and paper across North America, said its $10,000 bonus will be paid out over 12 months.
If all 90-odd drivers become vaccinated, the cost will be about $900,000 over the coming year.
Roughly 85 per cent of the Montreal-based company’s drivers are already vaccinated, the CEO said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2021
