US Supreme Court hears trucking industry vax challenge

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments today on a challenge to President Joe Biden's mandate requiring businesses with 100 employees or more to be fully vaccinated or conduct weekly regular testing.

The emergency application before the court, submitted in part by the American Trucking Associations (ATA), seeks to reinstate a stay on the mandate.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) proposed the emergency temporary standard in November. The mandate goes into effect on 10 January with testing for unvaccinated employees and citations for noncompliance set to begin on 9 February.

The court seemed split on reinstatement of the stay. Justice Clarence Thomas asked what factors would dictate the need for OSHA to enact and keep an emergency standard, while Justin Samuel Alito inquired if the mandate was to protect the general public, or just the workers under the mandates provision. Justice Stephen Breyer countered saying it would be "unbelievable" that putting a halt to vaccinations would be in in the public interest.

ATA, along with state trucking associations in Louisiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas, sued the administration in November over the mandate, but the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the stay on the mandate on 17 December.

ATA's chief executive Chris Spear told a congressional hearing in November that 37pc of drivers, or more than 2.5mn truckers, would quit rather than comply with the mandate. The trucking group has formally requested drivers be exempt from the mandate and said this week it was still awaiting official guidance from OSHA on the topic.

A similar provision for Canadian drivers entering the US is set to go into effect on 22 January, while a Canadian version of the mandate which would affect US truck drivers is scheduled to commence on 15 January.

By Jason Metko