Truckers Cheer Vaccine Mandate ‘Exemption’ Without Explicit Rule

The largest trade group for the trucking industry interprets the Biden administration’s vaccine and testing rules as exempting most of its drivers even without specific language in the mandate.

The industry had been heavily lobbying for a carve-out for truckers before the administration’s announcement Thursday of an emergency temporary standard requiring vaccinations or weekly testing for workers of larger employers by Jan. 4.

“Drivers spend the vast majority of their workday alone in the cab and outside,” Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations, said in a statement Friday. “The rule published yesterday exempts employees who ...