Truck drivers, the essential to the nation’s food supply, apparently say that they will steer clear of delivering goods to any city that defunds or disbands its police department, according to polling data.
A survey claims that nearly 80% of the responding truckers won’t go anywhere near a location without a functioning law enforcement agency out of concerns for their personal safety and the ability to protect their cargo.
“Truck drivers have spent the last year on the front line of a global pandemic and protests. Now many are fearful of what might happen if police departments disband or are defunded,” CDL Life — which covers the commercial trucking industry including the on- and off-road challenges that driver encounter — reported.
As of Saturday, more than 1,200 truckers responded to the poll on the CDL Life app, sending a very clear message that they will refuse to make freight deliveries in areas where law-and-order could break down or perhaps already has broken down through a dismantling of the police.
One trucker explained: “I will not deliver to an area with a disbanded police department. My life matter and I do this for my family. We are already at the mercy of these towns and cities with laws and hate against us for parking, getting a meal or even using a restroom.”
Another echoed these concerns: “For my own safety and security of my customers’ loads, I have already informed my dispatcher that I will refuse all loads to cities that have defunded their police departments.”
Back in April during a White House ceremony, President Donald Trump personally thanked the nation’s truck drivers for keeping commerce flowing especially amidst the panic buying that accompanied the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak.
“At a time of widespread shutdowns, truck drivers formed the lifeblood of our economy. For days and sometimes weeks on end, truck drivers leave their homes and deliver supplies that American families need and count on during this national crisis,” President Trump explained.
The reaction on Twitter from those who work in the trucking industry seems to validate the poll.
