A whole lot of social media posts in recent days have called for truck drivers to boycott picking up and delivering freight in Florida on Saturday — the date the state’s recent law targeting undocumented immigrants takes effect.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 1719 into law in May, which targets undocumented immigrants by requiring employers to examine that staff are authorized to work within the U.S. The brand new immigration law expands requirements for businesses with greater than 25 employees to make use of E-Confirm, a federal system that determines if employees can legally work within the U.S.
With the law set to enter effect this weekend, some truckers have called for a one-day statewide boycott.
It’s unclear what number of truckers plan to take part in the boycott, but seasoned industry veterans say, regardless, the protesters’ efforts will likely fail.
In today’s rocky economic climate — and if shippers are forced to lift their rates to be able to get their freight moved — there’s all the time going to be an owner-operator or company driver, who has little say in where they’re being dispatched, that may break ranks with a convoy or boycott “if the value is correct.”
“I sympathize with those calling for a boycott in Florida, but our industry is in survival mode without delay and I even have a family to feed,” an owner-operator, who didn’t need to be named for fear of retaliation, told FreightWaves on Friday. “If the rates are there and I can make cash on the load, you bet my truck might be fueled up and able to roll.”
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Will Florida truckers be impacted by recent law?
Joe Rajkovacz, who’s the director of governmental affairs and communications for the Western States Trucking Association, told FreightWaves he began receiving media calls in mid-May looking for comments about how truck drivers might be affected by Florida’s recent law, which invalidates out-of-state driver’s licenses held by people living within the country illegally.
Nonetheless, Rajkovacz said the law wouldn’t impact Florida truck drivers with valid CDLs because, under federal law, states can’t issue a CDL to a truck driver who doesn’t have a green card, which authorizes them to live and work within the U.S. on a everlasting basis or isn’t a U.S. citizen.
“In terms of operating an enormous truck, the Department of Homeland has all the time recognized that a truck could possibly be used as a serious weapon to attack civilians and infrastructure,” Rajkovacz wrote in a recent article in his association’s magazine.
He said that what happened on 9/11 is why the industry has seen an uptick in “credentialing requirements for truckers, from the TWIC card to expanded vetting simply to be issued a hazmat endorsement on a CDL.”
Rajkovacz, who hauled produce for nearly 30 years, said Florida farmers, which rely heavily on migrants to work the fields within the state, might be hit the toughest by the brand new law.
Prior to Saturday’s planned boycott, some truckers on TikTok have been spreading misinformation in regards to the impact the state’s immigration law is already having on the trucking industry in Florida, posting FreightWaves’ articles from March, including one a couple of Miami-based trucking company and freight brokerage that filed for bankruptcy protection and one other article about Medley, Florida-based Flagship Transport Logistics and its affiliates, which abruptly ceased operations leaving 455 truck drivers unpaid, as occurring in late June.
Alix Miller, president and CEO of the Florida State Trucking Association, said she’s “aware of the reports [of a boycott] but am not aware of any issues.”
One truck driver, who lives in Georgia, said if spot rates don’t spike dramatically in Florida, he plans to remain home, barbecue and luxuriate in the July Fourth holiday.
“I might be checking spot rates throughout the night,” he said. “If I see something good, I’ll head out because if I don’t, another person will take it — that’s just how this industry works.”
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