Two COVID-19 vaccines are expected to receive federal approval in the U.S. within a matter of weeks. With 60% of Americans claiming they will get the immunization, according to Pew Research, demand will be high for the 70 million doses expected to be available by year’s end.
Transport of the vaccine comes at a less than ideal time. Capacity is already tight. Winter weather and snowy and icy driving conditions are gripping parts of the country, and with public outcry for a coronavirus cure growing louder by the day, Boyle Transportation Co-President Andrew Boyle called vaccine distribution the “most complex logistical challenge since World War II.”
More consumer dollars are being spent on goods than services since the onset of the pandemic, yet there are fewer trucks and drivers to move them – with scads of vaccines waiting in the wings.
“Goods and stuff have to be shipped,” Boyle said. “When people spend more money on stuff, that puts more premium on transportation.”
The inventory-to-sales ratio is at its lowest point in six years, putting more pressure on just-in-time transportation, Boyle added. The Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse has removed 27,000 drivers from the industry since January, and trucking school closures and social distance limitations are keeping new entrants out of the labor force.
