covid-19 testing

FMC commissioners want maritime workers on COVID-19 vaccine priority list

Two high-ranking maritime officials are warning the Trump administration that the U.S. economy could be in danger if efforts are not made to prioritize COVID-19 testing and vaccines for maritime workers.

Carl Bentzel and Daniel Maffei, commissioners at the Federal Maritime Commission, said in a letter to Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and U.S. Maritime Administrator Mark Buzby that if priority is not provided to the workforce at U.S. ports, it...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/fmc-commissioners-want-maritime-workers-on-covid-19-vaccine-priority-list

UPS pilots want more COVID testing as infections spike

A white UPS cargo jet with brown tail flies over populated area. View is looking down from above aircraft.

The pilots’ union for UPS (NYSE: UPS) says the express delivery company is not providing enough COVID-19 testing even as the infection surges among its members. 

The Independent Pilots Association, which represents 3,000 crew members at UPS Airlines, on Monday said 100 pilots contracted the coronavirus in November, double the number of cases that occurred during the prior seven months. The statement was the latest act in an ongoing campaign this year to draw attention to alleged health safety...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/ups-pilots-want-more-covid-testing-as-infections-spike

Port of Long Beach again breaks container record

The Port of Long Beach has handled more than 800,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in a single month for the first time in its 109-year history.

The port moved 806,603 TEUs in October and broke the record set just a month earlier by more than 11,000 TEUs. Trade was up 17.2% from October 2019, the port said.

The port said imports jumped 19.4% last month compared to October 2019 with 402,408 TEUs, while exports were down 12.9% to 114,679 TEUs. Empty containers headed back overseas grew 31.8%...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/port-of-long-beach-again-breaks-container-record

Don’t get wrapped up in drug test confusion

Substance abuse is a serious issue in the trucking industry, but tracking and reporting it is equally challenging. While motor carriers, medical review officers (MROs), substance abuse professionals (SAPs) and consortium/third-party administrators (C/TPAs) do their best to crack down on the use of illegal substances, all parties must understand how to conduct proper testing and recordkeeping.

Marijuana takes the heat for contributing heavily to the industry’s substance abuse problem, and with...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/dont-get-wrapped-up-in-drug-test-confusion

U.S. airlines cancel Hong Kong flights over crew testing

Big United plane on tarmac, side view close up.

United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) and American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) have temporarily suspended flights to Hong Kong after the city imposed invasive COVID-19 testing on all arriving crew members.

The first round of mandatory aircrew tests found four cases of infection, including three pilots working for Hong Kong Air Cargo, a unit of Hong Kong Airlines, who had just returned from Almaty in Kazakhstan, according to the South China Morning Post. 

Hong Kong health authorities tightened testing rules...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/u-s-airlines-cancel-hong-kong-flights-over-crew-testing

COVID-19 testing coming to a truckstop in Canada

A member of the New York Army National Guard performs a COVID-19 test

Drivers will soon be able to get tested for COVID-19 at a truckstop in Canada under a pilot program in Ontario that also brings free coronavirus screenings to select carrier locations and a drug and alcohol testing clinic. 

Ontario’s provincial government launched the eight-week program on Wednesday. The program aims to make it easier for truck drivers to get tested for COVID-19, particularly long-haul cross-border drivers who spend much of their time on the road in the United States.

“With this...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/covid-19-testing-coming-to-a-truckstop-in-canada

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