Border restrictions cause chaos
In response to a new surge of Covid-19 infections in Latin America, governments have implemented a patchwork of uncoordinated measures with a disastrous impact on the trucking industry, endangering the supply chains that it underpins.
Argentina and Chile have announced a requirement for foreign truck drivers to present a negative PCR test from the last 72 hours when entering the country. Operators are footing the bill, which comes to about USD 100 per test.
The high price of tests, and the need for several tests over the course of a single journey can lead to insurmountable costs for many operators, the International Road Union (IRU) says and calls upon the governments to take coordinated action, to keep open the borders to commercial vehicles, to bear the cost of testing drivers and to implement existing trade facilitation tools. (ben)