This new policy was announced by Mike Kucharski, co-owner of JKC Trucking during an appearance on the show Fox and Friends on Wednesday, August 5. It directs the company’s truck drivers to avoid picking up or delivering anything to cities that are pushing to abolish or defund their law enforcement agencies.
According to Kucharski, he wanted to be certain that the safety of his drivers can be assured, regardless of whether or not the new policy will hurt his company’s revenue. He believes that their safety cannot be guaranteed if a city does not have an adequate police presence. His number one priority is to “support our drivers and their safety when they are on the road,” he said.
“Defunding the police is a bad idea because when you’re on the road for weeks or days at a time driving 11 hours with valuable cargo, everybody wants to steal this. When you’re a truck driver long enough on the road, there's no safe place – violence is everywhere.”
“If you’re gonna be having valuable cargo and there is going to be no police to rely on, who’s going to protect our drivers?” Kucharski added. (Related: Poll: 61% of African Americans want police presence in their area to stay the same.)
When asked if he had a message for the trucking community, Kucharski said that defunding the police was not the solution and that everybody, businesses and local and state governments, would have to work together to come up with a solution.
“The problem, during this time of crisis, is that the government has been behind the steering wheel. It’s time for small businesses to take over the steering wheel and make the right decisions … Last time I checked small businesses were the backbone of America.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, truck driving is the most dangerous job in America. In 2018, there were a total of 5,250 fatal work injuries across the country – the most of any occupation. Of those, 831 were from heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers.
Overwhelming majority of truckers not in favor of doing deliveries in cities without police
In a poll released by CDLLife involving over 1,283 truck drivers that asked them “Would you pick up or deliver to cities with defunded or disbanded police departments?” 79 percent of the truckers surveyed said that they would not.
The response of these truckers all revolved around their concerns over their safety and of what might happen to them and their cargo if they drive through an area without police departments that can deter criminals and hold them accountable.
“Take away the cops and I could die … I am not risking my life for these [expletive]. Let the shelves go empty in these defunded areas,” one respondent wrote.
Dan Doran, a trucking expert and former chairman of the Truckload Carriers Association, a trade association that promotes the welfare of truckers, said that trucking companies and their drivers will not hesitate to refuse service if the area they have to deliver or pick up goods in is going through civil unrest.
“Truckers were already getting nervous about all these protests before they even started talking about defunding the police,” Doran said in an interview with Transportation Nation Network.
Doran said many potential carriers will have to “beef up security” if they want their goods delivered safely, especially if proposals to defund and abolish police departments push through in cities nationwide.
Furthermore, Darren Yancy, a commercial insurance consultant, raised concerns about how the ongoing civil unrest and the lack of police in some areas will increase their insurance costs. This will force companies to choose whether or not they would like to continue serving these high-risk areas.
Kucharski expressed the same sentiments, stating that his company already has to provide cargo insurance, liability insurance and fiscal damage insurance. An increased risk of crimes such as theft and arson would make him and other trucking companies think twice before delivering to these areas.
Truck drivers have already been trying to avoid areas with a lot of rioting, such as Minneapolis, Seattle and Portland. If these cities and others like them push through with their plans to defund or abolish their police departments, they may start seeing fewer and fewer deliveries.
Learn about the other ways cities can eventually collapse by reading the articles at Collapse.news.
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