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Truck drivers, who are essential to the nation’s food supply, apparently say they will steer clear of delivering goods to any city that defunds or disbands its police department, according to polling data.

A survey indicates that nearly 80 percent of the responding truckers won’t go anywhere near a location without a functioning law enforcement agency out of concerns for their personal safety and the ability to protect their cargo.

“Truck drivers have spent the last year on the front line of a global pandemic and protests. Now many are fearful of what might happen if police departments disband or are defunded,” CDL Life  — which covers the commercial trucking industry including the on- and off-road challenges that driver encounter — reported.

As of Saturday, more than 1,200 truckers responded to the poll on the CDL Life app, sending a loud-and-clear message that they will refuse to make freight deliveries in areas where law-and-order could break down or perhaps already has broken down through a dismantling of the police.

Explained one trucker, “I will not deliver to an area with a disbanded police department. My life matter and I do this for my family. We are already at the mercy of these towns and cities with laws and hate against us for parking, getting a meal or even using a restroom.”

Another echoed these concerns: “For my own safety and security of my customers’ loads, I have already informed my dispatcher that I will refuse all loads to cities that have defunded their police departments.”

Well before the ongoing civil unrest, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics determined in 2018 that truck drivers worked in the deadliest job in America given the number of occupational injuries especially among those who operate heavy and tractor-trailer rigs.

Far-left Minneapolis city councilors have already voiced support for defunding the police even though the city’s ultra-liberal Mayor Jacob Frey opposes it. Mayors in New York City and Los Angeles have vowed to yank money from the police budget and reallocate it to social services.

Back in April during a White House ceremony, President Donald Trump personally thanked the nation’s truck drivers for keeping commerce flowing especially amidst the panic buying that accompanied the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak.

“At a time of widespread shutdowns, truck drivers formed the lifeblood of our economy. For days and sometimes weeks on end, truck drivers leave their homes and deliver supplies that American families need and count on during this national crisis,” the president explained.

The reaction on Twitter from those who work in the trucking industry seems to validate the poll.

It's already dangerous for us. We go into high crime areas to deliver. Hell I had a guy jump on my truck in broad day light in Albany NY reached in and threatened me with a knife.

— OneandOnly (@Flytime93) June 13, 2020

I drive a truck for a living and my company which is 80 miles south of Minneapolis won’t deliver there right now. Smart companies won’t risk their drivers or their equipment since the insurance companies won’t pay off on claims going into known trouble spots….

— Steven White (@StevenW74912733) June 13, 2020

My husband has been driving truck for over 20 years. Many truckers are being told if they encounter protestors, they are to stop, lock their doors and wait for police. Any that have refused these instructions are being fired. My hubby refuses to go to these places too.

— KrisDouglas (@krisdouglas81) June 13, 2020

I’m a truck driver and I won’t be delivering anywhere there’s no police.

— Dennis Lively (@LivelyDennis) June 13, 2020

Yep. We’ve already written off Minneapolis and Seattle. We’re not afraid for our safety. There’s no way in hell we’re going to risk a freight claim that our insurance could deny because we chose to go into a shit show like that.

— Vania Kay (@vania_kay) June 13, 2020

Yep! It’s true. My dad is a truck driver and told me the same. He’s currently out on the roads delivering to people who truly need supplies.

— it’sa me, Mario (@PrincessInChina) June 13, 2020

I totally understand the premise and I support the trucker’s because I own a trucking company the only problem I see with this is the good law-abiding tax-paying patriotic Americans that aren’t causing trouble will suffer

— Wake up America (@WakeupA50429932) June 13, 2020

I’m a Truck Driver myself and I don’t blame them one bit. I hate it for the decent few people that live there but it’s not worth being seriously injured or dying for.

— CJ Brown 🇺🇸 (@CJBrown66816350) June 14, 2020

My husbands trucking company that he drives for cancelled all contracts in both Minneapolis and Seattle. They wont risk truckers lives and insurance wint cover loads into those cities. Will be adding Los Angeles next week.

— Kim-g (@Kimg21386262) June 14, 2020

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Robert Jonathan

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Robert Jonathan is a staff writer for BizPac Review. He is a longtime writer/editor for news aggregation websites and has also developed content in the legal and financial publishing sectors as well as for online education. He earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Connecticut School of Law, “a law school the basketball teams can be proud of.”

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