The owner of JKC Trucking said in an interview on Wednesday that his priority is to keep his drivers safe and that he will not direct services to cities that are pushing to defund police departments.
Mike Kucharski told Fox News that there are times drivers are hauling valuable cargo and spend weeks on the road. He also pointed to how he holds various insurance policies to cover the cargo and assumes that these contracts might change if his drivers make their way into these areas.
“Right now, I have coverage going all over domestically,” he said. “You have to get special coverage for Canada or Canada or Mexico or you might have to buy special riders for this on top of everything.”
JKC Trucking is the largest refrigerated trucking fleet in the Chicago Metro area, according to the Commercial Carrier Journal. The report indicated that Kucharski has also had to deal with coronavirus lockdowns that have negatively affected his business. He received a PPP loan worth more than $2 million, according to the report.
He called the loan “a Band-Aid, but it was a great Band-Aid. Without that money, we would have to cut pay [and] cut drivers a long time ago.”
The Washington Times pointed out that transportation incidents were the leading cause of workplace fatalities last year and, according to labor statistics, truck drivers are considered one of the top 10 deadliest jobs in the country, even during years without violent protests.
Cities like Portland and Seattle have seen violent protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death in police custody. The protesters have demanded, at the minimum, defunding police by 50 percent.
But in the process of making the demands, they have vandalized buildings and set stores on fire. There have been reports that police have been slow to respond in cities like Minneapolis, where the city’s commission is poised to take up an amendment to dismantle the entire department.
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“It’s getting harder and harder to do business,” Kucharski said, pointing out that many deliveries are done during off-hours. “If they defund the police in Minneapolis, JKC trucks won’t go there.”