CHICAGO, Ill. (WTVO) — An Illinois trucking company will no longer make shipments to cities that are calling to defund or disband police departments.
Mike Kucharski, of Chicago-based JKC Trucking, says the company is making the move in an effort to ensure the safety of his drivers.
“Our first priority is to support our drivers and their safety when they are on the road,” Kucharski told Fox & Friends.
“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 continued.
“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,” he said. “When you’re a truck driver long enough on the road there’s no safe place, violence is everywhere.”
Kucharski said “another issue that I am seeing in the future is I have cargo insurance, liability insurance, fiscal damage insurance, and I am very curious how when I renew my contracts at the end of the year, if there is going to be language—if I am going to even have coverage going into these places.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, truck driving is one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. In 2018, it was rated as the most dangerous job.
According to a survey conducted by CDLLife, 79% of truckers say they will refuse to deliver to cities that had defunded their police departments.