OTTAWA, Ont. – Border restrictions are not applicable to commercial vehicles, yet the number of truck drivers entering the country continued to fall last week.

Arrivals during the week of May 25-31 declined 22% to 85,743 from 109,640 in the same period in 2019, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said Wednesday.

The arrivals have steadily declined amid a sharp drop in economic activity on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border since the Covid-19 outbreak.

The previous four weeks have witnessed an average decline of 30.5% per week.

Week of May 18-24, down 25%

Week of May 11-17, down 31%

Week of May 4-10, down 33%

Week of April 27-May 3, down 33%

Overall, volumes were down 87% for those crossing via land, and 98% for those arriving at airports last week, compared with the same time a year ago, the CBSA said.

Last month, Canada and the U.S. agreed to keep the border closed to all non-essential travel until June 21.

The restrictions were first introduced in late March.

“It must be noted that no measures have been introduced restricting commercial shipments or rendering certain products as non-essential, nor is there any indication of issues with supply chains for essential goods coming to Canada, including food and medical supplies,” the CBSA said.