Um, no. It's not a result of secret meetings.

You're comparing apples and oranges. The qualifications needed for transporting hazardous materials in bulk (like, say, gas trucks) are far greater than those for driving an Amazon truck. Getting that higher certification takes time, money...and access to a driving school accredited for teaching such skills. Guess what? Those schools had to shut down for the COVID lockdown, too...and had to go through the same painful process of gradually reopening as has been the case with almost all other businesses and schools.

These hazmat-certified drivers tended to be older with many more years of experience when compared to UPS/Amazon drivers. This also meant the hazmat-certified drivers were more susceptible to the pandemic in every way: hospitalization, long-haul convalescence, permanent disability, and death. By their age and experience, more of them were also in a position to retire.

It's like saying that if quite a few of our nation's fighter pilots died/got sick/became disabled/retired because of the pandemic, they should be easy to replace because we've got a *lot* of people with pilot's licenses.

Apples and oranges.