ADELANTO, Calif. (AP) — A convoy of truckers demanding an end to coronavirus mandates has begun a cross-country drive from California to the Washington, D.C., area.

Several hundred people rallied Wednesday in the Mojave Desert town of Adelanto before about 20 trucks and a number of other vehicles hit the road. It wasn't clear how many planned to go all the way.

It's one of several U.S. convoys modeled on the recent Canadian truckers’ protests which shut down U.S.-Canadian border crossings and besieged the streets of the capital, Ottawa, for weeks.

A statement by organizers of the Adelanto group call it “The People’s Convoy.” They plan to arrive in the Washington, D.C., area on March 5.