The Gordie Howe International Bridge opened to traffic Monday, July 27, with a truck from Onfreight Logistics of Tecumseh, Ontario making the first commercial crossing, hauling auto parts into Michigan. For Canadian carriers running the Windsor-Detroit corridor, the new span brings the first real competition the crossing has seen in nearly a century.
The numbers are hard to ignore. Commercial trucks pay $12 CAD per axle, or $9.60 with a Breakaway account, the bridge's electronic toll tag that knocks 25 percent off posted rates. That puts a five-axle tractor-trailer at $48 per crossing with the tag. The Ambassador Bridge charges roughly $21 per axle for pass holders, about $105 for the same truck, and $28 per axle without an account. A truck making 20 crossings a month with a Breakaway tag keeps over $1,100 that used to go to tolls, and the Canadian Trucking Alliance says large fleets could save up to $100,000 a month. Breakaway accounts were offered to business customers first, so carriers that have not signed up yet should make it a priority.
Time savings may matter as much as tolls. The bridge connects Highway 401 directly to Interstate 75, skipping the off-ramp and up to 14 traffic lights on the Canadian approach to the Ambassador. The crossing also accepts hazardous materials and oversized loads at the same per-axle rate, ending the long detour to the Blue Water Bridge at Sarnia for restricted hazmat classes.
Ambassador toll hikes had already pushed much of the region's freight north through Sarnia. The Gordie Howe gives that traffic a reason to come back to Windsor, and the next story to watch is whether the Ambassador cuts its rates to compete.