Truckers stuck in traffic for 12 hours. Quebec automotive industry subcontractors who can no longer export their goods. Food chains that see transport costs explode.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
The blocking of the Ambassador Bridge since Monday between Windsor and Detroit does not only affect the Ontario auto industry, believe several stakeholders interviewed by The Press. This bridge, through which approximately 7,000 trucks and goods estimated at 323 million pass each day, alone represents 27% of trade between Canada and the United States. Ford and Toyota, in particular, have already announced a slowdown in their production.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Véronique Proulx, President and CEO of Quebec Manufacturers and Exporters
“Supply chains are very integrated between Canada and the United States, and we must not forget that in Quebec, we have a lot of subcontractors for automotive companies,” said Véronique Proulx, President and CEO of Manufacturiers and Quebec Exporters. The longer it lasts, the more it will affect other sectors of activity. »
Stranded in Sarnia
This is already a reality for the Quebec group Trans-West, whose some 200 trucks mainly transport food products between Quebec, Ontario and the American Midwest. Although only 10% of the trucks used the Ambassador Bridge, the others, which used the second access to Michigan via the Blue Water Bridge, 150 km from Windsor at Sarnia, are considerably slowed down.
“We have trucks that have been stuck for 12 hours in Sarnia, reports Pascal Gaudet, vice-president at Trans-West. Costs are rising and, logically, there will be impacts on consumers. It’s a chain reaction. »
Rerouting cross-border transport when the situation is unstable and roads could be blocked at any time is far from simple, he explains.
“When, during a transit of 10 or 12 hours, the situation changes three times, I have to modify all our documentation for customs. Our trucks are registered to go to such a place at such a time with such goods. We have to change that continuously. I have teams working full time on this. »
Another consequence of these delays is that they come to trim the limits of consecutive hours during which truckers can be on the road, recalls Marc Cadieux, president of the Quebec Trucking Association (ACQ).
“Some have started to make bypasses, but these are four or five hours more, in border crossings which are not able to assume as much volume. We have a maximum number of hours according to the law. All of this has a huge impact on operating costs. »
new tile
Pierre Aubin, president and founder of the Quebec carrier L’Express du Midi, has already begun to modify the usual routes of his truckers so that they no longer have to cross the Ambassador or Blue Water bridges to get to Michigan. Specializing in the transport of construction equipment, his company now chooses other crossing points towards the United States. He prefers not to reveal his new routes for fear of seeing them blocked in turn.
“It’s a little slowdown. Customers who really want to “ship”, we charge them more and we go through several other paths. »
The blocking of the Ambassador Bridge adds to the tiles that have fallen on transport and manufacturers for two years, notes Véronique Proulx. “Two strikes at the port of Montreal, the rail blockade… For us, this latest event is really nonsense. It’s gone on long enough, the manufacturers have waited long enough. It is up to the government to use the right means, we must act. These are essential infrastructures for all Quebecers. »
Just as the labor disputes at the Port of Montreal took “months to resolve”, the impact of the blocking of the Ambassador Bridge will be felt long after its reopening, predicts Marc Cadieux, of the ACQ. “A transporter told me that he had 45 trucks that will not leave. Another is about thirty. It all stacks up. »
Pascal Gaudet, of Trans-West, also draws a rather gloomy picture of the last few months. With the loss of 10% of unvaccinated truckers, rising fuel prices and shortages of spare parts, the blocking of the Ambassador Bridge further weakens the transport industry, he believes.
“I have never experienced a situation like this. We had to repatriate two of our teams from the United States: our trucks were stuck, they had no parts. »
To keep its truckers, Trans-West gave them a 20% raise before the holidays, he reveals. “It’s 4 million more payroll. Overall, a trip costs us $2,500 more than at the same time last year. Ultimately, our customers pay. »