Most of the traffic over the bridge wouldn't easily go by rail anyway. A lot of it is relatively short haul. If it could go by rail, it probably would be already. The fact that it's not speaks volumes about the inability of the railroad to offer rates that would be competitive with the motor carriers.
Besides, according to the Canadian government and the news, it's a small minority of truckers causing the problem. One they drag the troublemakers off to jail and reopen the Ambassador Bridge, that'll be the end of the matter, or so the government says.
If it is the end of the matter, and traffic resumes normal flow, what would the railroad do with all of the cars they procured to move trucks across the border that suddenly aren't necessary? Assuming they could charge enough per trailer to make it worth the payroll and other expenses they'd have invested to make it work. Which they probably couldn't, seeing as how the bridge in Port Huron wasn't actually shut down (just overwhelmed).
CW
Message Thread
« Back to index