Border Snafu

Truck traffic bottlenecks at the primary Canada-U.S. border crossing are forcing auto industry stakeholders to build costly contingencies into their just-in-time (JIT) delivery plans, supplier advocates say.

“We need a solution,” says Neil DeKoker, managing director of the Original Equipment Suppliers Assn.

Crippling transportation delays at the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ont., have forced the auto industry to abandon the guiding principle of JIT delivery, DeKoker tells Ward's. Suppliers estimate time lost to traffic snafus and build it into their processes, he says.

“It costs money,” adds Gerald B. Fedchun, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Assn.

DeKoker and Fedchun's comments are bolstered by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which recently expressed support for a proposed tunnel project designed to alleviate commercial traffic congestion. The Teamsters also reveal a letter of understanding has been signed with the Detroit River Tunnel Project (DRTP) declaring that the tunnel, if approved, would be built using union labor.

Both DeKoker and Fedchun see the DRTP plan as a plausible solution.

Timely approval could see the project's completion within five years.

The Detroit-Windsor border is the world's busiest, the DRTP claims, accommodating $92 billion in trade annually, projected to reach $151 billion by 2030.

More than 3.5 million trucks traverse the Ambassador Bridge every year. At peak times, trucks sit idle for hours.