The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said that although a systems outage has been resolved, commercial drivers continue to experience delays at the border as it resumes normal processing and continues to clear a backlog of requests that were received during the outage.
“Primary inspection lanes are staffed with officers to process traffic and shipments. We are actively collaborating with our partners to ensure traffic management. Systems are being monitored for stability while traffic and shipping return to normal,” a CBSA spokesperson told trucknews.com.
The CBSA thanked commercial drivers for their cooperation and apologized for any inconvenience.
A system outage caused delays in commercial processing at Southern Ontario ports of entry on Sept. 30.
The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission (NFBC) announced that travel warnings are now lifted for Canada-bound commercial traffic at the Lewiston-Queenston International Bridge crossing.
The commission thanked transportation and law enforcement partners for their assistance over the past several days in helping to manage border-related congestion across various roadways and access points in the Western New York region.
“While conditions have improved, active monitoring will be elevated throughout the weekend and into Monday in anticipation of the resumption of normal commercial traffic volumes next week,” NFBC said in a news release.
Truck drivers delayed for hours
Truck drivers, however, reported waits of hours and in some cases days.
Ontario-based truck driver Prabdeep Singh said that he waited more than 30 hours in Detroit, Mich., before finally crossing the Ambassador Bridge into Windsor on Oct. 2 in the evening.
“I uploaded my paperwork at 11 a.m. on Oct 1. Normally it clears in two to three hours,” Singh said. “By Oct. 2 at 5 p.m., I still had no acknowledgment from CBSA. That’s more than 30 hours of waiting.”
Singh said his dispatcher eventually gave him the green light to try the crossing based on word that other drivers had managed to get through. But even after leaving the truck stop near Detroit, the ordeal wasn’t over.
“It took me three hours to move just 10 miles (16 km). There was a solid line of trucks on I-75 North,” he said. “It was the same situation from the I-94 side, too. Massive delays in both directions.”
After getting in line at 5:15 p.m. Oct. 2, Singh finally crossed the bridge into Canada around 8:30 p.m. His paperwork eventually cleared, but not before impacting delivery schedules and upcoming loads.
“I was supposed to unload in Mississauga, Ont., the same evening and pick up a load to Indiana. Everything got pushed back,” he said. “Two days are gone.”
Flatbed hauler Jot Singh was also delayed as he tried to re-enter Canada on Oct. 2. He said he crawled for three hours in the queue to the Ambassador Bridge as well.
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