DETROIT – A convoy of Canadian truckers protesting an international COVID-19 vaccine mandate are gridlocking traffic at Michigan border crossings.
A blockade that stopped most traffic on the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit since Monday night is now causing backups on I-94 and I-69 in Port Huron as drivers are being redirected to the Blue Water Bridge.
“As of noon, both lanes of eastbound traffic are backed up past Range Road and eastbound I-69 is also getting backed up,” said St. Clair County Sheriff Mat King in a Facebook post. “We are expecting the situation to become worse before it gets better.”
For the past 10 days, Canadian truckers upset with a border vaccine mandate have congested streets in Ottawa, prompting the city to declare a state of emergency. Similar protests then sprung up Monday, Jan. 7 in Detroit and Alaska.
Around 3:30 p.m. Monday, Canadian Border Services warned that demonstrations were impacting wait times at the Ambassador Bridge. By 8 p.m., the Michigan Department of Transportation tweeted the bridge to Canada was closed.
As of noon Tuesday, Windsor Police said only limited traffic was being allowed in the United States.
“Canada-bound traffic is being diverted to the Blue Water Bridge at Sarnia, while Windsor police attempt to clear a path for traffic to enter Canada at the Ambassador,” the Ontario Trucking Association said in a Tuesday update.
The “Freedom Convoy” protests started after Canada implemented a vaccine requirement for international truckers on Jan. 15. Since then, Michigan truckers have been concerned that the mandate, and an American rule that followed a week later, would worsen a truck driver shortage.
“Basically what you’re seeing is a demonstration of the concern of that industry that drivers are leaving,” said Brian Hitchcock president of the Michigan Trucking Association.
Related: Driver shortage could get worse due to Canadian COVID-19 vaccine requirement, Michigan truckers say
The American Trucking Association estimates the industry is short about 80,000 drivers and about 50% of the workforce isn’t vaccinated against COVID-19. In Canada, about 85% of drivers are vaccinated, according to the Canadian Trucking Association.
“The issue keeping us up at night is less about one-off stoppages at the border and more about the lasting economic harm of having so many truck drivers out of international service,” said Michigan Agri-Business Association president Chuck Lippstreu.
About 40,000 commuters and $323 million in goods cross the Windsor-Detroit border every day.
“We are in a supply chain crisis globally,” Lippstreu said. “And that’s hitting home here in Michigan where we have fewer drivers available to take products over to Canada and there are fewer drivers available to bring products from Canada to the United States.”
Lippstreu says Michigan Agri-Business Association is urging the Canadian and American governments to provide “common sense exemptions” for truckers.
“The challenge is we’re going to see the impact amplified as time goes on in terms of delays, cost increases and additional uncertainty,” Lippstreu said.
Although Canadian drivers have a high vaccination rate, the Canadian Trucking Alliance contends many of the Freedom Convoy protesters “have no connection to the trucking industry and have a separate agenda beyond a disagreement over cross border vaccine requirements.”
Some Republican U.S. officials, including former President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, have backed the demonstrations against mandatory vaccines.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted Monday night that Canadians have the right to protest and disagree with their government.
“But let’s be clear: They don’t have the right to blockade our economy, or our democracy, or our fellow citizens’ daily lives. It has to stop,” he said.
Matt Moroun, chairman of the Detroit International Bridge Company, issued a statement Tuesday saying “international commerce needs to resume.”
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