Gordie Howe bridge for trucks and flatbed loads

Fission Logistics runs flatbed and Conestoga freight from Mississauga into Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, and Detroit is 1 of our 2 main crossings. Since July 27, 2026 there have been 2 bridges to pick from at Detroit: the Ambassador Bridge, open since 1929, and the Gordie Howe International Bridge about 3 km downriver. Here is what the new bridge means for a shipper with steel, aluminum, machinery or building products headed south.

The bridge in numbers

• Opened to traffic July 27, 2026. Vehicles first crossed at noon that day. The Canadian side was inaugurated on July 24.
• 6 lanes, 2.5 km long. The 853 m main span is the longest on any cable stayed bridge in North America.
• Highway to highway. The bridge is the new western end of Highway 401. On the Michigan side a connecting road runs into an interchange with ramps to both directions of Interstate 75.
• 2 new ports of entry. Canada Border Services Agency on the Windsor side, US Customs and Border Protection on the Detroit side. Both run 24 hours, 7 days.
• 60 primary inspection lanes across the 2 ports, 36 on the US side and 24 on the Canadian side.
• 60 km/h on the bridge deck, about 37 mph.

Tolls for trucks

Trucks pay by the axle on both bridges, so a 5 axle tractor trailer pays 5 times the rate. These are the rates the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority published for the Gordie Howe bridge and the rates reported for the Ambassador Bridge when its January 1, 2026 increase took effect. Both operators can change them, so the toll lane governs on the day.

Breakaway is the Gordie Howe discount program. A tagged truck rolls through the toll lane without stopping and the charge posts to the account. The bridge authority opened business accounts first, in March 2026, and Fission has one. Whichever bridge dispatch picks, you get 1 quote for the load.

Gordie Howe or Ambassador for flatbed freight

The August numbers come from the Bridge and Tunnel Operators Association, reported in September 2026. By the association's count the new bridge took about a third of the trucks crossing the 2 Detroit bridges in its first full month. Statistics Canada, counting only trucks entering Canada, put it at 34,800 at the Gordie Howe against 87,400 at Windsor's other crossings. Total crossings, cars included, were almost level: 343,507 at the Gordie Howe and 345,445 at the Ambassador.

What changes for your loads

1. The routing. A truck stays on the 401 to the end of the Herb Gray Parkway, clears the Canadian port, crosses and lands on Interstate 75. Southbound for Toledo, Dayton, Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky that is the same highway the whole way. Northbound to Flint and Saginaw it is Interstate 75 the other direction. For Chicago the truck takes Interstate 94 from Detroit, same as before.
2. The toll. Published per axle rates at the Gordie Howe are lower than the Ambassador's reported rates. The gap is biggest on the units with the most axles, which on a heavy steel load is the 6 axle. Our 6 axle units carry up to 86,000 lb inside Ontario and into Michigan, well under the 69,400 kg, or 153,000 lb, the bridge allows without its own review.
3. Wide and tall loads. The bridge takes loads up to 3.6 m wide and 5.3 m high without a bridge specific permit. That is wider than the 2.6 m Ontario and the 102 inch US highway limits, so most permitted wide loads clear the bridge on the same MTO and MDOT permits they already carry. Over the bridge limits, the move needs the bridge authority's own review on top of the MTO and MDOT permits. Either way the permit holder calls the bridge's traffic management centre at least 24 hours before the crossing and again from the staging area on arrival. Oversize moves are kept off the bridge from 7 to 9 am and 3 to 6 pm, and there is no holding area inside the port, so the truck checks in, waits in the designated staging area outside it and calls the traffic management centre. See oversize and overdimensional and how wide a load can be in Ontario.
4. Dangerous goods. Rare on a flatbed, but if your load carries a UN number, the Gordie Howe is built for all 9 classes and asks for no bridge permit as of October 2026. You still follow the federal, provincial and state rules for the product.
5. The customs side. Nothing changes. Your customs broker is still yours, and dispatch still files the ACE eManifest going south and the ACI eManifest coming north before the truck reaches the bridge. One thing to get right: the Gordie Howe bridge is its own CBSA port, code 455, so a Canada bound release is filed against the bridge the truck will actually use. Dispatch confirms the bridge with your broker before the eManifest goes in. On the US side both bridges clear under the Port of Detroit, code 3801.
6. FAST. We are CTPAT validated and PIP and FAST approved. When the importer and the driver qualify too, the truck uses the dedicated FAST lane at either bridge. More on the certifications page.
7. Tracking. Every tractor runs Samsara, so the tracking link follows the load over whichever bridge it takes.

Which bridge dispatch picks

We use both. Detroit has been 1 of our 2 main crossings since we opened in 2012, and most of our Detroit loads still cross at the Ambassador Bridge. The Gordie Howe suits a load that starts on the 401 and ends on Interstate 75, a wide load that fits inside the bridge's no permit limits, and a multi axle unit where the per axle toll adds up. Dispatch looks at the Ontario end, the Michigan end, the dimensions and the conditions at the bridges that day, and picks 1. Loads from the 402 side of London and Sarnia still cross at Port Huron on the Blue Water Bridge when that is the shorter run.

We are not going to promise minutes saved. As of October 2026 we have not seen published wait time comparisons between the 2 bridges, and a crossing time depends on the port's lanes and the inspection, not the bridge deck. What the new bridge removes for certain is the city road between the 401 and the plaza.

Get a Michigan load quoted

Send the pickup, the Michigan delivery, the commodity, the weights, the dimensions if anything is over 102 inches wide or tall, the ready date and your customs broker's contact. Dispatch names the trailer with the price within 1 business hour, 7 am to 5 pm ET, Monday to Friday, and answers at (905) 799 7900, press 1, 24 hours. Brokers and 3PLs: send the rate confirmation to dispatch and we email the carrier packet the same business day. Request a quote, or read the Ontario to Michigan lane page, cross border flatbed and our Windsor page. The same trucks run Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, and port loads from Chicago and Cincinnati cross here too.

Questions shippers ask

Is the Gordie Howe bridge open to trucks?

Yes. It opened to traffic on July 27, 2026 and the ports of entry on both sides run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What does a truck pay to cross the Gordie Howe bridge?

$12 CAD per axle at the standard rate and $9.60 CAD per axle with a Breakaway account, as published by the bridge authority in 2026. US dollar rates are on the bridge's toll page. A 5 axle tractor trailer pays $60 CAD standard. Rates can change, so the toll lane governs.

Can an oversize load use the Gordie Howe bridge?

Yes. Loads up to 3.6 m wide, 5.3 m high, 30.2 m long and 69,400 kg cross without a bridge specific permit, on the Ontario and Michigan permits the load already needs. Above that, the bridge authority reviews the move on top of the MTO and MDOT permits. The permit holder calls the bridge 24 hours ahead, and oversize moves stay off the bridge from 7 to 9 am and 3 to 6 pm.

Does my customs paperwork change if the truck uses the Gordie Howe bridge?

No. Your customs broker clears the freight and dispatch files the ACE or ACI eManifest before the truck reaches the bridge. The one detail is the port: the Gordie Howe is CBSA port 455, so a Canada bound release is filed against the bridge the truck will use, and dispatch confirms that with your broker.

Is the Gordie Howe bridge faster than the Ambassador Bridge for trucks?

Not proven yet by published numbers. As of October 2026 we have not seen a wait time comparison between the 2 bridges. The new bridge does remove the city road and traffic lights between Highway 401 and the plaza, and it lands the truck directly on Interstate 75.

Which bridge will Fission use for my load?

Dispatch picks between the Gordie Howe and the Ambassador for each load, based on where it starts in Ontario, where it delivers, its dimensions and conditions at the bridges that day. The quote names the trailer and the price, and the Samsara tracking link follows the truck over whichever bridge it takes.

Sources: Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority toll rates, WDBA specialized loads, WDBA Know Howe Before You Go Howe, CBSA backgrounder on the Gordie Howe port of entry (July 24, 2026), CSCB on August 2026 crossings (September 17, 2026), and reported Ambassador Bridge rates effective January 1, 2026. Checked October 2026. Tolls and rules change, so the bridge and the permit govern the move.

More from the yard

• How wide can a load be in Ontario without a permit?
• What to send for a flatbed quote in 1 business hour
• Why a 6 axle moves 86,000 lb when a tandem stops at 45,000

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