Ahoy! Manitoba Truckers! Get Out the Flood Pants

WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s Ministry of Emergency Measures has stockpiled 2,000,000 sandbags, six sandbagging machines, 17,000 super sandbags, 43 kilometers of Hesco cage barriers, 50 km. of water-filled barriers and 34 mobile pumps, ready to be deployed when the water rises.

And rise it’s going to.

The Manitoba Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation’s Hydrological Forecast Centre has issued an update to its annual flooding prediction.

Here’ s the Reader’s Digest Version: The lousy weather in the U.S. and the late spring thaw means this year’s flooding is going to be worse than previously thought, especially south of Winnipeg.

The prediction says the floods will probably be as bad as they were in 2009, but not as severe as 2011. So truckers should plan their routes and schedules accordingly.

The Manitoba Trucking Association (MTA) knows from flooding far too well.

In 2009, Highway 75 was closed for a total of 36 days. The trucking industry lost about $1.5 million a week.

In 2009 and 2011, for instance, the MTA estimates that flooding along the same road cost the industry about $13 million.

Truck trips were delayed by an average of an hour to 90 minutes per trip.

This year, the MTA is advising members to prepare for delays on par with 2009. The government is working to shore up Highway 75 so it can withstand 2009 flooding levels but it’s not there yet.

Detailed charts and statistics are available here.


Have your say


This is a moderated forum. Comments will no longer be published unless they are accompanied by a first and last name and a verifiable email address. (Today's Trucking will not publish or share the email address.) Profane language and content deemed to be libelous, racist, or threatening in nature will not be published under any circumstances.

*