NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — Although July’s Ontario-U.S. truck traffic numbers remain lower than last year, the good news is that the month-to-month downward spiral throughout 2009 seems to have stopped.

Recent numbers released by the Public Border Operators Association show that there 482,520 commercial truck crossings between Ontario and U.S. border states in July — down nearly 102,000 trips (25%) from the same period in 2008, but relatively flat from June 2008 (483,450).

Commercial crossings have not only plummeted from 2007 and 2008, but have also dropped almost every month this year.

The Sarnia-Windsor-Michigan area continues to see the largest truck traffic declines from last year: The Ambassador Bridge is down 18 percent in July compared to last year; The tunnel saw a 24 percent drop for the same period, while the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia handled 16 percent less trucks.

The crossing to see the largest droop in July was the International Bridge in Sault. Ste. Marie (-29%).

The Queenstone-Lewiston Bridge and the Peace Bridge were down 12 and 3 percent respectively from 2008.