DETROIT — The Windsor, Ont.-Detroit trade gateway is in desperate need of border-crossing redundancy, and a vigorous short-sea shipping strategy is one way to help make that happen, says the owner of the truck ferry that operates on the Detroit River between the two cities.

Gregg Ward was one of several marine operators who appeared before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in Washington last week to testify on the need to make short-sea intermodalism a priority on the Great Lakes. Ward was on hand to offer his take on a possible solution to Windsor-Detroit’s border capacity woes.

The Detroit-Windsor truck ferry is the only local government-approved system for trucks carrying hazmat goods across that border point. Dangerous good are not permitted on either the privately owned Ambassador Bridge or in the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel.

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Ward’s ferry stepped up to the plate after Sept 11, helping
to move the huge backlog of auto freight stuck at the border

Corrosives, explosives, flammables and radioactive goods are all banned from the Ambassador.

However, media reports last year disclosed that the bridge company was writing special permits to a select number of carriers (some owned by bridge owner and billionaire Matty Moroun) allowing them to cross via the Ambassador despite the U.S. federal law against it.

Because of the company’s autonomous control of the structure, it is near impossible for enforcement agencies to step in and restrict access to the bridge once the trucks are on bridge property.

In his testimony, a text version of which was obtained by TodaysTrucking.com, Ward explained that unlike the Ambassador Bridge, “a private marine operator like the truck ferry is subject to extensive government oversight and actual physical inspection of vessels and facilities from both the United States and Canadian authorities.”

If the bridge ever shut down due to maintenance issues or a terrorist attack, the aftermath would devastate the Michigan and Ontario economies, Ward says. He adds that he can’t think of any other example in North America where almost all goods in the region converge on one vital gateway without any secondary backup arteries.

Signs warning hazmat truckers they must take the ferry across
the border are much more common in Windsor than Detroit

“This is tens of billions of dollars of industry here that doesn’t have any other option in getting across,” Ward told TodaysTrucking.com in a follow-up interview. “It’s ridiculous.”

He hopes that U.S. authorities are “brave” enough to follow the lead of Canadian regulators, who recently passed Bill C-3, which gives Transport Canada oversight on all 24 border crossings — including private structures — and any future crossings between Canada and the U.S.

As for the short-sea shipping strategy, Ward isn’t asking the government for billions in investment or subsidies. He says by simply removing existing regulatory hurdles, short-sea strategies could become more attractive to potential operators, which would in turn increase crossing capacity.

Ward cites several competitive impediments, which conversely don’t affect the bridge or tunnel. A U.S. harbor maintenance fee ($125 for every $100,000 in merchandise value), for one, scares away shippers.

“Because of the HMF, the seamless diversion of traffic from congested highways and bridges to waterborne services will be unlikely, expensive and require extraordinary co-ordination among the carrier, shipper and import community.”

Also, on the Canadian side, “any new border crossing that’s not a bridge or a tunnel will pay for Customs at the full cost of recovery,” says Ward. “This protects incumbent operators which get Customs (funded by taxpayers) for free and forever, so you discourage any new alternative means of crossing the border.”

After four years of litigation with Canada Customs, Ward no longer has to pay for such services. However, he’s only allowed to operate one work shift, “which means all our equipment stays idle for (a total) of 132 hours a week.”

Furthermore, he wouldn’t be perturbed if the removal of such restrictions invited more operators to compete with his service. “In the long run it’s good for everyone, because right now industry is not locating here because there is no contingency.”

“We’re simply asking for regulatory reform so that alternative crossings aren’t made uncompetitive.”