Trucker protests on US-Canada border couldn't come at worse time for automakers, car buyers

Jamie L. LaReau

Detroit Free Press

DETROIT – Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor North America continue to see production disruptions at various factories caused by the trucker protest at the Ambassador Bridge. 

But General Motors and Stellantis were running plants on normal operations as of early afternoon Friday. Though both were monitoring the situation after experiencing some production stoppages earlier in the week. 

The auto industry struggled to get parts over the U.S.-Canada border as the protest by truck drivers at the bridge entered its fifth day. 

The difficulty couldn't come at a worse time for carmakers and car buyers. 

"The blockade comes at a terrible time as the auto industry already has been shutting down plants due to the chip shortage. This exacerbates the situation," said Michelle Krebs, executive analyst at Cox Automotive. "For consumers, this will cause continued shortages in inventory, continued high prices as a result and long delays in getting a vehicle, perhaps that they ordered."

Possible relief?

A scheduled hearing to ask the Ontario Superior Court chief judge to order an end to the weeklong protest Friday prompted demonstrators to begin moving trucks to open a single lane on the Ambassador Bridge before noon.  The bridge remained closed to all traffic, however. 

Friday evening, a judge granted an injunction allowing police to forcibly remove the demonstrators, but the bridge remained blocked.

The drivers oppose a vaccine mandate to enter Canada, among other things. The protest blockade is shutting down all traffic on the bridge and backing it up on Michigan's other border crossing, the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron.

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The Ambassador Bridge is a major international gateway where about $356 million in goods travel between Detroit and Windsor every day, according to Politico. 

For 2021, Edmunds estimates 7.3% of U.S. vehicle sales resulted from Canadian-built vehicles. It is also a key link for the automotive industry to ship parts to factories. 

Ford and Toyota

Ford continued to be hit hard by the bridge protest activity earlier Friday.

The automaker said its Ohio Assembly Plant is down due to a parts shortage related to the bridge blockade. The Ohio Assembly Plant builds Super Duty Chassis cabs, medium-duty trucks and E-series vans.