@loaders I would send drivers via the US whenever possible. Hwy 3 was not designed for the volume of commercial traffic currently on the road plus if the driver's do not have winter mountain experience don't send them. Prior to the road closures the only trucks consistently taking Hwy 3 were the old school truckers who like to use all their gears and tend to drive long nose Pete's. They travel Hwy 3 to avoid the less experienced driver's that stick to Hwy 1 and the Coquihalla
We are sending drivers in bond using the relaxed rules and a bond is not required but this only applies to Western Canada ports.
If you want to cross from Ontario it will have to go in bond and there are issues with FDA depending on the commodity.
As to the current rates there are additional costs for the extra miles and longer hours via Hwy 3 or the US but there are other costs that are not as readily apparent.
Many drivers are refusing to take Hwy 3 and are not working or left early for their winter break to avoid the snow. The result is their company trucks are sitting idle but the companies still have lease payments and insurance payments.
For BC to AB, pre-flooding, drivers would get 2 - 2.5 rounder's per week legally, some are only getting 1 due to the length of additional time it takes due to congestion.
The general rate increase from BC started in the late summer / early fall with the surge of container freight. As the container rates increased up to 400% the steamship lines demanded their containers get unloaded immediately so they could send the empties back to get reloaded or they sent the container over the road instead of rail and paid round trip plus a premium. In either case the container freight went over the road adding to capacity issues.
But having said that, in my opinion, the recent rate increase is mostly supply and demand plus a bit of greed. I only mention the greed as I had a shipper add a second drop on a load and the carrier asked for an additional $500. The extra drop was only a few pallets, a quick off load and near the first drop. Keep in mind this was on top of the $6000 paid for a dry load from Vancouver to Calgary.
When I ask truckers about the recent increase they tend to point out extra costs, fuel, and driver shortage but I get the impression they think this is a long overdue market correction especially after the drubbing carriers received on rates in 2020 when the pandemic set in and fuel dropped.
Good luck with your customers as mine are not very impressed with the rates and the quality of service has dropped on some lanes
