Hazardous materials shipments might be able to cross the U.S.-Canadian border via the privately owned Ambassador Bridge in the future, according to a report by Canadian trucking publication Today's Trucking.


Todaystrucking.com reported last week that the owner of the bridge, the Detroit International Bridge Company, is requesting a change to the National Hazardous Materials Route Registry, to allow certain flammable, corrosive, and explosive materials to cross between Canada and the U.S. via the 75-year-old Ambassador Bridge. Many of those materials are currently barred from the bridge.

The State of Michigan initiated a review of the NHMRR earlier this year, which includes reassessing the non-radioactive aspects of the rule, according to the publication.

Currently, the Detroit Windsor the Truck Ferry is the only mode designated to transport hazmat trucks across the Detroit River. However, Todaystrucking.com has reported that the bridge "routinely allows such vehicles to cross anyway via special permit that it writes for select fleets. Some of those passing trucks belong to carriers controlled by the bridge's owner, Matty Moroun."

The ferry owner, Gregg Ward, told Today's Trucking that the move would endanger security at the bridge, as well as the future of his business.