Pallets in Port Huron
I-69 and I-94 end at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, and a second St. Clair rail tunnel to Sarnia opened in 1995.
What is here
- Bridge
- Blue Water Bridge to Ontario
- Rail
- St. Clair tunnel to Sarnia, second tunnel opened 1995
- Industries
- Cross-border trucking, auto parts; paper historically
- ZIPs
- 48060, 48061
Trucks come off two interstates onto the bridge, and the yards on the American side are dedicated to getting them across.
Pallets for crossing
- Heat-treated and stamped, for lanes that might be inspected. Heat-treated pallets.
- Unstamped, for domestic runs, which must not be mixed in.
- Auto parts pallets from suppliers in the area, in standard sizes.
Know the rule for your lane
Heat treatment requires the wood core to reach at least 56 °C for a minimum of 30 minutes. Whether a given crossing needs it depends on the direction and the date, and the Canadian rule is under a phased change. Pallets to Canada has the detail.
Distance
Port Huron is at the far northeast edge of the area served, so a pickup is planned as a run, not a stop. Pair it with neighbors, or save it for a trailer-sized stack.
Questions from the bridge
Do we need heat-treated pallets for Ontario?
That depends on the lane and the date. Check the Canada guide and, if in doubt, buy heat-treated.
A rail shipper has pallets from far away. Are they usable?
Often. Check the mark and the condition.
Is the bridge the only reason pallets pile up?
No. Auto parts suppliers in the area produce them too.
Two crossings, two kinds of freight
Road freight uses the bridge, while rail freight goes through a tunnel to Sarnia. The pallets that wait for either are looked at by customs, so a dock with clean, marked wood moves faster.
Waiting for a crossing
Freight waits in Port Huron: trailers parked until a customs slot opens, containers staged at a rail yard, loads re-packed because a receiver wants different wood. Each wait creates pallet movements, and a repacking yard is a source of pallets that have been taken off one load and are not needed for the next.
If you run such a yard, the questions a buyer will ask are about the mark and the count. Photograph the stamp and write down how many are heat-treated. A pallet with a good stamp is worth more to the next shipper bound for Ontario than one without.
Weather by the water
Port Huron sits on Lake Huron and the St. Clair River, and winter brings lake-effect snow. Plan an alternate day if a storm hits, and keep the stack covered while waiting.
Customs brokers
Brokers near the bridge handle paperwork for crossings, and their offices produce small amounts of clean packing material.