Pallets in Southwest Detroit and Delray
Delray holds the US port of entry of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, opened July 27, 2026, and 48217 holds the Marathon refinery south of the River Rouge.
What is here
- Bridge
- Gordie Howe International Bridge, US port of entry in Delray, opened July 27, 2026
- Refinery
- Marathon, in 48217 (Boynton and Oakwood Heights)
- Steel
- Zug Island, across the river
- Other
- Wastewater and utilities, cross-border trucking, a historic produce terminal
- ZIPs
- 48209, 48217
This is the part of Detroit where freight turns toward Canada. The new bridge brought a port of entry to Delray, and the trucking yards, customs brokers and warehouses that serve a crossing start to gather around it.
Cross-border means the stamp matters
Pallets that cross into Ontario are looked at for a heat-treatment mark. Wood packaging imported into Canada from the continental United States is currently exempt from CFIA policy D-98-08, pending a phased move to full ISPM 15 implementation. Yards here handle that question every day. Pallets to Canada goes through it, and the stamp guide shows what the mark looks like.
Two kinds of stock
- Stamped, heat-treated 48 x 40, held for cross-border lanes. Heat-treated pallets.
- Heavy, oily pallets from refinery and steel neighbors, mostly cores.
Handling
Trucks queue near the bridge, and the streets are narrow. A pickup works best in a window outside the crossing peaks, and it helps to give the yard's gate. A new crossing also means new tenants: ask whether the yard's pallets belong to the yard or to its customers before selling them.
Questions about a crossing district
The bridge only just opened. Is the freight pattern settled?
Not yet. The crossing opened on July 27, 2026, so yards and routes are still forming. Describe what you have now.
Do we need stamped pallets for domestic runs?
No, but stamped ones are safe on either side of the border.
Can a pallet that carried refinery supplies be reused?
Only if it is clean and dry. Anything that smells of product is a core.
Delray and Boynton
Delray holds the bridge's US port of entry, and Boynton and Oakwood Heights, in 48217, sit by the refinery. The two have different freight, and a request that names the neighborhood helps a buyer decide what to expect.
Before the bridge, after the bridge
The crossing is new, and the businesses around it are still deciding where to put their yards. A yard that opens next year will create pallet movements that do not yet exist. A request from a business in the area should say how long it has operated there and how many pallets it expects in the first year.
Two border crossings
Two U.S.-Canada crossings link Southwest Detroit to Windsor, Ontario: the Ambassador Bridge and the Gordie Howe International Bridge.