Highway closures have added thousands of dollars of additional costs to transportation companies across the province

By Tommy Osborne

Highway Closures

Highway closures causing headaches for supply chain, local businesses

Jul 24, 2024 | 4:11 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Wildfires across the province has resulted in many highway closures, with a particularly notable one for Northern B.C. being Highway 16. According to DriveBC, Highway 16 is closed eastbound, while westbound is open only for evacuation purposes. This has put some strain on local businesses, as it creates a hurdle for transportation companies to overcome.

“We’re just running alternate routes (regarding) the Highway 16 closure. We run around through Dawson Creek and come through the Pine Pass, which adds four hours on, and that’s a direct cost to us,” said Rosenau Transport’s Terminal Manager Lyle Jensen.

The additional four hours becomes eight hours when you consider that the drivers have to return, and with hundreds of trucks being sent out the hours lost, and the costs associated with that, can quickly add up.

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“It’s eight hours a day of someone’s wages we’re paying extra, and then all extra fuel, maintenance, everything else, it all adds up,” Jensen said.

Jensen added each truck’s additional costs are easily in the hundreds of dollars, and while that’s definitely difficult to manage he says Rosenau Transport looks to avoid passing costs onto the customer whenever possible. Given that wildfire road closures have become an expected hazard every summer, Jensen says Rosenau Transport is prepared to eat the costs, but if the closures are extended or made more severe there may be no choice but to pass the costs on.

“After a week or so, if it carried on for longer, yeah, we would potentially have to look on to add a surcharge onto each shipment to help cover that cost. Transportation doesn’t have high profit margins. So in those cases, we have to pass that back on to the customers, and it would be passed on to each customer who would then share it,” Jensen said.

As for the provincial government, the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says it’s aware of the challenges these highway closures create, and its working to continue finding alternate routes and ways to work around closures.

“We did hear that there were some supply challenges but it sounds like those supplies, whether it’s fuel, groceries, are getting to those communities. So it is something that we certainly recognize and don’t take lightly, but if the closures do happen, we are coordinated with B.C. Wildfire Services,” said the Ministry’s Executive Director Darrell Gunn.

You can find up to date information on all highway closures on drivebc.ca.

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