The executive director of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association says he hopes the province will look at what options it has for the Trans-Canada Highway, which has closed two years in a row due to flooding.
Jean-Marc Picard said the week-long closure of the highway between Oromocto and River Glade was more of a hindrance than a major problem for trucking companies.
“They need to look at drivers’ hours of service to make sure they don’t go over those hours because of the detours,” said Picard on Wednesday morning, not long before the highway reopened.
During the closure, drivers were forced to take a 90-kilometre detour through Saint John on Highway 1 and Highway 7.
The good news, Picard said, is consumers should not expect to pay more for goods and services because of the closure and detour.
“Whenever something is short-term like that, obviously the fuel is a high cost, but it’s an unfortunate event, and with Mother Nature affecting houses on the water and in the grand scheme of things, I think companies will just bite the bullet on this one,” he said.
Picard said most of the drivers took the closure and detour in stride, but he imagines there were a few with raw nerves.
“Something that is only 90 kilometres can turn out to be longer because of the volume of traffic on that road, so I can see someone being a bit annoyed after a week or so of the detour,” he said.
