(WXYZ) — The Ambassador Bridge is still closed and the impacts at the border continue to cause major disruptions.
Protests from Ottawa have spread to Windsor over Canada's COVID-19 mandates and it's blocking traffic from accessing the bridge.
Traffic coming from Windsor is open, but traffic coming from Detroit remains closed.
Commercial vehicles are being asked to head north to the Blue Water Bridge where there are more than three hours of delays.
According to the bridge company, nearly $100 million in auto parts come across the bridge every day just as manufacturers need them.
No one has been able to cross. The busiest international land border in the nation now sits silent and empty. Closed for business in Detroit.
Drivers like Harry Minhes spent the night in their truck, stuck in the States with no food, patiently waiting for the bridge to reopen. He lives just 15 minutes away in Windsor.
"We are Canadians. We're supposed to go home," Minhes said. "That is also our right, to go home."
Most truckers gave up waiting, driving nearly 2 hours to Port Huron to cross the Blue Water Bridge, but this tactic has led to even more backups.
The Ambassador Bridge is vital to the auto industry and for trade. According to the bridge company, nearly 8,000 trucks carry more than $323 million in goods across the bridge every single day. Much of that is auto parts, engines, and vehicles.
"It's a perfect combination when all the cogs are working, but boy when you get an interruption like that it can be incredibly disruptive," Auto Analyst at IHS Markit Mike Wall said.
Wall says the longer the closure goes, the more stress that is added to an already strained supply chain.
"If this were to kind of continue on for multiple days, you're going to start to see the impact reverberate through the supply chain," he said.
Windsor Police were able to open the bridge to U.S. bound traffic, but protesters continue to stop incoming traffic,
Many drivers like Minhes say the freedom convoy protests aimed at the Canadian Prime Minister are only hurting them.
"We are the ones who are suffering," he said. "Mr. Trudeau is sitting down at his home having his food and coffee and everything, we are the ones stuck on the road right? This is terrible."
The bridge company is hoping there will be some type of resolution but until then, there is no timeline for when the bridge may reopen to traffic here on the U.S. side.
