The Gordie Howe International Bridge is the newest crossing between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan — a six-lane, cable-stayed span over the Detroit River connecting Highway 401 directly to Interstate 75. For carriers, the headline is simple: it is a modern, high-capacity commercial crossing with published, transparent tolls. This guide lays out exactly what a truck pays, how the per-axle math works, how the Breakaway business account lowers your cost, and what you still owe customs every time you cross.
Want the number for your specific rig right now? Use the Gordie Howe Bridge Toll Calculator — enter your axle count and it returns the toll in CAD or USD instantly.
How Gordie Howe Bridge Tolls Work for Trucks
The single most important fact for carriers: large commercial trucks and buses are charged per axle, not a flat rate. Your toll is the number of axles on the tractor-trailer combination multiplied by the per-axle rate.
The published rates are:
- Standard truck rate: $12.00 CAD / $8.75 USD per axle
- Breakaway account rate: $9.60 CAD / $6.90 USD per axle
So a 5-axle tractor-trailer — the most common configuration on the Windsor-Detroit corridor — pays:
- Standard: 5 axles × $12.00 CAD = $60.00 CAD (or 5 × $8.75 USD = $43.75 USD)
- Breakaway: 5 axles × $9.60 CAD = $48.00 CAD (or 5 × $6.90 USD = $34.50 USD)
Because the toll scales with axle count, a 3-axle straight truck pays less ($36.00 CAD standard) and a 6- or 7-axle heavy combination pays more. There is no minimum-trip surcharge buried in the truck rate — it is a clean per-axle multiplication.
Full Rate Schedule by Vehicle Class
The Gordie Howe International Bridge publishes rates for every class of traffic, not just trucks:
| Vehicle class | Basis | Standard | Breakaway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large commercial trucks & buses | Per axle | $12.00 CAD / $8.75 USD | $9.60 CAD / $6.90 USD |
| Small & medium personal vehicles | Flat | $8.00 CAD / $5.75 USD | $6.00 CAD / $4.35 USD |
| Oversized / hazardous loads | Per axle + fees | Truck per-axle base plus possible handling fees | Same base plus fees |
| Pedestrians & cyclists (multi-use path) | — | Free | Free |
Small and medium personal vehicles — cars, SUVs, minivans, motorcycles, and light trucks under 2.3 m (7.5 ft) in height — pay a flat fee rather than per axle. Oversized and hazardous loads are billed on the same per-axle truck base but may attract additional handling fees depending on the load. Pedestrians and cyclists using the dedicated multi-use path cross free of charge.
What Is the Breakaway Account?
Breakaway is the Gordie Howe International Bridge's prepaid business-account program. Carriers that open an account and prepay their tolls receive a discounted per-axle rate — $9.60 CAD instead of $12.00 CAD (or $6.90 USD instead of $8.75 USD). For a 5-axle truck, that is a $12.00 CAD saving on every single crossing.
The savings compound fast for a fleet. A truck that runs the corridor twice a day, five days a week, crosses roughly 500 times a year. At $12.00 CAD saved per crossing, that is about $6,000 CAD per truck per year back in your pocket — before you multiply across a fleet. We break down the enrolment and math in detail in Gordie Howe Bridge Breakaway Account: How Carriers Save on Tolls.
Gordie Howe vs Ambassador Bridge: The Cost Case
The Gordie Howe International Bridge is not the only Windsor-Detroit truck crossing — the privately owned Ambassador Bridge has carried commercial traffic for decades. On price, the new bridge is materially cheaper for trucks.
The Ambassador Bridge charges roughly $15 USD per axle for trucks using A-Pass or E-ZPass, which works out to about $75 USD for a 5-axle truck. The Gordie Howe standard rate for the same truck is $43.75 USD — and just $34.50 USD on a Breakaway account. That is a difference of $30 to $40 USD per crossing on an identical rig.
Toll cost is only one factor — approach roads, plaza design, wait times, and your broker's location all matter — but on the toll line alone, Gordie Howe wins clearly. See the full comparison in Gordie Howe Bridge vs Ambassador Bridge: Which Is Cheaper for Trucks?.
The Toll Is Not Your Only Obligation: eManifest Still Applies
A cheaper toll changes nothing about customs. Every commercial truck crossing the Gordie Howe International Bridge still has to file an advance electronic manifest, exactly as it would at any other land border:
- Southbound into the US (Detroit): file a CBP ACE eManifest with the PAPS barcode from your US customs broker, transmitted at least one hour before arrival.
- Northbound into Canada (Windsor): file a CBSA ACI eManifest with the PARS number from your Canadian broker, again at least one hour before arrival.
Miss the filing, file late, or send inaccurate data and you risk CBP penalties or CBSA AMPS fines — costs that dwarf any toll. The full requirements are in Crossing the Gordie Howe Bridge: eManifest, ACE & ACI Requirements for Truckers.
BorderPro Early Access
BorderPro early access can help carriers prepare and validate eManifest data. Production CBP/CBSA transmission and live agency-status access remain pending certification. Join early access.
You can also run your axle count through the Gordie Howe Bridge Toll Calculator.
*Rates are the published Gordie Howe International Bridge tolls as of 2026 and are subject to change. US-dollar rates may be adjusted at opening based on exchange rates. Always confirm current pricing on the official Gordie Howe International Bridge toll-rates page.*