NWT Road Closure Delays Trucks, Some Stores Empty

YELLOWKNIFE, N.W.T—Some 30 trucks are stuck in the North West Territories because of forest fires which caused the closure of Highway 3 on Saturday night. The highway will remain  closed at least until Wednesday, officials say.

The folks in Yellowknife, North West Terrirories, are finding out the hard way just what happens when the trucks don’t run.

“The highway is closed and there are many empty shelves,” Jane Douziech, VP of Alberta-based carrier Grimshaw Trucking told todaystrucking.com.  “Our last truck got through Saturday morning but we have three more sitting in Hay River and another on stuck in Yellowknife.”

Highway 3 has been closed off and on for weeks because of poor visibility from forest fire smoke. The road closed for good Saturday night and officials say it will remain closed until at least Wednesday at noon.

Grimshaw Trucking specializes in truckload transport and LTL cargo shipping for Northern communities. They run within Alberta, British Columbia and the N.W.T.

One local grocery store is running low on produces as some of their delivery trucks are stuck by the current road closures. The manager of Trevor’s Independent Grocer told the CBC he’s waiting for about six or seven trucks to get through.

Douziech says unofficial counts are that 30 trucks or so – from different carriers – are on the side of the road.

“Customers may request to fly the freight if [the closure] continues but it will be extremely expensive,” Douziech says. 


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