Quick answer: The Gordie Howe International Bridge charges large commercial trucks $12.00 CAD ($8.75 USD) per axle at the standard rate, or $9.60 CAD ($6.90 USD) per axle on a Breakaway prepaid business account. A standard five-axle tractor-trailer pays $60.00 CAD ($43.75 USD) per crossing at the standard rate and $48.00 CAD ($34.50 USD) on Breakaway — roughly half what the Ambassador Bridge charges commercial vehicles.
Want your exact number? Run your axle count through the free Gordie Howe Bridge toll calculator.
What the Gordie Howe Bridge changes for carriers
The Gordie Howe International Bridge connects Windsor, Ontario to Detroit, Michigan — the busiest commercial land border between Canada and the United States. It gives carriers a second high-capacity crossing alongside the privately owned Ambassador Bridge, with direct freeway-to-freeway connections (Highway 401 on the Canadian side, I-75 on the US side) and no city-street bottleneck. For fleets, the headline is simple: a new toll option that undercuts the incumbent on price.
Because it is a publicly owned crossing, its toll schedule is published openly and priced in Canadian dollars. That matters for cost planning: unlike a per-kilometre highway toll, a bridge toll is a fixed, predictable line item you can bake into every Windsor–Detroit lane quote.
Gordie Howe Bridge toll rates (2026)
Large commercial vehicles are charged per axle. The table below shows the total per crossing for common configurations at both the standard and Breakaway rates.
| Vehicle | Standard (CAD) | Standard (USD) | Breakaway (CAD) | Breakaway (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-axle straight truck | $24.00 | $17.50 | $19.20 | $13.80 |
| 3-axle | $36.00 | $26.25 | $28.80 | $20.70 |
| 4-axle | $48.00 | $35.00 | $38.40 | $27.60 |
| 5-axle tractor-trailer | $60.00 | $43.75 | $48.00 | $34.50 |
| 6-axle | $72.00 | $52.50 | $57.60 | $41.40 |
| Per-axle rate | $12.00/axle | $8.75/axle | $9.60/axle | $6.90/axle |
| Small/medium car (flat) | $8.00 | $5.75 | $6.00 | $4.35 |
How the truck toll is calculated: per-axle rate × number of axles. There is no distance component and no time-of-day pricing — a 5-axle truck pays the same whether it crosses at 3 a.m. or during the afternoon rush.
Vehicle classes. The per-axle rate applies to large commercial trucks, buses, RVs, vehicles towing fifth wheels, and taller passenger vehicles over 2.3 metres (7.5 feet). Small and medium personal vehicles under that height pay the flat rate instead. Oversized and hazardous loads pay the per-axle base rate plus possible additional fees for special handling and added safety considerations. The multi-use path for pedestrians and cyclists is toll-free.
Currency note. Tolls are set in Canadian dollars with a published US-dollar equivalent. The bridge authority notes that US rates may be adjusted at opening based on the current exchange rate, and that all rates are subject to change. Always confirm against the official toll rates page before building a rate card.
Gordie Howe vs Ambassador Bridge for trucks
Both bridges land in the same two cities, so for most Windsor–Detroit freight they are interchangeable on routing — which makes toll cost the deciding factor.
| Crossing | Per axle (USD) | 5-axle truck (USD) | Program |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gordie Howe (Breakaway) | ~$6.90 | ~$34.50 | Prepaid business account |
| Gordie Howe (standard) | ~$8.75 | ~$43.75 | Pay-as-you-go |
| Ambassador Bridge | ~$15.00 | ~$75.00 | A-Pass / E-ZPass commercial |
For a five-axle tractor-trailer, choosing Gordie Howe on Breakaway over the Ambassador Bridge saves on the order of $40 USD per crossing. A truck running that lane twice a day, five days a week, crosses roughly 500 times a year — a swing of $20,000+ per truck, per year on tolls alone. Multiply across a fleet and the crossing decision stops being a driver preference and becomes a procurement decision. We break the comparison down further in Gordie Howe vs Ambassador Bridge: which is cheaper for trucks.
The Breakaway account: how fleets capture the discount
Breakaway is the Gordie Howe Bridge's prepaid account program. Members pay $9.60 CAD ($6.90 USD) per axle instead of the $12.00 CAD ($8.75 USD) standard rate — a 20% per-axle discount that applies to every crossing. For a high-frequency lane that discount compounds fast. See the Gordie Howe Breakaway account and how carriers save for enrollment mechanics and a break-even analysis.
The toll is not customs clearance
A common and expensive misunderstanding: paying the toll does not clear your shipment. The Gordie Howe Bridge is a crossing, not a customs broker. Every commercial truck still has to file an electronic manifest before it arrives at the booth:
- Entering the United States — a CBP ACE eManifest, transmitted and accepted before arrival.
- Entering Canada — a CBSA ACI eManifest, transmitted and accepted before arrival.
Arriving without an accepted eManifest means refusal, delay, and potential AMPS/penalty exposure — the toll savings evaporate the moment a truck sits at secondary. If you file your own manifests, BorderPro handles ACE and ACI eManifest transmission for exactly these Windsor–Detroit crossings.
Rolling bridge tolls into load costing
Because a bridge toll is a fixed per-crossing amount, it belongs in your cost-per-mile and load-quoting math, not as an afterthought on the settlement. A carrier running Windsor–Detroit lanes should:
- Pick a default crossing (usually Gordie Howe on Breakaway) and put its per-axle rate in the rate card.
- Add the round-trip toll to every cross-border quote before accepting a lane.
- Track actual crossings so the toll flows into per-load profitability and driver pay.
TruckerPro does this automatically — route-level toll estimation for Gordie Howe, Ambassador and other Canadian and US crossings rolls straight into load profitability, so a lane that only pencils out before tolls never gets accepted by mistake. Start with the free Gordie Howe Bridge toll calculator to price your next crossing.
Rates in this guide reflect the Gordie Howe International Bridge published 2026 schedule and are subject to change; confirm current figures on the official toll rates page.