Pacific Highway (Blaine – Surrey)

Pacific Highway is the truck gate of the West Coast's cross-border economy. Sitting a mile east of the ceremonial Peace Arch crossing, where commercial vehicles are prohibited, it funnels essentially all Vancouver-Seattle corridor truck freight through one full-service, 24-hour port that the U.S. General Services Administration calls the largest and busiest U.S.-Canada commercial port in the western United States. On the Canadian side it lands in Surrey, the distribution heart of the Vancouver metro, and on the U.S. side it feeds Interstate 5 toward Seattle and Portland.

What brokers should know

• One commercial gate for the metro. With Peace Arch closed to trucks, planning for the Vancouver market means planning around Pacific Highway, though the Lynden and Sumas crossings to the east serve the Fraser Valley.
• Resource and retail mix. Lumber and building products head south, consumer and food distribution runs both ways, and reefer demand tracks the produce and seafood calendars.
• Around-the-clock port. The port operates 24 hours, according to GSA, so schedule risk is about peak congestion windows rather than gate cutoffs.

As across the northern border, freight runs direct. Drivers operate in both countries, manifests are filed electronically before arrival, and there is no transfer-driver or transload system to price in. See border transfer for the contrast with Mexico crossings, where those services are central to the move.

Cargado's U.S.-Canada network is emerging, and the Pacific Highway corridor is an early market with growing activity. Brokers ask regularly how Canadian coverage splits east versus west; the honest answer is that carrier density is building on both sides, with Ontario corridors ahead of the West today. Posting recurring Pacific Northwest-British Columbia lanes, with lead time, is the fastest way to develop dedicated capacity here. Mexico-Canada in-bond freight is live on the network today.