Montreal is Quebec's freight capital, a container port, an aerospace and food manufacturing base and the link between southern Ontario and eastern Quebec. Pick an origin or destination in the directory to open its lane guide, and read how customs, carrier authority and Quebec paperwork work on Montreal freight. Cargado is a marketplace where brokers post Mexico and Canada truck freight and vetted carriers bid on it.
Port of Montreal
1.46 million TEUs
20
Dry van
Montreal's freight starts at the port, which handled 1,464,320 twenty-foot equivalent units of containers in 2024 on total tonnage above 35 million metric tons (Montreal Port Authority results, reported by Maritime Magazine). Around the port and along Highway 40 sit aerospace plants, food and beverage makers, aluminum and metals processors, machinery builders and the distribution centers that serve Quebec. Southbound, expect food and beverage, metals and building materials, machinery and packaged goods for New England, the Midwest and Texas; northbound, produce, consumer goods, chemicals and components from the U.S. and, through Laredo, from Mexico.
Canada guides make up most of this hub: Montreal to Toronto, London, Windsor, Kingston, Quebec City, Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton, and back from Toronto, Windsor and Vancouver. U.S. guides run from Montreal to Detroit, Fort Worth, Lakeland and El Paso, and into Montreal from Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Phoenix and Laredo. There is no Mexico guide on this hub yet; the Laredo to Montreal guide is a U.S. lane that may connect with a Mexico shipment or may be domestic. For each lane, confirm whether you need a domestic Canadian leg or the U.S. move, and who handles customs on the importing side.
For a U.S. lane, the carrier needs an ACE eManifest southbound or an ACI eManifest northbound, filed before arrival, and the importer or its customs broker arranges release, with a PARS or PAPS reference when one is used. Provide the invoice information the importing country requires and any USMCA certification of origin needed to claim preferential treatment, and put the broker and release arrangement on the posting so the carrier can file. Missing paperwork holds the truck at the border, so agree on free time and detention up front.
Confirm the French-language requirements for the shipment's labels and documents with the shipper, including the Quebec rules that apply and the receiver's instructions, and identify which documents the driver must carry. A lane between Canada and the U.S. can run on a Canadian or a U.S. carrier with cross-border authority; for a lane that stays inside Canada, confirm domestic operating authority, driver eligibility and cabotage compliance. Post the leg you need covered and check what each bid includes.
Winter closures and chain-up requirements on the route the carrier books can add transit days, so check conditions on that route and build a weather margin into delivery windows. For refrigerated freight, state the shipper's temperature range and operating mode on the posting, and request freeze protection only when the product requires it.
A lane between Canada and the U.S. can run on a Canadian or a U.S. carrier with cross-border authority, and the carrier files the ACE or ACI manifest before arrival. A lane that stays inside Canada, such as Montreal to another Canadian city, is domestic work: cross-border authority does not by itself allow it, so confirm the carrier's domestic operating authority, driver eligibility and cabotage compliance before booking. State the leg you need covered when you post on Cargado.
Confirm the French-language requirements for the shipment's labels and documents with the shipper, including the Quebec rules that apply and the receiver's instructions, and identify which documents the driver must carry before dispatch. Note them on the posting so the shipper prepares the right paperwork.
Post the pickup and delivery, the date, the equipment and the leg you need covered. For a U.S. lane, include the customs broker and the PARS or PAPS arrangement. Vetted carriers that run the corridor bid, and you compare what each bid covers before you book. Where a corridor has enough bid history, Cargado Market Rates gives you a reference built from carrier bids before you quote.
Dry van leads, carrying food and beverage, metals, machinery and packaged goods. Reefer carries food and beverage at the shipper's specified temperature, and open deck carries aluminum, steel and building materials. Post the trailer type with the weight, dimensions and loading requirements so carriers can price the load.
Post it to 2,300+ vetted Mexico and Canada carriers, or check market rates built from real carrier bids before you quote.