If you ran freight through the Pacific Highway, Sumas or Aldergrove crossings this winter, you felt it before the numbers came out: fewer loads, later bookings, more trucks waiting on work. Statistics Canada’s data for January to March 2026 now confirm it, and show where the drop landed.
Here’s what the official numbers say for BC carriers, and what they don’t. If the quarter has left you with a truck you don’t need, you can sell or trade it in with us; if you’re adding one for a Canadian lane, our used trucks are listed with full specs.
Fewer trucks at BC’s crossings
Statistics Canada counts every truck that enters Canada by land. In the first quarter of 2026, 137,862 trucks entered at BC’s crossings, down from 152,091 a year earlier: a drop of 9.4%. Across Canada the count fell 8.9%.1
137,862
trucks entered Canada at BC crossings, Q1 2026
−9.4%
against Q1 2025 (152,091)
−8.9%
across Canada
Trucks entering Canada, January to March
| Q1 2025 | Q1 2026 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Highway | 88,312 | 81,938 | −7.2% |
| Abbotsford/Huntingdon | 22,722 | 17,717 | −22.0% |
| Aldergrove | 9,234 | 10,096 | +9.3% |
| Kingsgate | 13,700 | 10,732 | −21.7% |
| British Columbia, all crossings | 152,091 | 137,862 | −9.4% |
| Canada | 1,316,577 | 1,198,912 | −8.9% |
Statistics Canada, Table 24-10-0052-01, as the table stood on October 5, 2026. Change is ours, from the table’s values.
The drop eased through the quarter. BC’s count was down 13.6% in January, 6.9% in February and 7.3% in March against the same months of 2025.1 Aldergrove was the one BC crossing in the table that got busier.
It wasn’t only Canadian trucks. At BC crossings, US-plated trucks entering Canada fell 10.6%, to 26,141, and Canadian-plated trucks fell 9.1%, to 111,721.1 Fewer trucks came north on both sides’ plates.
What these counts can’t tell you
They count trucks entering Canada, loaded or empty. Statistics Canada doesn’t publish southbound truck counts, so the counts can’t say how many loads went south or how full the trucks were.1
Less freight by road
The value of goods moving by road fell further than the truck count. Canada’s exports to the US by road came to $66.6 billion in the first quarter of 2026, against $86.9 billion a year earlier: a drop of 23.3%. Imports from the US by road fell 9.6%, to $83.9 billion.2
−23.3%
Canada’s exports to the US by road, Q1 2026 ($66.6 billion)
−9.6%
imports from the US by road ($83.9 billion)
BC’s own numbers point the same way. BC’s domestic exports to the US were $6.47 billion in the quarter, down 19.5%, and its forestry products and building and packaging materials to the US fell 36.0%, to $1.32 billion.3
Why the drop looks so big
Part of it is the year it’s compared with. Early 2025 was unusually busy: in January 2025, “in the context of tariff threats on Canadian goods”, Canada’s exports and imports both hit record highs.6 Canada’s exports to the US in the first quarter of 2026 were 14.3% lower than a year earlier, while exports to all countries were down just 2.1%.4 Statistics Canada said the quarter’s small dip in exports was led by passenger cars and light trucks, “which have been impacted by US tariffs.”7
And the quarter ended stronger than it began. In March, exports to the US rose 8.3% from February, to their highest level since March 2025.5
Trucks entering Canada at BC crossings, month by month
Trucks into BC down 13.6%
45,038 against 52,122 in January 2025.1
Down 6.9%
43,180 against 46,388.1
Down 7.3%, as exports to the US recover
49,644 against 53,581; exports to the US hit their highest level since March 2025.15
Statistics Canada, Tables 24-10-0052-01 and The Daily, May 5, 2026.
Freight prices held up
Fewer trucks didn’t mean cheaper freight. Statistics Canada’s price index for for-hire truck transportation stood at 126.3 in the first quarter of 2026, 1.9% above a year earlier. It covers all trucking in Canada, not only cross-border work.8
What BC carriers can do with this
None of this tells you what next quarter holds. It does say the border lanes moved less freight in early 2026 than a year before. Three things are worth doing:
Check how much of your work crosses the border
If one US-bound lane is most of your revenue, a single tariff change can empty your week. The worksheet below shows your share.
Know the duties on the goods you haul
Shippers hold freight when they don’t know their landed cost. Our tariff guide covers the equipment side; your customs broker covers the freight.
Match the fleet to the work you have
A truck parked for a month costs you money. Sell it, trade it, or put it on a Canadian lane you have freight for.
For what the tariffs mean for the trucks, trailers and chassis themselves, read tariffs on trucks, trailers and chassis. For the used truck market in the same months, see the used Class 8 market in spring 2026.
