Highway 97 covers Kelowna to Kamloops in about two hours by dedicated truck — but a courier network routes the same part through a regional sort hub first. For procurement managers on BC’s mining and aerospace corridor, that gap decides whether a job site waits.
Highway 16 covers 352 km between Prince George and the Alberta border, with only two real towns and a 77 km stretch through Mount Robson park with no fuel. For shippers, that’s a different kind of risk than the Coquihalla — remoteness, not just grade.
A sawmill losing $10,000 to $50,000 an hour doesn’t have time to wait on a scheduled courier run. What a down line in the Cariboo actually costs, and why a dedicated hotshot on Highway 97 is the cheapest part of the shutdown.
