The Port of Cleveland is embarking on a first-of-its-kind scheduled freight ferry service across Lake Erie to Canada.

The Port signed a memorandum of understanding for a new cross-lake truck ferry service with Milo Harbor Inc, expected to launch in 2028.

It has been a plan 10 years in the making, according to David Guthiel, chief operating officer for the Port of Cleveland.

“This idea behind this was to take trucks hauling 48-foot trailers of cargo off the highway,” Guthiel said. “We’ve had interest on our side and had to find an entity in Canada willing to do this with us.”

No other cross-border route currently exists in this capacity, though it has been studied by the U.S. Department of Transportation in the past.

Once operational, it would create a direct cargo connection across Lake Erie capable of moving 150 truckloads in either direction, for a total of 300 per day.

The service would provide manufacturers, shippers, trucking companies and logistics partners with a more direct alternative to the other two options of crossing the border in the region — notably the Windsor-Detroit gateway, which accounted for a quarter of all across-the-border Canada-to-U.S. merchandise trade, or via the Peace Bridge through Buffalo, New York.

The benefit to a route over the lake boils down to one thing for these transporters — saved time.

“If you’re a trucking company moving cargo from Cleveland to Ontario, you’re basically losing your driver for almost two days because it’s going to take you up to eight hours to get there, and then they have to take up to eight hours to get back.”

Guthiel also said that reducing the time trucks are on the road would yield fuel savings and reduced emissions.

To work, a cargo terminal would be established at Milo Harbor in Wheatley, Ontario. Once active, transportation would take between two and three hours each way.

In addition, the ports are working jointly on either chartering an existing vessel or commissioning one specifically for this purpose.

But existing infrastructure at both ports would limit the need for major new development, as both already offer industrial zoning, warehousing, cargo-handling equipment, and space for cargo operations.

However, investments in the future may look like customs and border-processing facilities, cargo terminal improvements, a roll-on/roll-off ramp for trucks and trailers and marine handling infrastructure to support barge operations.

Costs and limitations on cargo volume or hazardous materials are yet to be determined, Guthiel said.