It’s fundamentally understood by most countries around the world that competition is a good thing. It forces countries to be innovative and focused on the competitive factors within its control to be the best they can be as a nation — things like infrastructure, tax and trade policy, and natural resources. Canada has its strengths… Read more »
Category: Logistics
CP unveils new high-efficiency, Canadian-made hopper car trains
Canadian Pacific (CP) has launched its 8,500-foot High Efficiency Product (HEP) train featuring new, “highly efficient” Canadian-made hopper cars. HEP trains can move approximately 44 per cent more per train than prior generations, the company says. The hopper cars have a capacity 10 per cent greater by weight and 15 percent more volume than the older-model… Read more »
Saskatchewan stiffens requirements for semi truck drivers
In the wake of several high-profile accidents involving semi trucks, Saskatchewan has moved to ensure potential drivers receive more training. On April 6, 2018 sixteen people were killed and 13 injured when a semi-trailer failed to yield at a flashing stop sign and crashed into a bus carrying players and staff of the Humboldt Broncos… Read more »
Selling Canadian Cereals or “Where in the world is Cam Dahl?”
As anyone who owns a business knows, producing a product is only part of the process. Selling that product is perhaps more important. When you export 90 percent of what you produce, you have to go around the world to sell it. Cam Dahl, president of Cereals Canada, is a part of this process, and… Read more »
New P&H grain terminal to add 4M tonnes of export capacity for Western Canada by 2020
The green light has been given to Parrish & Heimbecker, Limited (P&H) to build and operate a new export facility located at Surrey, B.C. The company received approval from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority just last week. Construction is expected to start before the end of the year, and once completed — in roughly two years —… Read more »
Canadians and Americans learning to improve the wheat system together
Canadians and Americans share the largest border in the world which creates similar opportunities and challenges for farmers no matter where they reside in relation to the 49th parallel. When the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk fell, Western Canadian growers looked forward to some of the same free market opportunities that American growers in Montana… Read more »
Canadian Pacific breaks year-old grain shipping record
With producers keeping a close eye on the Canadian Pacific (CP) railway, the company recently shared that during last month (October) it broke an all-time record for the shipment of grain, moving 2.64 million metric tonnes (MMT) of Canadian grain and grain products. This broke the last record held for September 2017. In a news release,… Read more »
Rail line in Churchill to fully open by end of the month
Wednesday evening was exciting for more than just Halloween in the town of Churchill, Manitoba. For the first time in more than a year residents heard a train whistle coming from the Hudson Bay Rail Line. The rail line was badly damaged by flooding in the spring of 2017 and, with no year-round roads into… Read more »
Alberta Government pushes the federal government to treat oil like grain
In a quest to create more export opportunities to Asia for Alberta oil, the Alberta government is asking the federal government to get involved, suggesting the feds invest in oil tanker cars and locomotives. It’s estimated the Canadian economy is losing $40 million per day due to heavily discounted product entering the United States. But… Read more »
CN says increase in crude by rail is perception, not reality
We’re several weeks into harvest, and six weeks into the crop year, which begs the question— how is rail movement out of your area? Many farmers are already reporting slow shipments and long wait times at elevators, and watching trains moving oil tankers and not grain cars has some farmers seeing red. RealAgriculture founder Shaun… Read more »
As harvest rolls, farmers hope communication will lead to better railway performance
The federal Liberal caucus met in Saskatoon, Sask. this week, providing the opportunity to host a hastily-called roundtable on grain transportation. The roundtable included government representatives, farmers, shippers, and railway executives. The purpose of the meeting, according to a government news release, was to provide “participants with an opportunity to share information, to address challenges,… Read more »
Port of Churchill sold to group that includes AGT Food & Ingredients
The Port of Churchill and the rail line leading up to it have been sold to a group that includes Saskatchewan based pulse and specialty crop exporter AGT Food & Ingredients. After an earlier agreement-in-principle fell apart, the federal government announced the sale on Friday of the northern port and rail line from Omnitrax to… Read more »
U.S. Department of Transport undertakes hours of service review
The trucking industry has been concerned about the increasing number of regulations that prevent haulers from keeping clients happy and being profitable in the long-term. Livestock haulers specifically have taken issue with the implementation of the electronic logging device (ELD) rule that took effect earlier this year. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier… Read more »
Crude oil shipments by rail reaching record levels ahead of harvest
Crude oil shipments by rail in Canada are at record highs and forecast to continue climbing, as oil production has increased with no major expansion in export pipeline capacity. At the same time, executives for Canada’s two major railways say they intend to maintain rail capacity for grain. 198,788 barrels of oil per day were… Read more »
Trucker shortage threatens agricultural trade flows
Agriculture requires the transportation of goods via highway, water, and rail across North America. When it comes to challenges, the rivers in the U.S. and railways in Canada tend to get much of the media coverage, but what about the trucking industry? At first thought about the issue you might suspect that quality of the… Read more »