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 »
Category: Logistics
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 »
Deal to sell Churchill port and rail line falls apart
A deal that would have seen the Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway (HBR) sold to a consortium that includes Fairfax Financial Holdings, pulse crop exporter AGT Food and Ingredients, and several dozen northern and Indigenous communities has fallen through, according to the company that currently owns the infrastructure. Omnitrax reached an agreement-in-principle… Read more »
Churchill viewed as a “viable surge port” for prairie grain, says Al-Katib
The head of one of Canada’s largest pulse crop exporting companies is optimistic we’ll see Western Canadian crops shipped through the Port of Churchill again. AGT Food & Ingredients is one of the partners in a group that has reached an agreement-in-principle to purchase the port and the rail line leading to it from OmniTrax…. Read more »
CP Rail planning to invest half a billion dollars in 5,900 new hopper cars
Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) has announced a major investment in new hopper cars following the federal government’s passage of Bill C-49. Just weeks after Canadian National Railway (CN) announced an order for 1,000 new hopper cars, CP unveiled plans on Thursday to spend more than $500 million on around 5,900 high-capacity grain cars over the… Read more »
La Coop fédérée to build $90 million grain terminal at Port of Quebec
La Coop fédérée has announced plans for a $90 million grain transfer terminal to be built at the Port of Quebec for agriculture commodities destined for European and Asian markets. The new terminal at Pier 106 in Anse au Foulon will have the capacity to export of 1.3 million metric tons of grain per year, with an… Read more »
AGT Food and Ingredients part of Churchill rail and port deal
Could Western Canadian crops once again be exported through the Port of Churchill? Owner Omnitrax has reached an agreement-in-principle to sell the rail line leading to Churchill and the Port of Churchill to a consortium that includes pulse exporter AGT Food and Ingredients, according to the federal government. The Hudson Bay rail line has been… Read more »
Trudeau says gov’t won’t be “very quick” with back-to-work order, as CP Rail strike begins
Around 3,000 conductors and engineers who work for Canadian Pacific Railway went on strike on Tuesday evening after negotiations with the railway failed to yield a settlement prior to the strike deadline at 10pm eastern. Negotiations between the union and the railway are ongoing, with federal mediators involved. The union says it is willing to… Read more »
Why grain shippers expect C-49 will improve rail transportation
There’s been plenty of buzz this week among farm groups and the grain industry about the long-awaited passage of Bill C-49 — the federal government’s transportation legislation that covers everything from airline ownership rules to what grain companies can put in contracts with railways. Farm group leaders and representatives from the grain industry joined federal… Read more »
CN confirms purchase of 1,000 new hopper cars
CN Rail says it is moving ahead with a previously discussed plan to purchase 1,000 new grain hopper cars over the next two years following the passage of Bill C-49 in Parliament earlier this week. “This substantial investment in higher capacity payload hopper cars, with up to 10 per cent more capacity than the older… Read more »
Farm groups applaud transportation bill becoming law
Farm and grain industry groups are giving a big thumbs-up to the federal government for finally passing Bill C-49. The Transportation Modernization Act received royal assent on Wednesday, after gaining final approval from the Senate late Tuesday. Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay will be joined by grain industry stakeholders at a Richardson elevator just north of Winnipeg… Read more »