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
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
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
Update, as of Wednesday: Both unions have served CP Rail with 72-hour strike notice, clearing the way for a strike to begin after midnight on Saturday morning. When asked on Tuesday whether the federal government would consider back-to-work legislation, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said he’s following the situation closely: “Remember that we are a party… Read More
The numbers show grain movement has started to improve in Western Canada in the last few weeks, but it’s up for debate how much credit should go to the railways for their internal actions; the government for increasing its scrutiny; or, simply the warmer temperatures and the arrival of spring. The rail backlog this winter… Read More
This has been a very challenging winter for grain shipments, to say the least. Much of the finger pointing has been directed at the railways but should more of the blame fall to more than CN and CP? It’s clear operational performance must improve, but the railways have been operating in the environment that they… Read More
Canadian National Railway has announced the sudden departure of its chief executive officer, as the railway struggles with an escalating backlog of grain and other commodities. Luc Jobin is “leaving CN effective immediately,” said a statement from the railway’s board of directors on Monday. His exit comes less than two years after he replaced Claude… Read More
Canada’s two major railways supplied less than half of the hopper cars ordered by grain shippers last week, according to data from the Ag Transport Coalition. The farm group and grain shipper coalition’s weekly report says Canadian National Railway (CN) only supplied 34 percent of cars that were ordered in week 28 of the crop… Read More
With winter weather settling in across Western Canada and new rail legislation meant to protect grain shippers stalled in Ottawa, there are serious concerns that railways could fall further behind in shipping a larger-than-expected 2017 crop to market. According to data from the Ag Transport Coalition, which includes grain companies and some farm groups, CN… Read More
From Prince Rupert down to Vancouver’s Fraser River ports, grain companies are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure for loading grain onto ships destined for overseas markets. Just a few weeks ago, Raymont Logistics opened the only unit train stuffing facility on Canada’s west coast at Prince Rupert. In Vancouver, on the north shore of Burrard… Read More
In a year end grain report published today, CN reported that 21.8 million metric tonnes of grain was moved during the 2016-17 growing year, making it a record for the transportation company. “Through innovation, collaboration and improved communication with our supply chain partners, CN moved more grain in a single crop year than ever before,”… Read More
CN Rail appears to be making a concerted effort to increase its communication and outreach in the grain industry, from taking farm group leaders on a tour to Vancouver recently to adding weekly internal grain shipping stats to its website. The railway also had a significant presence at the Agribition Grain Expo in Regina last week,… Read More
This week on RealAg Radio, Shaun and Kelvin debated whether farmers were benefitting from the spat between the railways and the Western Grain Elevators Association, and more specifically executive director Wade Sobokowich. See More: Railways Offering “Pretty Good” Performance, Amid PR Effort and Finger-Pointing What do you think? Is this finger pointing by the railways… Read More
It’s not often we hear grain company spokespeople commend railways, but that’s the case this fall, as the grain supply chain handles one of the largest crops in Western Canadian history. “As a general statement, we think rail performance has been pretty good this fall,” says Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator… Read More
GrainsConnect Canada held a sod-turning for its first high-throughput grain terminal in Western Canada on Tuesday. The elevator will be built on CN Rail’s Prairie North line at Maymont, Saskatchewan, 90 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon. “This is a significant milestone for GrainsConnect Canada as it represents the first stage of our substantial investment in Canadian… Read More
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