Canada is the world’s second-largest country by area and relies heavily on trains to transport grain, beans, automobiles, potash, coal and other goods.

“It’s a catastrophe. Literally nothing would move,” said Greg Northey, vice president of public affairs at Pulse Canada.

Talks between Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City on one hand and the Teamsters union on the other have deadlocked, with each side accusing the other of bad faith.

The rail companies say they will start locking out workers on Aug. 22 if they cannot reach a labor deal, while the union says it is ready to call a strike for that date.

Industry groups want the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to prevent a stoppage, noting Canada’s railways transport around $380 billion worth of goods annually.

“Factoring in the millions of Canadian jobs that would be impacted, the magnitude of the disruption is daunting,” the Business Council of Canada lobby organization said in an open letter to Trudeau and Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon.

U.S. freight traffic impacted

A stoppage would also hit the United States, given the degree of integration between the two economies. Canada sends around 75 per cent of all goods exports south of the border.

The networks of the two Canadian rail operators, CN and CPKC, connect with several key U.S. rail and shipping hubs such as Chicago, New Orleans, Minneapolis and Memphis. CPKC’s network also extends further south connecting with ports on both the east and west coast of Mexico.

CN said on Tuesday it was putting in place an embargo on any new reservations for movement of hazardous materials, security-sensitive cargoes or refrigerated containers originating in Canada, starting on Thursday.

It also announced it was embargoing all intermodal traffic originating from over half a dozen U.S. hubs with which its network connects, starting on Friday.

Separately, U.S. rail operator Norfolk Southern on Tuesday advised customers that it was embargoing all hazardous and security-sensitive cargoes to or from CN and CPKC’s networks effective immediately. It said additional embargoes may come in case of any work stoppages at the Canadian rail operators.

Some U.S. companies find it more efficient to use Montreal or Vancouver for imports and exports.

U.S. logistics firm C.H. Robinson, which manages more than 650,000 loads across the border a year, said it was lining up extra trucking capacity on both sides of the border.

“When all trains serving the entire country could literally be stopped on their tracks, that’s another whole level of disruption,” said Scott Shannon, a senior executive at C.H. Robinson.

Pressure mounts

Industry groups say MacKinnon has the power to refer the dispute to the country’s labor relations board and thereby head off a stoppage.

MacKinnon has so far said he wants the two sides to strike a deal at the negotiating table.

Pressure on Ottawa looks set to mount in the coming days as industry groups hammer home the potential costs of a stoppage.

Earlier this week, Morgan Stanley in a note to clients said that each week of shipment disruptions could dent the earnings before taxes of mining giant Glencore by an estimated $137.2 million, or more, as a rail shutdown would disrupt coal shipments from its majority-owned unit, Elk Valley Resources.

The Chemistry Industry Association of Canada said chlorine shipments would soon become unavailable, hitting the quality of drinking water within two weeks.

“There are very large municipalities that – if the strike goes on – are going to be under boil water advisories,” CEO Bob Masterson said by phone, noting that the industry moved more than 500 rail cars a day.

“There is no plan B … to transport this kind of volume you will need 2,000 trucks, roughly. There aren’t 2,000 trucks, and there aren’t 2,000 drivers,” he said.

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Earlier this month, rail workers from Canadian National (CN) and CPKC voted overwhelmingly to strike as soon as May 22. The federal government asked the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to look at whether the strike would have safety implications. This delays any strike action until at least 72 hours after the board hands down a decision.

Contracts covering locomotive engineers, conductors and yard workers at CN and CPKC at the end of 2023 and Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) is re-negotiating a third agreement covering CPKC rail traffic controllers.

Agriculture groups have said a strike could bring grain movement to a halt, which would mean financial losses for farmers.

In an update to members on May 22, TCRC said it met with the company and federal mediators in Montreal on May 17.

“Despite being ready to negotiate over the long weekend, the Company declined to participate unless their original demands were met,” TCRC said.

The groups parted ways on Tuesday and no more meetings have been scheduled, the union added.

“Ultimately, no progress has been made on the Union’s demands this week. The Company clearly indicated its preference for arbitration over negotiation, suggesting it hopes for government intervention to stop collective bargaining.”

In a news release yesterday, CPKC said it has “done everything it can to restore certainty and predictability for all our employees, their families and our supply chains.” This includes two different offers to the union.

It said TCRC refused an offer to resolve the dispute via binding arbitration.

“CPKC remains firmly committed to negotiating renewed agreements to avoid a work stoppage that would be detrimental to the interests of all stakeholders… Unfortunately, it is clear the TCRC leadership does not share that commitment,” the company said.

On May 16, CN said it had presented a new offer to the union that adds overtime pay for shifts over 10 hours with a maximum of 12 hours per shift for employees in Western Canada, scheduled days off and wage increases of three per cent in 2024 and 2.5 per cent in 2025.

In an update to members, TCRC said the offer “decimates your collective agreements and compromises your safety in favour of operational ease and profits.”

The union has accused the rail companies of trying to remove rest provisions they say are critical to safety. CN said its offer requires employees to comply with duty and rest period rules.

CPKC said offers it has made don’t compromise safety. “To say or suggest otherwise is patently false,” it said in the May 22 news release.

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In a decision handed down yesterday, the Canadian Transportation Agency ruled that the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) exceeded its maximum grain revenue of  entitlements in crop year 2022-23 by nearly $3.5 million. Its limit is $1.08 billion, the CTA said in a news release.

The Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway Company (CPKC) exceeded it’s revenue limit by almost $3.4 million. Its revenue is capped at $940.5 million.

CN and CPKC have 30 days to pay the overage, plus a five per cent penalty.

By regulation, these payments go to the Western Grains Research Foundation, the news release added.

The railways moved some 60 per cent more grain this year than last year, with over 45.3 million tonnes freighted across the country. Last year, the trains moved 28.4 million tonnes.

The increase can mainly be attributed to recovery after the droughty 2021-22 season, CTA said.

In the last season, both railway firms also exceeded their revenue caps, chipping in $5.7 million to grain research.

Over the 2022-23 season, the bulk of grain moved went to Vancouver, with CN carrying a bit more than 15.1 million tonnes, and CPKC moving just over 15.4 million, according to the CTA’s written decision.

CN brought 4.8 million tonnes to Prince Rupert, just over 1.5 million to eastern Canada, totallying 24.2 million tonnes with an exchange switching adjustment.

CPKC brought 4.6 million tonnes to Thunder Bay, and nearly 861,000 tonnes to Eastern Canada with a total of 21.1 million tonnes moved, including the exchange switching adjustment.

—Geralyn Wichers is associate digital editor of AGCanada.com. She writes from southeastern Manitoba.

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“Even an amateur golfer can hit a hole in one once in a while, but the pros hit a good ball consistently,” says Wade Sobkowich, WGEA executive director.

CN issued a press release in late October announcing its best week ever for grain shipments. In the week of Oct. 16 (week 12 of the crop year), it moved more than 806,000 tonnes of grain from Western Canada, exceeding its previous record by more than 50,000 tonnes.

“We are very proud to have set a new record for the amount of western Canadian grain moved in a single week,” says Doug MacDonald, CN’s chief marketing officer.

[RELATED] Supply chain report draws praise and criticism

MacDonald says he is also certain the railway will deliver on the consistency the WGEA desires. “We are confident that our railroaders will continue delivering results for Canadian farmers and all of our customers.”

Sobkowich acknowledges the rail line is doing a decent job so far this year. According to the Ag Transport Coalition’s weekly report, CN has consistently delivered more than 80 per cent of grain shippers’ demand for cars since shipments began picking up in week six. It reached 91 per cent in week 11, the first time in six weeks that it broke through the 90 per cent performance threshold.

“We’re pleased that they’re performing in the way that they are. The key is to stay on top of it,” says Sobkowich. “From our perspective, if they can do 85 per cent, or higher, week in and week out, then it’s acceptable. And when you get into the 90s, that’s what we call good.”

Of course, the WGEA would like the railways to provide a rail car every time one is ordered, says Sobkowich.

“I think you have to put it into perspective. When I make a telephone call to someone, I expect the telecommunications provider to have a line available for me to make that call 100 per cent of the time. But because of the way the rail freight market works, that’s not what we’ve grown accustomed to.”

[RELATED] Alberta Farmer Express: Railways in the spotlight as shipping season begins

Sobkowich says rail car supply versus demand isn’t the only indicator of problems with the supply chain, but it is the most important. So, when looking at railway performance, that’s the place to start.

Canadian Pacific’s start to the shipping season was slightly less rosy.

“They’re struggling to get back into the higher percentages in terms of weekly car fulfilment,” says Sobkowich.

The ATC report shows CP consistently delivered less than 80 per cent of demand for cars from grain shippers in week six until week 10, when it rose to 85 per cent before dipping to 73 per cent for week 11. This marked the sixth consecutive week that CP fell short of the 90 per cent performance threshold.

“Once we start falling behind, it’s very difficult to catch up,” says Sobkowich. However, CP fills more orders for grain shippers than CN, so variance between the two railways is expected.

[RELATED] Unions rip supply chain report’s language on strikes

At this time last year, things were humming along well for the railways. Smaller volumes as a result of the drought-affected harvest allowed both railways to maintain levels close to, or above, 85 per cent until about week 16 of the harvest year.

Then the proverbial wheels came off. Cold temperatures, atmospheric river flooding and a massive COVID-19 outbreak combined to reduce order fulfilment levels to around 50 per cent for CP and the low 30s for CN. Neither railroad would fully catch up until the end of the year.

While it’s unlikely those conditions will repeat, Sobkowich is cautious with his optimism that CN’s hot start is an indication of things to come.

“It really depends. We need consistency week in and week out. It isn’t enough on its own. We need to get a week like that every week, between now and through the winter and into the spring, when shipments tend to fall off.”

But Sobkowich does see it as an indicator that CN has resources in place.

“For us, it’s a good sign. If we got it in week 12, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t get it every other week going forward. So, we hope that this is a sign of things to come and we continue to get press releases from CN congratulating themselves for a job well done.”

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The tempestuous couple — railroads and grain farmers — is on the cusp of another argument over harvest shipping. And there’s no alternative for producers. They’re locked into the relationship.

Will CN Rail and CP Rail, which struggled to move a 49-million tonne harvest last year, be able to manage 75 million tonnes this fall and winter?

It’s a good question, said Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association.

“Railways are presenting grain plans again,” he said. “The numbers they expect to move are similar to what they said they expected to move last year. But if we look at last year and how close they came to the plan, the plan was completely useless.

“The only thing worse than no information is bad information — and those grain plans represent bad information.”

[RELATED] Comment: Railways a law unto themselves

CN admits in its 2022-23 grain plan (which Ottawa requires railways to produce) that it expects intense ongoing pressure on Canada’s transportation system, especially rail movement to the West Coast.

“At this point, based on current demand forecasts and the best economic and market information available, CN expects that total demand for rail capacity between Edmonton and the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert will exceed network capacity during some weeks in the fall of 2022 and in early 2023,” the railway said.

That’s not because CN hasn’t been bolstering its capacity, said David Przednowek, the railway’s assistant vice-president of grain.

The railway spent $5 billion in Western Canada over the last five years, including $1.1 billion this year, to improve overall network productivity, he said.

“In the middle of COVID, CN did not take its foot off the gas when it came to investment,” said Przednowek. “We are playing the long game. Think about the growth in grain, potash, and all kinds of other rail traffic segments.”

He also said the employee count, mostly conductors and engineers, rose by 850 in the first half of this year and another 500 conductors will graduate between October and December.

In its grain plan, CP said it’s well positioned to move grain, potentially more than 25 million tonnes in this crop year. The company said it plans to increase its Canadian workforce by 1,600 people this year and is also completing a $500 million multi-year investment to purchase 5,900 new high-capacity grain cars.

“The new hopper cars are already providing significant capacity gains for Canada’s grain supply chain,” the CP document states.

‘Cause for concern’

As the railways ramp up grain deliveries to western ports, it’s too early to tell whether they’ll achieve their goals, said Mark Hemmes, president of Quorum Corporation, which tracks grain movement for the federal government.

The railways need to move about one million tonnes per week to keep up, he said.

“The next four weeks are really going to tell us how bad it’s going to be for the rest of the winter,” Hemmes said in late September. “I’m not of the mind that we should start ringing alarm bells, but there is cause for concern. The message that CN in particular sent in its annual grain plan was a little bit disconcerting.”

Sobkowich said he is very concerned, although he credits CN and CP with quickly repairing damage from washouts in B.C. in 2021. Destroyed infrastructure due to flooding blocked grain shipments, resulting in problems with sales contracts and extension penalties for grain sellers, he said. Wildfires also affected railways in 2021.

“We rolled with that the best we could, understanding that it was really a ‘nobody’s fault’ type situation,” he said. “In fact, we would say the rail companies recovered pretty quickly considering the extent of the damage.

“But once that line was up and running again — the recoverability of CN in particular, but also CP to a degree — resiliency wasn’t there.”

Post-flood grain shipping was so bad that the elevator association asked the Canadian Transportation Agency to investigate. The agency declined, which Sobkowich said is disappointing because rail transportation problems are systemic.

“The railways just didn’t have enough resources in place,” he said. “They didn’t have enough crews in order to handle the volumes that were required. They furloughed and let go quite a few of their staff.

“When it came to recoverability, they ran so lean that they just didn’t have the ability to recover as quickly as we needed them to.”

Historical problems with delivering grain to port are tarnishing Canada’s reputation as a reliable grain supplier, said Mike Ammeter, chair of the Canadian Canola Growers Association.

“We are watching a monopoly or duopoly. There’s no competition,” said Ammeter, who farms near Sylvan Lake. “So in place of competition, we have regulation. We have to rely on regulation to get that job done.”

CN and CP seem to have a “shrug of the shoulders, see you next year” attitude when it comes to transporting grain, he said.

“I’m at the mercy of the railways. I know that, they know that,” he said. “It’s just not a good spot to be in. We can have regulations forever, but at the end of the day I still don’t have an alternative.”

Slow rail shipments mean farmers sometimes lack the cashflow to properly run their businesses, said Ammeter, adding Canada could seriously damage trading relationships that have taken decades to build.

“Being nice people and being good guys, that only gets you so far,” he said. “At the end of the day there are transactions that need to take place. We need to be able to uphold our end of the bargain. When we have rail issues, it ends up being a black mark.”

Should farmers be concerned this year?

It depends on expectations, said Przednowek.

CN Rail has the capacity to move grain volumes over the course of the crop year, he said.

“We also know based on the limitations of the end-to-end supply chain, from the country elevator through the rail system to the port and for export, that there’s a limit to how much the system can handle on a weekly basis,” he said.

“If the expectation is that the crop needs to move all in the fall time and wintertime, that’s not going to happen, and I don’t think that’s the expectation.”

– This article was originally published at the Alberta Farmer Express.

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Plan details include the addition of 57 high-horsepower locomotives, new rolling stock and 500 additional employees to bolster operating crews in Western Canada. More high-capacity grain hopper cars are also on the way. CN said it plans to add 500 covered cars this year, a figure it expects to match in 2023. New cars will have 15 per cent more volume capacity, the company said.

“Faced with growing demands from all sectors, the plan also calls for greater balance across all rail corridors to reach the upper end of the maximum sustainable supply chain capacity range,” said a company news release.

“That requires making better use of the eastern Canadian network, including Thunder Bay when the St. Lawrence Seaway System is open to navigation, and direct rail shipments to St. Lawrence River ports when the seaway closes for winter.”

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The CTA’s report stated that CN’s revenue from transporting Western Canadian grain was nearly C$1.045 billion and was C$2.4 million over its entitlement. The railway must now pay a five per cent penalty of nearly C$120,000 to Western Grains Research Foundation.

Conversely CP’s grain revenue amounted was in excess of C$1.014 billion, and C$20.25 million under its cap.

The CTA noted 2020/21 saw record grain movement of more than 52.33 million tonnes, up nine per cent from the previous year. The agency issued its ruling on Dec. 22.

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They’re rightly very proud of record grain movement year after year, and have pointed to major investments in infrastructure, equipment and personnel as key to that success.

And to be clear, both CN and CP have put their shareholders’ money where their mouths are. CN alone is spending $3 billion ($95 million of that in Manitoba) to ‘enhance fluidity in their network.’

Meantime the Western Grain Elevator Association, representing Canada’s grain merchants, has played the role of perpetual doomsayer. Even as shipping record after shipping record piled up, it has maintained it’s not time to declare victory over the historic challenges of getting your crop to market.

One could hardly blame its membership. After all, it is less than a decade since the Great Grain Crisis of 2013-14.

That nightmare shipping season is said to have cost western Canadian farmers as much as $5 billion.

Core to the WGEA’s cautionary argument has been that the system has never really been tested in the same way since.

Crops have been larger, but winters have been milder. A commodities bust limited shipments of coal, wood, and ore. And most recently the pandemic cratered container shipments from Asia at a crucial time.

Crucial because the grain transportation system was just beginning to show signs of stress. Protesters had blockaded rail lines, and natural disasters in British Columbia had closed lines for several days.

But in the wake of the pandemic recession, grain shippers were able to make up lost time and then some, setting yet another grain shipping record, for the fifth year in a row.

One might look at that situation and think all is well, and the railways would certainly encourage that line of thinking.

But the WGEA is right in saying the system has never really been truly tested in the same way since that 2013-14 meltdown. In that period it has always got more, not less, resources to do its job.

But now, that’s changing. CN, smarting from a doomed takeover attempt of a U.S. railway and pressured by a London-based hedge fund that is a major shareholder, just announced that more than 1,000 employees are getting pink slips.

It is also suddenly getting out of the freight forwarding business, where it manages the shipment of goods across multiple modes of transportation.

In an agricultural context, that means containerized grain. That’s not to say that containers of grain won’t be shipped on CN, but rather that the process will now be managed by someone else. The unexpected announcement has thrown some pulse shippers into turmoil as they scramble to find an alternative.

And while that situation is a disaster for individual companies, it’s still relatively small volumes. Where the real potential for harm resides is if things go off the rails for bulk grain shipments.

Once again, the WGEA is sounding the alarm, with Wade Sobkowich, the group’s executive director, noting a “… marginal drop in CN service over the last week or so.”

He insists the group’s members aren’t hitting the panic button yet, but are rather flagging it as an issue that warrants close attention, especially in light of events at the railway.

If the company “reorients” itself and readjusts to the changes, things could work out, he said. But he also noted that investors like the U.K. hedge fund look at key metrics like operating ratio — operating expense to net sales — which aren’t always shipper friendly.

Essentially the old math of the transportation sector is asserting itself, and for grain growers, that’s never a good thing. They’re captive shippers to the two major railways who know the grain must ship over their networks to reach West Coast and Lakehead port positions.

For a farmer, the best way for the crop to ship is front loaded in the crop year, when demand and prices tend to be at their highest, before Southern Hemisphere crops come off.

For a railway, it’s best to bring the crop out in 12 equal monthly increments, to keep those key ratios at their brightest and shiniest, thus appeasing shareholders and preventing a purge of the executive suites.

The role of government in this dynamic is as regulator. Much like the grain system itself, the latest amendments to the regulatory framework haven’t really seen a true test.

The Transportation Modernization Act (Bill C-49) only came into effect in May of 2018, containing many improvements to how shippers can expect more timely resolutions for shipping issues.

If things begin to fall apart this winter, the entire grain sector may want to have their local member of Parliament and the federal transport minister on speed dial.

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“Even though (grain shipping) demand is a bit down (due to a smaller crop) they (CN) started rationing last week and their order fulfilment, especially out of Alberta is dropping,” Greg Northey, Pulse Canada’s vice-president of corporate affairs said in an interview Oct. 5. “The signs may already be there that they can’t keep up with what’s being demanded of them.”

CN management suddenly began laying off staff recently, which Northey and other observers believe is part of CN’s plan to earn more money for shareholders and counter efforts by London-based investment firm TCI Funds to replace four CN directors and install a new cost-cutting CEO at a special shareholders’ meeting March 22.

“Ideally they’ll (CN) pull together but it’s tough when they really start to cut staff and do it in the style they did — basically overnight. It’s a bit concerning for sure because that’s not oriented towards the customer, that’s oriented more towards — and they are being quite clear about it — it’s more towards the board and the shareholders.”

Why it matters: CN moves around half of Western Canada’s grain to export markets.

TCI, which owns about five per cent of CN’s stocks, has criticized CN’s failed bid to buy the Kansas City Southern railway.

CN has announced it’s laying off 1,050, employees, including 650 managers, as it works to boost profits. The cuts began last week.

In keeping with its plan to focus on its core business CN confirmed in an Oct. 7 email it is getting out of the freight forwarding business.

“CN Worldwide Freight Forwarding has been in direct contact with our customers to ensure they are aware of other options to participate in the containerized grain export market, including working directly with steamship lines and working with other freight forwarding companies providing the same type of service previously offered by CN Worldwide Freight Forwarding,” CN spokesperson Mathieu Gaudreault wrote. “CN has seen significant growth in its Western Canada containerized grain program, and CN remains committed to its intermodal transport services for Canadian farmers.”

The Western Producer recently reported CN’s decision caused chaos for at least one Saskatchewan pulse company that uses CN Worldwide Freight Forwarding.

According to sources in that report, existing containers stuffed with agricultural products would be loaded on ships for export, but now new orders would be taken and unfilled orders would be cancelled.

CN’s seemingly capricious decision will hurt its Canadian customers, including pulse exporters, “but I don’t think they had a huge book of business in the ag sector,” Northey said.

“My understanding is that (CN) was really focused on inbound so it was really dealing with loaded containers coming in as imports as opposed to a lot of the export side.

“But clearly anybody that had them will be in a miserable, miserable situation, but there’s likely not a lot. I think the bigger concern is how it’s going to impact rail movement (of crops) if they are doing all this laying off of people.”

CN is committed to moving the 2021 crop.

“We will continue to work with Canadian grain producers, agri-organizations and customers to move their products to market for the communities we proudly serve,” Gaudreault wrote in his email. “CN remains focused on delivering high-quality service to customers and maintaining best-in-class safety.”

The Western Grain Elevator Association, which represents Canada’s biggest grain companies, is monitoring CN closely, executive director Wade Sobkowich said in an interview Oct. 6.

“There has been a marginal drop in CN service over the last week or so,” he said.

“It’s not where we are panicking or raising alarm bells. It definitely makes a person want to watch the situation given the happenings at CN and see how they could be reorienting themselves to try to improve their operating ratios to hold their returns because of course Wall Street measures CN’s share value based on operating ratio. Given the whole Kansas City Southern merger saga we can see how it might be more motivated to improve their operating ratios and that usually means worse service. So it’s something we’re watching very closely to see how CN car order fulfilment on a week-to-week basis performs here over the fall period.”

Operating ratio shows the efficiency of a company’s management by comparing the total operating expense to net sales.

Last crop year CN and CP shattered grain shipping records thanks to a big crop and increased capacity as the COVID pandemic reduced other rail traffic, Canada’s grain monitor has said.

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In separate news releases to the public on August 3, both Canadian National Railway (CN Rail) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP Rail) reported a record amount of grain moved during the 2020-21 crop year. For the first time ever, both railways transported more than 30 million tonnes of grain.

CN Rail said it moved more than 31 million tonnes of grain, exceeding the record of 29.4 million during the 2019-20 crop year. In addition, CN also moved 1.1 million tonnes of grain from Western Canada via containers with grain volumes moved from Eastern Canada.

“CN’s grain movement has been resilient during the pandemic, achieving 14 straight months of Canadian grain volume shipment records,” said CN Rail president and chief executive officer JJ Ruest in his company’s news release.

Meanwhile, CP Rail reported 30.62 million tonnes of grain moved, as well as 590,000 tonnes moved in containers, in 2020-21. This is the fourth straight year the railway broke its single-year record for grain movement after reporting 29.52 million tonnes in 2019-20.

“The challenge created by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past 17 months has underpinned the value of strong communication and supply chain collaboration. Despite a sharp reduction in demand this spring, CP and our customers have again broken our movement record, and we celebrate that achievement across the supply chain,” said Joan Hardy, CP Rail’s vice president of sales and marketing, grain and fertilizers in its news release.

Both railways announced new investments in new high-capacity grain hopper cars earlier this year, including CP Rail’s 8,500-foot High Efficiency Product train model. In their news releases, they also acknowledged the reduced yields in Western Canada due to hot and dry conditions.

“We recognize that growing conditions across much of the Prairies have been very challenging as many producers face extremely hot and dry weather this year. Our dedicated team of railroaders will continue to work tirelessly with Canadian farmers, agri-organizations and grain customers to have the resources in place to move the upcoming harvest for the communities we proudly serve,” said Ruest.

“Through May, June and July shipper demand was almost 15 percent below the same period last year, and 25 percent below the fall peak demand levels,” CP Rail said in the release.

CN Rail also touted its proposed merger with American railway Kansas City Southern announced earlier this year, of which CP Rail is also vying for its attention.

“The proposed CN-Kansas City Southern combination will introduce new options for Canadian farmers and grain costumers to ship both grain and processed grain products,” CN Rail’s release said. “It will create a new single-line service to a wider array of destinations in the U.S. and Mexico, and will also create an end-to-end transportation network across North America, enhancing competition, spurring economic growth and delivering benefits to the local communities in which both railroads operate.”

CN Rail published its annual Grain Plan for its stakeholders on July 30, while CP Rail submitted its 2021-22 Grain Service Outlook Report to federal minister of transport Omar Alghabra on July 31.

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