Numbers newly crunched by a clutch of Canadian grain shippers paint a picture of a gap that’s wide, and getting wider, between the numbers of rail cars they say they need and what they say they’re getting. The Ag Transport Coalition — which so far includes eight Canadian grain-handling and crop commodity groups, working with […] Read more
Grain shippers’ data show ongoing rail supply/demand gap
Work stoppage possible for CN engineers in mid-February
The union for engineers on Canadian National Railway’s (CN) trains warns a work stoppage could come as early as mid-February barring progress in talks with the company. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) said Thursday CN has “refused” to extend conciliation talks, now due to end Saturday, by another 60 days. The engineers’ last collective […] Read more
CN, CP face fines for summer grain handle
Both of Canada’s big two railways have been slapped with fines for missing the federal government’s mark this summer on weekly Prairie grain handling. A Transport Canada spokesperson confirmed by email Thursday that Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railway (CN, CP) have been served notices of violation including administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) of $100,000 and $50,000 […] Read more
Talks fold on contracts for CN mechanics, clerical staff
About 4,800 unionized mechanics, clerical workers, excavator operators and truck drivers at Canadian National Railway (CN) will go into the new year without new contracts. Unifor, whose locals have five collective agreements with Montreal-based CN, announced Thursday it’s been “unable to reach a new tentative collective agreement” in negotiations with CN since mid-September. The company […] Read more
Ottawa extends grain order
Minimum amounts will vary throughout the winter
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ottawa’s new order-in-council extends the mandatory minimum weekly grain handle until March 28. But instead of a flat 536,250 tonnes of grain per week for both CN and CP Rail, the amounts vary. Until, Dec. 20, each railway must move 345,000 tonnes per week. That drops to 200,000 tonnes weekly from Dec. 21 to Jan. 3, rises […] Read more
Mandatory minimum grain handle extended
A new order-in-council will extend the federal government’s mandatory minimum weekly grain handle for Canada’s big two railways through March, just as the previous order expires. Federal Transport Minister Lisa Raitt and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz on Saturday announced the mandatory minimums, which expired Saturday, are extended until March 28, 2015. The new order, however, adjusts the […] Read more
Smoother grain flow points to Ottawa lifting rail regulations
Winnipeg | Reuters — Barring a sudden pile-up of grain across Western Canada in the next five weeks, Ottawa will lift requirements that railways move minimum volumes of crops, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said in an interview. While Ritz says he is not ruling out any options before the rules expire Nov. 29, government data […] Read more
Larger grain handle helps boost CN’s Q3
A markedly larger grain and fertilizer handle in the three months ending Sept. 30 has helped pump up the third-quarter bottom line for Canadian National Railway (CN). Montreal-based CN on Tuesday reported third-quarter net income of $853 million on $3.118 billion in total revenue, up from $705 million on $2.698 billion in the year-earlier period. […] Read more
Double whammy for oat growers as railways focus on West Coast backlog
Virtually all of the Prairie oat harvest goes to the U.S., but growers say shipping south isn’t even on the radar of the railways
Reading Time: 3 minutes The clogged rail system is affecting every grain producer on the Prairies, but oats growers are feeling additional pain. Market analyst Randy Strychar has called the situation a “train wreck,” noting some companies aren’t putting out bids until February 2015. “It’s not out of line to say that we’re probably one of the worst-hit crops,” […] Read more
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