Reading Time: 3 minutes Markus Weber was out in the countryside taking aerial shots of some wind turbines when a gun-toting farmer drove up and accused him of spying with his drone. “It had occurred to me before the people might have privacy concerns, but that really drove home how little understanding there is of the capabilities of these […] Read more
Don’t worry — drones aren’t built for spying
Despite what you may have heard, drones are too noisy, too tricky to manoeuvre, and too low resolution for spying
CP to chart weekly grain handling performance online
Canadian Pacific Railway plans to launch a new weekly “supply chain scorecard” next week, to chart its own performance handling Prairie grain. The Calgary company announced the new program Friday for an online launch Wednesday (Oct. 19), noting the scorecard “will include, when necessary, detailed information on any internal or external factors affecting grain movement” as […] Read more
CP, Teamsters dispute railway’s staffing obligations
Canadian Pacific Railway is refuting claims from one of its employees’ unions that the company is in “violation of the law” over layoffs of track maintenance staff. Calgary-based CP last month announced temporary layoffs effective June 30 affecting about 500 maintenance-of-way crew positions. On Tuesday it cited “business ebbs and flows associated with global markets […] Read more
Transport review urges scrapping railway grain revenue cap
Winnipeg | Reuters — Ottawa should phase out over seven years its cap on the amount of revenue railways can earn transporting grain, a study for the Canadian government recommended Thursday, a move long urged by railways and opposed by farmers and grain handlers. A review of Canadian transportation laws, aimed at modernizing the system, […] Read more
Owen Sound, Baie-Comeau in revamped port sale program
Two ports hosting grain terminals are up for sale and possibly divestiture under a new federal program to get out of the port business. Transport Minister Lisa Raitt on Friday announced a new Ports Asset Transfer Program (PATP) to “facilitate the transfer” of port facilities to other owners or levels of government, naming 50 ports […] Read more
Canada to set new speed limits on dangerous goods trains
Updated April 25, 2015 — Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will immediately impose a new speed limit of 65 kilometres per hour for dangerous goods trains moving through urban areas with more than 100,000 people, Transport Minister Lisa Raitt said Thursday. This is one of many measures the Conservative government has introduced since the July […] Read more
Transport Canada seeks CN safety plan after derailments
Toronto | Reuters — Regulator Transport Canada has issued a notice to Canadian National Railway (CN) requesting a plan to ensure safety along its main line’s Ruel subdivision, where three trains derailed in fewer than 30 days in February and March, the railway said Wednesday. The notice, given on March 12 but not previously reported, was […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
