(Daily updates will be available on the Alberta Pulse Growers website.)

Pulse Canada and the CSCA are partners of the Ag Transport Coalition (ATC)*, which tracks performance of the Canadian railway network for the movement of grain.

A daily report has been created to provide stakeholders with insight on the performance of the Canadian rail system as it attempts to remain resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues recovering from a series of physical network disruptions in the months of January and February 2020.

April 14, 2020: Report Synopsis

Loads on Wheels

· Traffic levels were effectively unchanged overnight, remaining above 12,800 cars for the second consecutive day — the highest level since early February and the tenth consecutive day with the system volumes above the 12,000-car threshold.

·  It is important to note that while system volumes are rising, 18% (2,300 cars) of traffic is currently in the Thunder Bay corridor as the port re-opens. While good for the system overall, it does not contribute to resolving the Vancouver vessel backlog, which is at risk of growing in coming weeks based on relatively high volumes of vessels scheduled for arrival at both Prince Rupert and Vancouver.

Loads Not Moving

· Loads sitting idle for more than 48 hours have risen significantly again overnight and now are above 4,200 cars for CN and CP combined – the highest level seen since mid-February when rail blockades were still in place and cars were backlogged in multiple corridors.

· Counts have increased for both railways during the last four days, with CN counts more than doubling and CP counts tripling during this time period.

Port Performance

· West coast port unloads rebounded to more than 800 yesterday, reflecting higher unloads at both Prince Rupert and Vancouver following a significant drop off in Sunday unloads, likely due to in large part to the Easter Sunday holiday.

· Vessel line ups ticked down sightly overnight, reflecting improvement at Vancouver (-2), offset by an increase at Prince Rupert (+1), and are now at 32.

· Five vessels are now scheduled to arrive at Prince Rupert and 23 vessels are scheduled for arrival at Vancouver over the next two weeks.

All daily resiliency reports are available on the Pulse Canada website.

*The Ag Transportation Coalition is comprised of the Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA), Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC), Pulse Canada, Manitoba Pulse Growers Association (MPGA), Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA), Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission, Inland Terminal Association of Canada (ITAC) and the Canadian Special Crops Association (CSCA).

For more information, go to www.agtransportcoalition.com