Skip to content

Supply Chain Resiliency Watch – April 30, 2020 APR 30 2020 | Producers | Blog Post

(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 30, 2020: Report Synopsis

Loads on Wheels

· Traffic levels declined overnight for the second consecutive day, led primarily by lower volumes on CN, while CP volumes increased slightly.

· The net system reduction is a direct reflection of lower volumes in the Vancouver corridor for both railways and in the Thunder Bay corridor for CN.

Loads Not Moving

· Loads sitting idle for more than 48 hours jumped rather sharply yesterday, reflecting a near doubling of idle cars for CP, primarily in the Vancouver corridor. CN counts declined slightly.

· Counts have now returned above 2,200 cars.

Port Performance

· West coast port unloads exceeded 1,100 cars for the third straight day and have now been above 1,000 cars for eight consecutive days. This reflects continued strong unloads at Vancouver and improved unloads at Prince Rupert, which saw unloads above 200 cars yesterday for the first time in three days.

· West coast vessel counts increased overnight (+4), reflecting higher counts at Vancouver (+1) and Prince Rupert (+3).

· One vessel is now scheduled to arrive at Prince Rupert and 20 vessels are scheduled for arrival at Vancouver over the next two weeks.

For more information, go to www.agtransportcoalition.com

*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).

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