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Supply Chain Resiliency Watch – May 11, 2020 MAY 11 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.

May 11, 2020: Report Synopsis

Loads on Wheels

· Traffic levels declined slightly overnight for the second straight day reflecting slightly lower volumes for both CN and CP.

· Traffic levels finished out last week consistent with the trend seen throughout the week – marginally higher than the prior week.

· Consistency in system volumes are being driven by the Vancouver corridor which finished last week 6% higher than the prior week and nearly 7,200 cars on a daily basis, the highest level seen in six weeks.

Loads Not Moving

Loads sitting idle for more than 48 hours finished out last week with their best performance since mid October with average daily counts of less than 1,800 cars on a system basis.

Counts rose overnight for both railways although driven principally by a 400+ car jump for CN – reflecting principally increases in the Prince Rupert and Vancouver corridors.


Port Performance

· West coast port unloads (957) fell below 1,000 cars for the first time in 8 days and for only the second time in the last three weeks.

· West coast vessel counts continue to hover around 30-33 vessels per day a consistent trend in recent weeks.

· Five vessels are now scheduled to arrive at Prince Rupert and 22 vessels currently 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·