(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 8, 2020: Report Synopsis

Loads on Wheels

· Traffic levels increased slightly overnight, reflecting a slight uptick in CN volumes and no change on CP.

· CN volumes increased based on higher volumes in the Vancouver corridor, offset to some extent by lower volumes in the Thunder Bay corridor.

Loads Not Moving

· Loads sitting idle for more than 48 hours declined overnight driven by lower counts on CP, although both railways reported improvement in this area.

· CP was the principal driver (-500 cars) all in the Vancouver corridor – reversing the significant spike seen the prior day.

Port Performance

· West coast port unloads remained above 1,000 cars for the 5th straight day and the 15th time in the last 16 days despite unloads declining at both Vancouver and Prince Rupert yesterday.

· West coast vessel counts declined overnight (-2) for the second straight day reflecting lower counts at Vancouver (-2).

· Three vessels are now scheduled to arrive at Prince Rupert and 16 vessels are currently scheduled for arrival at Vancouver over the next ten days.

*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·

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