(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.

June 22, 2020: Report Synopsis

Loads on Wheels

· Traffic levels declined overnight reflecting reduced volumes for both railways but primarily CN.

· With average daily traffic levels of nearly 12,000 cars last week, the system as a whole saw the highest traffic levels in six weeks.

Loads Not Moving

· Loads sitting idle for more than 48 hours increased overnight reflecting a near doubling of counts on CN and a more moderate increase on CP.

· After having started last week with very high counts, both railways had improved through the week with absolute counts falling below 2,000 cars on Saturday for the first time in two weeks.

· Average daily counts last week fell for the first time in six weeks.

Port Performance

· West coast port unloads (1,264) saw their best one day performance in more than a month propelled by very strong unloads at Vancouver compensating for yet another sub-par performance at Prince Rupert.

· West coast vessel counts continue to hover around 30-35 vessels per day, a consistent trend in recent weeks although at an average of 38 per day last week, rose to their highest levels since late March.

· Vessel counts declined overnight – on the heels of rising to 45 on Saturday – reflecting improvement at both Vancouver (-4) and Prince Rupert (-1) – now at 40.

· One vessel is now scheduled to arrive at Prince Rupert and 18 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.