(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.

July 17, 2020: Report Synopsis

Loads on Wheels

· System traffic volumes declined yesterday reflecting lower volumes on both CN and CP.

· Shipper orders remain strong through week 51 with more than 9,500 orders currently on the books for next week.  This may be mitigated somewhat by ongoing hopper car rationing by CN for the third consecutive week.·

Loads Not Moving

· The count of idle cars declined yesterday reflecting continued improvement on CN and lower counts on CP.

· CN’s improvement was marginal improving in the Thunder Bay corridor while increasing in the Prince Rupert corridor.

· CP saw counts decline in the Vancouver corridor reversing the increase seen the prior day.

Port Performance

· West coast port unloads (1,403) saw the highest single day total in two weeks fuelled by very strong unloads reported at the Port of Vancouver.

· West coast vessel counts continue to hover around 30-35 vessels per day, a consistent range over the last few months.

· Vessel counts declined overnight reflecting lower counts at Vancouver (-2) and no change at Prince Rupert – now at 34.

· One vessel is now scheduled to arrive at Prince Rupert and 7 vessels currently scheduled for arrival at Vancouver over the next ten days.

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.