(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 15, 2020: Report Synopsis

Loads on Wheels

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

· As noted yesterday, based on confirmed shipper orders for week 50 (this week), it is expected that traffic volumes will remain strong with more than 9,000 confirmed orders for ATC shippers.

· Perhaps mitigating this somewhat however, are reports that CN is rationing hopper car orders for ATC shippers in week 50.

Loads Not Moving

· Following two consecutive days of increasing counts which saw system counts rise to more than 3,400 cars, counts declined yesterday for both railways (-1,100 cars) with CN accounting for 75% of the decline.

· CN saw counts improve in all corridors, most prominently Prince Rupert where counts fell below 500 cars yesterday after rising to 845 the prior day.

· CP saw counts decline most significantly in the Thunder Bay corridor (-350 cars) offset to some extent by higher counts in the Vancouver corridor.

Port Performance

· West coast port unloads (1,020) remain above the 1,000 car threshold reflecting good unloads at Vancouver and below average unloads at Prince Rupert.

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

· Vessel counts increased overnight reflecting higher counts at both Vancouver (+2) and Prince Rupert (+1) – now at 37.

· One vessel is now scheduled to arrive at Prince Rupert and 10 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.