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Daily Grain Network Status Report – September 17, 2020 SEP 18 2020 | Producers | Blog Post

(Regular 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 new grain network status report has been created to provide stakeholders with comprehensive insight on the performance of the Canadian rail system for the 2020-2021 grain year.  The report provides information and data on the status of the rail network as of midnight the previous day.

The railway performance data reported in these reports reflect the performance of rail shipments specifically for grain shippers participating in the Ag Transport Coalition’s railway performance measurement program – estimated to encompass approximately 90-95% of western Canadian originated grain shipments by rail.

September 17, 2020: Report Synopsis

Loads on Wheels

· Loads on wheels declined slightly yesterday but remained above the 12,000 car mark for the second straight day.  The decline yesterday reflects lower volumes on CN and a slight uptick on CP.  Five days into the current week, average daily volumes are tracking 7% higher than they were at this point last week, reflecting continued higher volumes on CN and lower volumes on CP.

Cars Not Moving

· The count of loaded cars not moving for 2+ days declined on a system basis yesterday, reflecting a significant decline on CN – reversing the increase seen in the prior day – and slightly higher counts on CP.  The decline on CN reflects lower counts in the Vancouver corridor with minor changes in other corridors.  This is consistent with the resumption of operations in this corridor following the service disruption on CN’s mainline at Hope BC, which occurred on Monday.

Port Unloads

· West coast unloads (638) remained below 1,000 cars for the third straight day, which also likely reflects in part delays to cars arriving in Vancouver due to the service disruption.  Thunder Bay reported more than 400 unloads for the 5th time in the last 10 days.

All daily network status 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