(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.

June 6, 2021: Report Synopsis

Loads on Wheels

• After lagging the prior week by about 8% for much of last week, system loads on wheels saw a slight surge in traffic levels late last week finishing the week slightly lower than the prior week.

• Average climbing to nearly 8,400 cars on line Saturday reflecting increases for both railways, loads on wheels fell slightly yesterday to 8,200 cars on line

Cars Not Moving

• Daily system counts of idle cars held steady for the second consecutive week averaging slightly more than 1,300 cars per day last week.

• Commensurate with the increase in traffic levels seen at the end of last week idle car counts also jumped notably from less than 1,000 on Friday to more than 2,200 yesterday.

Port Unloads

• West coast unloads at less than 700 cars per day improved marginally last week reflecting similar improvements for both Vancouver and Prince Rupert.

• After a strong start to the week last week, Thunder Bay unloads tailed off on the weekend reporting less than 100 cars per day on each of Saturday and Sunday.

For more information, go to www.agtransportcoalition.com* 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). All daily network status reports are available on the Pulse Canada website.