(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.

August 22, 2021: Report Synopsis

Loads on Wheels

• A traffic surge seen Thursday – Saturday last week saw loads on wheels climb above 5,100 cars and average daily loads on wheels finish out the week averaging 4,300 cars per day.

• We begin Week 4 with a slight decline yesterday although system loads on wheels remain near 5,000 cars – some 33% higher than at the start of last week.

Cars Not Moving

• System idle car counts averaged slightly more than 1,000 cars per day last week – an improvement of roughly 25% from the prior week and have now declined for six straight weeks.

• After falling below 1,000 cars for five of the prior six days system counts jumped by more than 50% yesterday returning above 1.400 cars.

Port Unloads

• West coast unloads declined for the third straight week last week averaging just under 300 cars per day.  All unloads continue to reflect Vancouver only.

• Thunder Bay unloads also declined last week for the third straight week averaging slightly more than 100 unloads per day.

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.