Daily Grain Network Status – December 20, 2022 DEC 22 2022 | 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.
December 20, 2022: Report Synopsis
Loads on Wheels
System loads on wheels increased yesterday returning above the 10,000 car threshold with CN leading the increase while CP volumes were largely unchanged.
Readers are reminded that loads on wheels are not a pure reflection of demand but rather the sum of all cars on line which reflect a combination of demand and system throughput which by all accounts is slowing quickly due to weather issues in W. Canada which can be seen in both growing idle car counts and declining port unloads.
Cars Not Moving
System idle car counts increased 40% yesterday and are now above the 2,600 car threshold.
Both railways seeing higher counts yesterday in nearly equal measure with CP counts now more than double those of CN.
Port Unloads
West coast unloads (730) down dramatically from the prior day with reduced unloads at Vancouver and no unloads reported at Prince Rupert as anticipated.
Thunder Bay unloads (127) down more than 50% from the prior day registering their lowest one day total since late October.
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.