Daily Grain Network Status – April 9, 2023 APR 10 2023 | 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.
April 9, 2023: Report Synopsis
Loads on Wheels
A steady decline in volumes throughout all of last week pushed average daily loads on wheels down considerably from the start to the end of week finishing at nearly exactly the same level as the prior week – 9,300 cars per day.
The decline seen last week is wholly attributable to CP – CN volumes increased week over week.
Cars Not Moving
Some positive movement in system idle car counts last week averaging a little under 1,400 cars per day – about 17% lower than the prior week.
The week over week improvement driven by lower counts for CN while CP counts remained fairly steady at nearly 1,000 cars per day – 3x the levels on CN.
Port Unloads
West coast unloads returning above the 1,000 car per day mark last week – about 11% higher than the prior week reflecting higher unloads at Vancouver.
Thunder Bay unloads increasing for the 6th consecutive week averaging more than 300 cars per day last week.