According to a report at the Financial Post, Canadian railways are continuing to feel the heat over their struggle to keep up with the demand for grain shipments.
While grain farmers on the prairies have been airing complaints for months, the railways faced new criticism this week in the U.S. from the National Grain and Feed Association, which lamented the “systemic shedding of resources by Class I carriers,” including CP and CN.
In a letter to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, which regulates railways, the NGFA said grain and grain product companies were increasingly having to rely on truck transportation to get shipments moving.
On Friday, Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe added to the chorus of concern, telling delegates of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities that farmers are struggling to pay their bills as a result.
“Our reputation, Saskatchewan’s reputation and Canada’s reputation, as a reliable supplier of commodities, as a trustworthy business partner is being damaged,” Moe said.
In an interview with the Financial Post, Moe said the federal government should consider an order in council “mandating volume-based deliveries of our rail companies,” if CN and CP do not sufficiently address the problems.
He also said that he supports inter-switching, which would allow one company to come in and haul the grain if another railway is not able to meet the demand.
The troubles in Western Canada came to a head in February.
According to the Ag Transport Coalition, a group of agricultural associations, CN filled only 17% of the hopper car requests for the week ending Feb. 24. That equalled the worst performance since the grain year started.
That week, CP provided 50% of hopper car orders. At the time, Ag Transport Coalition said the five weeks leading up to Feb. 24 were the five worst weeks this year for on-time order fulfilment.
As a result of the complaints, Ottawa asked CN and CP to submit service-improvement plans, which were filed this week.
Read the full report at the Financial Post by clicking here.
