24 THE CAAR COMMUNICATOR municator, page 5, for more on how other ports work with grain in the rain.] “The Government of Canada must show leadership to resolve this issue by bringing together all stakeholders to find safe and pragmatic solutions. The full potential of Canada’s ability to export grain to the world will be limited until this is resolved.” To download a copy of the CPKC report, go to: https://www.cpkcr.com/content/dam/cpkc/documents/english/winter-reports/CPKC-2023.24-WinterPlan.pdf. Summary We have outlined some of the main issues that CN and CPKC have identified as being problematic in allowing the two railroads to complete their deliveries on time. Like anything with multiple parts, some are a bigger issue than others. Both railroads in the past few years have undergone procedures to increase their train operation employees, from drivers and brakemen to conductors and those watching the line. Both increased the number of locomotives, have looked to green alternative trains, and have purchased many more grain hoppers capable of carrying a larger capacity of ag yield, allowing each train to haul more with less overall weight—fewer grain cars are required—which means greater fuel efficiency. All in all, this simply creates a lessening of their carbon footprint—certainly a reduction for the farmer’s carbon footprint if they care to look at what happens after the grain is cut. One other issue not discussed is that the agricultural sector is not the only customer for either rail operator. Ag has to share the rails with other industries, including but not limited to, oil and gas, construction, forestry, mining, and a plethora of consumer goods such as automobiles. When a strike takes place in Canada and there is an inability to move product at a port, the railroad companies, if directed by the customer, can still deliver product to other non-striking ports in Canada or points in the US close to the border. However, that takes a lot of logistical engineering on the part of the product owners and still relies on the ability of a railroad operator to get the product to its new destination within a newly created timeline. Unfortunately, it still means that cars may not be available when a customer might want them, and even when they arrive, they may not be at the number originally requested. While the train operators believe they have enough locomotives at any given time to satisfy the needs of their time-sensitive customers, it still means they have to do a quick redeployment of resources when factors such as labour strikes or poor weather cause delays to the transportation project. And, aside from the weather, labour strife, and other ancillary issues, both CN and CPKC have improved the way they go about their day-to-day operations. A lot of changes, it could be argued, were due to listening to the legitimate complaints of the Canadian ag industry. WINTER PLANS Extreme heat can cause warped and bent rails that, while traversable, force trains to slow down, causing delays up and down the line. altocumulus/iStock/Getty Images Plus photo
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