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Canadian Pacific not betting big on big oil
The only thing the CP is betting big on is closing facility after facility and downsizing
Hunter Harrison is shortsighted. The business will be there if the railroads pursue it smartly and don’t focus so much on defensive strategies.
Robert, D&H is on the hit list. I believe CP is already using trackage rights instead of D&H to make oil moves east.
Burlington Northern almost didn’t build into the Powder River Basin either!
cp needs to compete for the oil, or the bnsf will take it all, not just the 90 percent thay already have.
Typical EHH
VERY SMART MEN !! CANADIAN PACIFIC IS VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE HUNTER HARRISON AND THE OTHER EXECS. ON BOARD ! LONG LIVE THE CP AND THE D&H RAILROADS !!!
Sounds like he is more worried about making Bill short term money than what is good for the railroad long term. CP is still sinking.
I’m not a big fan of Harrison, but in all honestly I think he may be right in this judgment. The majority of the oil traffic would run on the line from Moose Jaw-Minneapolis, Edmonton-Calgary, and the north main line (Edmonton-Saskatoon-Winnipeg), which are all currently being upgraded anyway. Therefore, the aforementioned upgrades which are already in progress for other purposes will also be able to sufficiently accommodate the oil traffic, in my opinion.
Let’s hope some more derailments don’t have to occur to readjust this thinking. Another viewpoint would be that the oil traffic has the potential in the near term to fund the capital improvements needed for long term growth of all types of rail traffic in that region. JBD
CP cuts the NW corner of the Bakken with what was the Soo main, a single-track, dark railroad. They do not get close to the Oil Sands north of Edmonton and on the 1Q call said they’d access oil sands output via pipeline. As for the D&H, Harrison said early on they’d use “routing protocols” east of Chi via NS, CSX to turn cars faster. HH is right: take what you can while you can but don’t spend a ton of money on it.
If I had any questions about Harrison, these quotes cleared up any of them. He’s an idiot. He contradicts himself, and refuses to take full advantage in a once-in-a-lfetime opportunity to really grab some traffic. Oh, sure, oil traffic will double in one year, but it would be irresponsible to invest in that sort of growth opportunity. Heck, it could go away in five or six years! CP has a long way to come back, and HH isn’t going to be making that happen.