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Harrison calls for face-to-face discussions to address Canadian grain supply chain issues
I note that the Viterra grain terminal at the Port of Vancouver is sitting without a vessel at it’s loading dock for the past 24 hours. It that the type of ‘fluid outlet’ that Harrison is referring to?
It’s a fluid outlet to the railroad if they have elevator space to unload trains.
Last I heard there were 30 ships at the west coast waiting for grain.
Mr. Harrison should stop complaining and recognize the fact that railways in western Canada have always a primary social mission: move the grain. That’s why generations of Canadians supported massive government involvement in the financing of the railways. Now that he and his competitors are reaping the benefits, they should also be honouring their part of the bargain. So shut up and move the grain.
It doesn’t happen often but I have to agree with Mr. Harrison for once.
The railroads, CP and CN, have become footballs of the politicians and shippers, and focused on by the media to the exclusion of all other players in the grain shipping business. The railroads are only one part of a large logistics network. There’s little point in filling cars with grain if they can’t be emptied at destination and returned for another load.
The media has failed to provide hard information on such things as available capacity of grain terminals at our major ports, the unloading time of grain cars when they reach the terminals and the wait times for ships to load. If the railroads are ‘feeding’ the terminals at the rate they can deal with the grain, then the railroads are doing their job.
Hearing ‘there are x number of ships waiting’ doesn’t tell us that the railways aren’t doing the job, unless the terminal elevator has been completely emptied. I haven’t heard any such reports.
The antagonism between grain shippers and the railways in Canada goes back a long way. The railways suffered with the Crow’s Nest rates for many years and even today the amount of money they earn from grain is capped. If they exceed the cap they are fined in addition to losing the revenue above the cap. (I haven’t heard how the cap is being applied in the present situation.)
Mr. Harrison is right, railways and shippers sitting down face to face and working together based on factual information will move more grain than the current political and media circus is likely to do.
What have the shippers got to lose?
Mr. Taylor is spot on. Unless grain grows literally overnight, the farmers have had several months to plan for this dramatically increased crop. In no other industry are suppliers (railways) expected to make massive investments to haul a cargo that barely pays its way. As to prior government investment, true government and farmers were amply repaid for this investment. Note that land, both government and privately owned was worth very little until CP built thru the Rockies. The comment about the railways being social is farcical. Where is the money to come from??
There is a severe chip shortage and I don’t see anyone demanding that Intel build another chip foundry. Why just CP and CN. Canadian politicians and grain shippers should grow up.
Robert Shannon, I don’t understand your comment that, “… the farmers have had several months to plan for this dramatically increased crop.” Every farmer wants a bumper crop, but no one PLANS on one. Bumper crops are the result of ideal conditions for an entire growing season and cannot be planned for.
Agreed. Also, what did the WGEA do to prepare for the bumper crop. Like CN and CP, their capacity is built on average crop seasons not one like 2013. They are trying to transfer the pressure to the railroads.