Louis Dreyfus has filed a level of service complaint against Canadian National Railway.
The complaint, filed April 16 to the Canadian Transportation Agency, implies poor rail service by CN and failure to meet the terms of a service contract negotiated by the railway company and Louis Dreyfus.
“I can confirm that … Louis Dreyfus Commodities (LDC) filed a level of service complaint under the Canada Transportation Act … with respect to a confidential contract they have with CN,” said CTA spokesperson Chantal Laflamme.
“I can also tell you that LDC has requested that the (CTA) … issue an interim order requiring CN to abide by contractual terms during the proceedings,” she said.
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“As it is a confidential contract, I am unable to speak to the specifics of the agreement.”
Laflamme said a decision on such a complaint is normally rendered within 120 days, after both parties have had an opportunity to submit written arguments.
If the CTA rules that CN is failing to meet its contractual obligations to the grain company, it could order CN to take steps ensuring that the terms of the contract are being upheld.
The CTA is a quasi-judicial tribunal that acts like a court but it does not make rulings on financial damages or award compensation to aggrieved shippers.
Efforts by a complainant to recover financial damages caused by poor rail service would normally take place in civil court.
If it is passed, the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act, also known as Bill C-30, would expand the CTA’s authority, potentially giving it the power to assess and award financial damages and include financial penalties in arbitrated level of service agreements.
Despite frequent complaints about poor rail service in Western Canada, it is uncommon for grain companies to file formal level of service complaints against a railway company.
In 2008, the CTA ruled that CN was failing to meet its service obligations to CWB and five other shippers during the 2006-07 crop year.
In 2010, it dismissed a complaint from a Saskatchewan grain producer alleging that the planned delisting of grain loading sites in Western Canada constituted a breach of CN’s obligations under the Canada Transportation Act.
Officials from Louis Dreyfus declined to comment on the April 16 complaint.
Louis Dreyfus operates a canola crushing plant at Yorkton, Sask., and 10 elevators in Western Canada.
