The Alberta government is calling for the establishment of performance measures and benchmarks for the entire grain supply chain.
The publicly reported system would help identify service shortfalls and bottlenecks in a timely manner, so issues can be resolved more quickly, said an Alberta government news release March 17.
The performance measures are in addition to previous recommendations by the province on changes to the way grain is moved.
While grain handling is not a provincial jurisdiction, they recommended the federal government make changes that would identify service obligations for all parties, have substantial penalties for grain companies for poor service, increase track access so grain shippers can receive competitive service from more than one rail company and increase enforcement powers to address inadequate service.
The recommendations follow Ottawa’s March 7 announcement that required both major railways to increase delivery service to address the backlog of grain waiting to be exported to market.
