CAMROSE, Alta. – Northern Alberta farmers who recently trucked grain directly to the terminal in Prince Rupert say the experiment was a success.
“There’s quite a lot of excitement up here,” said Don Wieben, of Fairview, who organized the convoy of 10 grain trucks hauling wheat to the west coast terminal.
“It’s 48 hours from the time we load wheat at the farm until it could have been on the boat,” said Wieben, referring to a ship that was docked at the port waiting for more wheat. “It shows the Peace country is not out in the boondocks.”
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It wasn’t just farmers who were pleased with the haul. Don Krusel, the president of the Prince Rupert Port Corporation, said the speed of farmers loading to on-ship loading “is probably a record time for grain transportation in this country.”
Fred Pohr, of Bluesky, Alta., said there were a lot of “raised eyebrows” from neighbors surprised at what he and the other farmers did.
“We’re probably classified as renegades, just like those guys that are going against the wheat board,” said Pohr.
Viable alternative
It’s unlikely another convoy of trucks will leave for the coast this spring, but their pilot project showed farmers there is an alternative to the railways, he said.
“We’re always held captive by the unions. We have to have alternatives,” said Pohr.
Before this, the railways would only pay “lip service” to the concerns of northern Alberta farmers, he said. This experiment shows it costs almost the same to ship grain through the local elevator as it does to haul it directly to the coast.
About half the trucks involved managed to get a load to haul back at least part way. If they’re able to get a permanent backhaul, the farmers estimate they could knock at least $5 a tonne off the cost of trucking grain to the coast, said Wieben.
