Farmers should soon see their grain move more quickly because of an agreement struck between the Canadian Wheat Board and Canadian Pacific Railway, says the wheat board.
Both sides have agreed upon performance measures and both will try to improve the railway’s service, which even CPR admits has been poor this winter.
The railway has moved about 25 percent less wheat board grain this crop year than last. At the same time, Canadian National Railway has been winning praise from the board and other shippers for better performance and co-operation.
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“That’s almost two months difference in total grain movement,” said CWB chief operating officer Ward Weisensel.
“We’re quite pleased that we have now entered into an agreement with CP that puts in place measures and parameters that make us a lot more comfortable that we can get the job done by the end of this crop year.”
Stephen Whitney, CPR vice-president of marketing, said the deal should provide for better co-operation and service.
“CP and the CWB have agreed to work collectively to optimize performance in the grain supply chain, including joint initiatives, such as bulk scheduling and improved order sequencing.”
CPR has said in the past that it was surprised around harvest time by the large size of the 2010-11 crop, which had previously looked smaller to many crop forecasters. It did not have enough people and machinery arranged to handle it, the company said. It brought in extra capacity, but then bad winter weather stopped it from catching up.
The CWB has been an outspoken critic of CPR’s performance this winter, with its views echoed by organizations like the Western Grain Elevator Association and many commodity groups.
Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz mirrored the grain industry’s sentiments at the March 17 release of his government’s response to the Rail Freight Service Review, which proposed new legislation to require commercial agreements between shippers and railways.
CPR also recently completed an agreement with Viterra.
Weisensel said the CWB will continue to support legislation that enforces better performance by the railways.
“Our focus has been on getting operational effectiveness, improving supply chain capacity, but we have also been participating in that rail service review panel because that’s more focused around the longer-term solutions that balance the power between railways and shippers,” said Weisensel.
