Canadian Pacific preps 'dedicated trains' for western Canada's grain shippers

Canadian Pacific anticipates adding more trains to its Dedicated Train Program (DTP) serving western Canadian grain shippers for the 2015-16 crop year, the Class I announced yesterday.

CP is gearing up to offer "best-in-class service" to respond to greater demand to move grain and grain products from western Canada. Introduced last crop year, the DTP is designed to provide customers greater control of car supply to manage their supply chain, according to a CP press release.

In 2014-15 crop year, the railroad moved a record 276,154 carloads of Canadian grain and grain products from western Canada origins, up from the previous record crop year of 2013-14.

About 70 percent of CP’s grain operation is served by DTP, said John Brooks, CP’s vice president, sales and marketing, bulk.

"The DTP is based on the fact that the unit train shippers know their business the best, allowing them to determine origin, destination and to manage the velocity of their supply chain," Brooks said.

Customers who don't qualify for the DTP, or choose not to sign up for the program, can order cars in CP’s Open Distribution program. Open Distribution allows shippers to input orders for four weeks, and as orders are filled, new orders can be placed.