Report: Strike halts nondomestic intermodal traffic at BC ports

Nondomestic intermodal traffic into and out of the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert has stopped since the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada strike began July 1, according to a report from real-time network visibility platform RailState.

The strike is having a "dramatic" effect on intermodal cargo volumes, RailState officials said in a press release.

Container volumes moving east from the Port of Vancouver plummeted to just 17 on July 10, down from 1,788 containers on July 1. Westbound containers fell to 63 on July 10, down from 1,537 on July 1.

In June, the average daily imported container count moving eastbound at Vancouver was 1,182; the average for westbound containers was 1,181.

“Likely in anticipation of the strike, containers were loaded on trains before July 1 and the trains moved out of the port on the day the strike began, explaining the higher volumes of trains and container movement on July 1,” RailState officials said.

Railroads stopped taking orders for most exports from western ports, causing westbound intermodal traffic to mostly come to a halt, they added.

At Prince Rupert, eastbound container traffic has stopped entirely since July 2, and westbound traffic since July 5. On July 1, the port recorded 557 eastbound containers and 563 westbound containers. Additionally, the Port of Prince Rupert recorded zero westbound containers on June 29 and July 2.

Last month, average daily imported containers at Prince Rupert totaled 543 eastbound and 496 westbound.

It could take up to five days for supply chains to recover for every day dockworkers are on strike, according to the Railway Association of Canada.

“The delays and backlogs it’s causing will take weeks — even months — to clear up fully,” RAC tweeted July 11.