CN, CPKC report plans for Canada's 2024-25 grain season

CN and Canadian Pacific Kansas City yesterday published their plans for transporting Canada's grain crop in the 2024-2025 season.

“We are confident that we have the right approach and resources in place to move this year’s Canadian grain crop efficiently," said CN President and CEO Tracy Robinson in a press release.

CN's plan highlights new actions and initiatives that include:
• the delivery of 750 new high-efficiency grain hopper cars this crop year;
• a continued focus on scheduled railroading, which has produced demonstrated improvement since implementation in 2022-23;
• deployment of new firefighting equipment to help protect the supply chain; and
• the use of new technologies to improve safety, such as testing new mobile fire detection equipment and the continued use of CN’s autonomous track inspection program.

A major priority for CN this year is ongoing employee engagement, recruiting and training as the company continues to manage a challenging labor market and the impact of the federal regulatory environment that has created difficulties in maintaining crew availability, CN officials said.

CN's report can be read here.

Based on current forecasts, CPKC officials are expecting a return to more typical demand for grain transportation this crop year, company officials said in a press release.

“CPKC is dedicated to, and excels at, safely transporting Canadian agricultural products for export to global markets,” said CPKC President and CEO Keith Creel. “Safely moving Canada’s grain has been part of our DNA since 1881, and it remains a key part of our franchise today.”

Highlights of CPKC's report include:
• On June 20, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) estimated the total size of the upcoming crop to be 94.372 million metric tonnes (MMT), with a crop in Western Canada of 71 MMT. CPKC grain customers currently estimate Western Canadian crop yields at a higher level than AAFC, with most customer estimates now in the high 70 MMT range;
• CPKC is working with grain customers to understand their demand forecasts for the upcoming crop year in order to effectively plan capacity on the railway across all lines of business; and
• CPKC expects to supply the capacity required to transport nearly 34 MMT of Canadian grain and grain products throughout the crop year, subject to market demand.

CPKC's report can be read here.

Both Class Is mention labor instability as having a potential impact on the grain season. A potential work stoppage on the rail network involving the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) threatens the performance of Canada’s grain supply chain this upcoming crop year.

TCRC represents about 6,000 conductors, conductor trainees, yard coordinators and locomotive engineers across CN’s network in Canada. The union has authorized strikes at both, but the issue is currently before the Canadian Industrial Relations Board to determine if a TCRC strike at CN and CPKC would cause harm to public health or safety.