Is CN Rail Just a F--k up!

[SASKFARMER3]

We have a terminal that sits on a CN line it has been plugged to the rafters since Nov. CN has been so poor with Cars and spotting them the terminal cant even clean because its that full. They dropped off cars finally to be loaded Christmas day. HA HA HA. Then threatened to fine (20,000) the terminal for not getting it loaded. Yet just to south and west on CP no problems guys are hauling all is well. Starting to bug me. Hauling to south cant wait for CN to get their act together.

[Koldkanuck]

CN is and always will be a F--k up. No different in other parts of Sask. as far as I know.

[SASKFARMER3]

Thanks I thought we were the only ones that were getting a raw deal from them. Or maybe its the terminal that's screwing up but looks like its our Number 2 railway.

[ado089]

Same BS in Battleford.

[fjlip]

Same in Wadena. Siding full of loaded cars. Even blocked Viterra access road for a few days.

[Burbert]

Competition will likely clear up the back log. CN Rail will then suffer, cause customers will go elsewhere. OHHHHHH, I forgot, there is nowhere else to go. Our railway friends have a monopoly, or almost. CP will fill the gap, or do they have a gentleman's agreement, not to cut each others throat. Hence crappy service is the benchmark, which has been set, time and time again. Maybe they want their annual freight rate increase. Isn't that the way big business works????

[Fransisco]

Wheat board's doing a bang up job of keeping CN in line. Good thing we've got them watching our backs for us.

[dave4441]

I will throw this out. Revenue cap should likely be removed from the system. Could you imagine if someone told you your farm could only make so much money and at the end of the year you had to give back the last X number of dollars (last dollars are of course pure profit) because you performed better then the year before. I do not like the railways any more then anyone else, but what incentive is there to increase performance if they have to give the profits back??? If rates are controlled on a per MT basis, what sense does it make to cap the number of cars they haul.

[furrowtickler]

A forked tounge there burbot, your statement flies in the face of your blind cwb monopoly support.

[fjlip]

September 25, 2008
Winnipeg – A ruling today by the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) is a step forward in the long struggle to ensure adequate rail service for Prairie grain, according to six western Canadian grain shippers.

The shippers, who launched a major level-of-service complaint against CN Rail in September 2007, welcomed today’s decision to establish performance benchmarks to measure CN rail service for grain.
The CTA found CN Rail to be in breach of its legal obligations to provide adequate rail service for grain in 2007-08 to four of the six grain shippers. However, the CWB – the single largest grain shipper – is disappointed that the Agency has discounted data for eight shipping weeks in which CN’s performance was the most damaging to the CWB’s sales program and farmers’ bottom line.

GNP Transportation & Logistics manager Perry Pellerin, who represents five Prairie inland grain terminals, said he was pleased that the CTA found CN in breach of its service obligations to North East Terminal, North West Terminal, Paterson Grain and Parrish & Heimbecker.

He said CN’s continuous unilateral changes to grain transportation programs risk squeezing smaller and single-point grain shippers out of business. Several of these terminals are owned or partly owned by farmers themselves. Ongoing service shortfalls have left shippers and farmers at a disadvantage in a system designed to serve the needs of the railway alone, he added.
n March 2007, Great Northern Grain (GNG) of Nampa, Alberta filed a complaint against CN that was backed by 10 other Prairie shippers. GNG won its case, but CN refused to comply with the system-wide implications of that CTA ruling, leading to the new complaint that was decided today. In January, the CTA issued a partial ruling in the case, deeming CN to have breached its legal obligations to all six complainants for grain transportation in 2006-07. The Agency reserved decision on 2007-08, pending further information.
“Without adequate competition in Canada’s rail system, there must be some way to ensure accessible service for all shippers – not just a select few,” Bruch said. “The laws governing grain shipping were created in recognition of this imbalance. It’s a shame that we are forced to continually battle to have CN comply with those laws.”

Weisensel said the onus is now on CN as to how it responds to the spirit and letter of today’s CTA decision.

“The concept of performance measures is good and the Agency has encouraged further dialogue to ensure that those measures are adequate and reasonable,” he said. “We are very keen to participate in such a dialogue as soon as possible.”

The grain shippers involved in this case are: the CWB, North East Terminal, Parrish & Heimbecker, Paterson Grain, Providence Grain Group and North West Terminal. The case is actively supported by Great Northern Grain Terminals, Great Sandhills Terminal, Prairie West Terminal, South West Terminal and Weyburn Inland Terminal.


As it is stated, we have NO competition, that is the reason some sort of rules are needed, maybe new or better ones. Only lawyers get rich every time some one is sued. This is very childish and dumb. Compromise is needed, like in all agreements.

[haveapulse]

Hmmm, I am not a defender of railways,
but the service ratio (cars ordered to cars received) has improved as a direct result of the CTA cases. While it is far from perfect if a terminal is continually plugged you have to ask if the railway has become a convenient excuse for a plug full terminals generating a huge pile of storeage revenue. I note that on CWB grain (are the terminals full of canola, peas or CWB grain, check the grain boards in the terminal to see). With
storeage paid by the CWB (aka you & me) as a cost to farmers bottom line it actually pays to plug a terminal.
While elevators will poo poo this, an owner told me once they made good money storing our grain, thank you CWB (aka you and I ) very much. So check the grain board, 10 to 1 it is free CWB inventory plugging the bins (wanna bet its not company paid canola or peas sitting for months on end plugging the system. Next time you go into a plugged terminal, if the CWB eliminated storage would the terminal be plugged?

So maybe it is the CWB system that is plugging the terminal, not the poor rail service.

I could be wrong but...

[SASKFARMER3]

Peas, Canola and Oats. CWB grains two silos one HRS and One Durum.
DAH its CN CN CN.

[ado089]

They dropped 100 cars at cargil in NB on christmas eve at 6 pm and wanted them loaded in 24hrs. They're playing games and/or some unionized clowns where making a pile of 2.5X overtime. No doubt grain companies play games with storage or if you're anywhere in alberta south of calgary they could be full of US corn, but the rail service is horrible.

[haveapulse]

CN generates huge income from demurrage.
Inconvenient car spots as mentioned by ado90 plus more weekend car spots than mid week enable revenue generation.

he whole concept of demurrage imposed after 24 hours is a ridiculous time period given the fact that elevators have do not receive predictable timing of car delivery.

This tarriff needs to be challenged by the industry.

Demurrage would not be so bad if the railroads were using equipment to the maximum and could argue that tieing up equipment creates equipment shortages, but given the empty cars on sidings siting idle it is hard to imagine that not loading a car is 24 hours is a necessary penalty that ties up equipment availability. In addition the time period of 24 hours is ridiculous even if the railroad had timely arrival of equipment.

I am pleased Saskfarmer3 believes CWB grain in storage has nothing to do with terminals being full, however many stories do exist where the CWB calls in the wrong grain and it sits for months waiting for dispatch. Resulting in farmers paying storeage and elevators have their terminal tied up!