Canadian Pacific has broken all-time records for the shipment of grain, moving 2.64 million metric tonnes (MMT) of Canadian grain and grain products in October. This makes October 2018 CP’s biggest month ever for moving Canadian grain, breaking the record from September 2017. During the month of October CP also set a new record for biofuels shipped.
“This accomplishment is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our operating team and the power of our operating model,” said Joan Hardy, CP’s Vice-President Sales and Marketing – Grain and Fertilizer. “This requires laser-sharp focus on the supply chain details, and close collaboration with customers, elevators and ports. Together, through hard work and open communication, the system has been operating with maximum velocity and fluidity.”
Through 14 weeks of the 2018-19 crop year, CP shipped more than 7.5 MMT of grain and grain products, and since harvest began in September has averaged more than 5,500 empty railcars to country elevators each week. The supply chain has been able to overcome challenging conditions across the prairies, including an early blast of winter weather in October which caused significant harvest delays and resulted in some grain pipeline congestion. CP reiterates the need for 24/7 operations throughout the entire supply chain to prevent further congestion.
“Viterra has received steady and reliable service from CP this fall, resulting in a more fluid and efficient supply chain,” said Kyle Jeworski, President and CEO of Viterra North America. “This is what we expect from an important service provider like CP and by working closely together, we can continue driving excellence in our supply chain and ensure that we are well positioned to meet current and future industry demands.”
CP continues to meet its Dedicated Train Program (DTP) commitments, and is getting positive feedback from its customers. Under the DTP, customers are incentivized to load and unload more quickly, driving increased overall grain movements and benefitting the economy. Customers are investing in the future by upgrading elevator infrastructure with 8,500-foot train capable loop track which results in efficiency gains for both grain shippers and CP. To increase efficiency even more, CP is investing in new high efficiency hopper cars with 500 being delivered by the end of this year. These new cars carry more grain per car, allow for faster loading and unloading, and need less maintenance.
In preparation for winter, CP is actively deploying resources and assets and is in the final stages of adding employees and locomotives to meet the needs of our customers across North America. This includes additional remanufactured locomotives and hundreds of new operations employees making their way through our training process. Read CP’s  White Paper: Railroading in the Canadian Winter  for more information on everything we do for safe winter operations. CP’s Customer Safety Handbook  gives clear direction on safe rail operations to ensure CP employees can safely access customer sites in winter.
