grain shippers

Canadian grain shippers hopeful about rail service in current crop year

Canadian grain producers generally expect rail service in the 2023-2024 harvest year to meet market needs, but they’re keeping an eye on other factors that could affect rail service in the coming years, such as grain export capacity at the Port of Vancouver.

Grain shippers are also waiting for the supply chain to completely recover from a July labor strike at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert.

“It’s always the same story this time of year when it comes to rail service and rail capacity. We...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/canadian-grain-shippers-hopeful-about-rail-service-in-current-crop-year

Rail service metrics still lacking

Rail service has gotten better since the service meltdowns seen in the first half of 2022, but more needs to be done to get service metrics back to pre-pandemic levels, according to two reports on rail service.

ACC: Most say rail service in H2 2022 didn’t improve from H1

Seventy-eight percent of the members of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) say rail service was the same or worse in the second half of 2022 compared with the first half of that year, according to a report released Thursday.

Fort...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rail-service-metrics-still-lacking

Canadian Pacific touts record grain movements in January

Canadian Pacific established a monthly record in January for how much grain it moved during the month.

CP (NYSE: CP) transported 2.29 million tons of Canadian grain and grain products in January. Since the start of the 2022-23 crop year on Aug. 1, CP has carried more than 15 million metric tons.

January’s total represents more than double what was shipped in January 2022, according to CP. Setting the record is also significant because rain in Vancouver, British Columbia, holiday closures and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/canadian-pacific-touts-record-grain-movements-in-january

Export grain shippers mull options amid limited barge, rail capacity

Grain shippers have been scrambling to consider all their export options in the wake of low water levels on the Mississippi River and its tributaries. 

“Because of the low water conditions on the river, which is a major conduit for soybean and grain exports, there are a lot of farmers and a lot of agricultural shippers who are asking themselves, ‘What is my plan B? What is my plan C?’” Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, told FreightWaves. “And that answer is...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/export-grain-shippers-mull-options-amid-limited-barge-rail-capacity

Grain shippers eye hiccups on rail network

A train hauling hopper cars passes through a desert.

As the U.S. harvest season ramps up, grain producers — and other rail stakeholders, such as the Surface Transportation Board — will be watching to see if rail service can keep up with the increased need to ship grain both domestically and for export.

For now, grain producers overall are expressing some nervousness about rail service, given the service issues that arose earlier this year, particularly in the western U.S. 

The railroads are “certainly trying to do things to remedy [rail service...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/grain-shippers-eye-hiccups-on-rail-network

STB seeks assurances on rails’ ability to handle US harvest season

The Surface Transportation Board is seeking details on how the Class I railroads expect to meet rail demand during the fall harvest season.

In a letter sent to all seven Class I railroads last week, the board asked the railroads to provide information on how the railroads expect to meet market demand for grain and grain products and plan to maintain network flows along key corridors.

The timing of the letter comes as the National Grain Car Council (NGCC), a group organized by STB and consisting...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/stb-seeks-assurances-on-rails-ability-to-handle-us-harvest-season

Union Pacific ordered to improve service to California chicken processors

A Union Pacific locomotive passes through a railroad crossing.

The Surface Transportation Board has ordered Union Pacific to improve its service to chicken farms in California.

Foster Poultry Farms, a chicken grower and processor, told STB last Wednesday that since February, it has had challenges getting the animal feed it needs from the Midwest to the company’s facilities in Traver and Turlock, Calif. 

UP’s service failures “have resulted in numerous instances where Foster Farms has suspended its production and distribution of feed for tens of thousands of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/union-pacific-ordered-to-improve-service-to-california-chicken-processors

‘Industries dependent upon the railroads’ service are forsaken’

The Surface Transportation Board has scheduled a hearing for April 26-27 in response to a letter sent by the National Grain and Feed Association about worsening rail service. 

The March 24 letter has gotten support from various rail unions and other stakeholders in recent days. These stakeholders are also asking the STB to examine the causes behind the service delays. 

Here’s a roundup of what’s been said recently:

Unions criticize headcount reductions, blame service issues on lack of adequate...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/industries-dependent-upon-the-railroads-service-are-forsaken

Grain shippers want regulators to press railroads on service issues

U.S. grain shippers are asking federal regulators to press the Class I railroads to relieve “significant” service disruptions throughout the national rail network.

In a letter to the Surface Transportation Board, the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) said at least one of the group’s members had spent $3 million on secondary freight because the member didn’t have the animal feed it would otherwise receive from a rail shipment. Another member said it had to stop selling feed because there...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/grain-shippers-want-regulators-to-press-railroads-on-service-issues

Southern Illinois inland port project seeks to become logistics hub player

A photograph of a rural highway crossing the Mississippi River.

An inland port in southern Illinois could someday become a logistics hub supporting key Midwestern markets, say officials affiliated with the Alexandria Cairo Port District, who are pushing to develop the port.

Located where the Ohio River meets the Mississippi River, the inland port at Cairo (pronounced KAY-ro) would support downriver traffic as well as existing hubs such as Memphis, Tennessee, about 170 miles south.

“There is enough capacity, enough land [and waterfront] development … where...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/southern-illinois-inland-port-project-seeks-to-become-logistics-hub-player

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