Where does freight rail service stand following the Canadian government’s Aug. 24 order for binding arbitration that has allowed its resumption at CN and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC)? On Aug. 25, total train movements across both railroads were less than half (48.5%) of the average daily volume before the work stoppage began Aug. 22, when the two Class I’s formally locked out Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC)-represented employees and finalized network shutdowns, according to real-time network visibility provider RailState, which independently tracks all freight rail movements across Canada.
CN and CPKC have been in separate negotiations at intervals with the TCRC in Canada to renew contracts that expired Dec. 31, 2023. Even with assistance of federal conciliators, the parties have not been able to agree on wages and work/rest provisions. TCRC represents approximately 10,000 engineers and conductors combined at the railroads.
When the parties’ cooling off period expired just after midnight on Aug. 22 with no agreements or binding arbitration in place, the lockout began. But it was short-lived. CN at 6 p.m. ET initiated its recovery plan, and CPKC at 6:22 p.m. ET announced that preparations were under way to restart service in Canada. Why? Minister of Labor Steven MacKinnon at 5 p.m. ET on Aug. 22 invoked Article 107 of Canada’s federal labor code and ordered the Canada Industrial Relations Board “to assist the parties in settling the outstanding terms of their collective agreements, including by imposing final binding arbitration.” Additionally, he directed the Board “to extend the term of the current collective agreements until new agreements have been signed and for operations on both railways to resume forthwith.” The Board did so on Aug. 25.
“CN started running trains on Aug. 23 and significantly increased train volumes over the [Aug. 24-25] weekend,” according to an Aug. 26 RailState report. “On Sunday [Aug. 25], CN’s system-wide train movements were 74.8% of their volume before the work stoppage. CPKC’s traffic on Sunday was 12.1% of its average volume.”
Major Port Activity
The Port of Vancouver typically sees 20 trains per day, according to RailState, but on Aug. 25, it only saw seven: two intermodal, two manifest, one rank car unit (petroleum), and two other trains. There were no coal, grain or potash trains.
RailState reported that the Port of Prince Rupert saw no freight volume Aug. 22-24 (there was one passenger train Aug. 24), and volume returned on Aug. 25, with mostly intermodal trains coming to the port to pick up containers. The Port’s Aug. 25 volume included one coal, four intermodal and one manifest train; there were no grain, tank car unit (petroleum) or other trains, according to RailState.
Industry Activity: Intermodal
“New container volume from the Port of Vancouver stopped on the first day of the work stoppage [Aug. 22] and some activity returned on Friday [Aug. 23] on CN,” RailState reported. “On Sunday [Aug. 24], CN moved container volume in-line with their recent daily averages. CPKC has not moved container volume out of the Port of Vancouver from Aug 22-25.”
Automotive
“Automakers in Canada are particularly reliant on rail to move vehicles to the United States, mostly to the Midwest,” RailState noted. “The flow of autoracks southbound across the border stopped on Aug. 22 and no real volume returned until Saturday [Aug. 24] on CN. Cross-border autorack movements on CPKC have not restarted through Aug. 25.”
