FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WINNIPEG (January 26, 2015) –Today Pulse Canada and its partners in the Ag Transport Coalition released the first of a series of weekly performance measurement reports aimed at increasing transparency related to rail freight capacity and service. Expectations are high that government, railways and the ag industry will use the reports as a basis for constructive discussions regarding solutions in the short, medium and long-term.
“The first report confirms what ag stakeholder have insisted for some time; rail capacity simply isn’t set at a level that meets demand,” says Nick Sekulic, Chair of Pulse Canada. The report also supports concerns that timeliness of supply continues to be an issue. “With railways supplying 25% of orders placed for Grain Week 21, it’s clear that getting the right product in the right place at the right time will continue be a challenge for Canadian shippers and their customers” says Sekulic.
Each week, the reports will reveal performance across a range of key indicators including rail car demand, railway car supply, timeliness of railway car supply, corridor performance, railway dwell times at origin and railway dwell times at destination.
“Customers have high expectations,” says Gordon Bacon, CEO of Pulse Canada. “If Canadian exporters are going to be seen as reliable suppliers we’ll need to see a rapid improvement week over week across the range of indicators being measured.We can expect that customers reading these reports will ask what is being done today to improve Canada’s logistical performance each week” says Bacon.
The performance measurement initiative is part of a five-year transportation strategy and action plan made possible by matching investments from the ag industry and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the Growing Forward 2 program. QGI Consulting, the firm responsible for the quantitative analysis completed during the Rail Freight Service Review, is now gathering performance data for the Ag Transport Coalition which will cover more than 90% of grain traffic in Canada.
Pulse Canada and its Ag Transport Coalition partners look forward to immediate discussions with Government and the railways to determine how this information can support efforts to ensure that the transportation system is meeting the needs of Canadian businesses, contributing to their competitiveness and supporting economic growth throughout Canada.
Weekly reports can be downloaded on the Ag Transport Coalition website
* The Ag Transportation Coalition is comprised of the Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA), the Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC), Pulse Canada, the Manitoba Pulse Growers Association (MPGA), the Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA), the Canadian Oilseed Processors Association (COPA), the Inland Terminal Association of Canada (ITAC) and the Canadian Special Crops Association (CSCA).
Contact: Courtney Hirota, Director, Strategic Communications, (204) 925-3782,