(Journal of Commerce) Canadian importers are campaigning for a public-private shipping coalition to help resolve congestion from the country's increasing flow of imports.
"We want to bring everyone to the table to
find solutions -- the shipping lines, the ports and their terminals, the railways, trucking, importers and exporters, warehousing, and the federal, provincial and local governments," said John Bescec, senior
vice-president of I.E.Canada, the Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters.
"We have serious intermodal problems and we need collective solutions, rather than individual finger-pointing," Bescec
said. "I.E.Canada is sending out letters, and talking, trying to bring everyone to the table. The importer is paying for the delays that are occurring."
At the Port of Vancouver (schedules), importers
say arriving cargo is taking 15 to 17 days to reach Toronto or Chicago, up from the normal five to seven days. Rail carriers Canadian National and Canadian Pacific say that traffic movement out of Vancouver is fluid.
Congestion also caused delays at the Port of Montreal this summer; railroads similarly describe the situation there as fluid. Montreal Port Authority spokesman Michel Turgeon said the over-capacity problem is
returning to normal.
"The Christmas goods traffic is beginning and I suspect gridlock and backlogs will start up in another week or so," George Kuhn, executive director of the Canadian International
Freight Forwarders Association said. "It is a delicate situation at present, with everyone barely managing. I don't see how the system will be able to keep up, if we get a five to 10 per cent increase in present
traffic."
Canadian National, citing westbound capacity problems, late last month began limiting scheduled train service from Montreal and Toronto to Western Canada.
Montreal containers bound for
Western Canada now are being loaded only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and for departure from Toronto to Western Canada on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays. CN spokesman Mark Hallman said Montreal had been
experiencing "stronger volumes than what we had anticipated...some of it is land-bridge-type traffic, stretching to Vancouver."
Canadian National at all three principal Canadian gateways -- Vancouver,
Montreal and Halifax - has deployed its IMX (Inter-Modal Excellence) system, which establishes daily train capacity, slot gate and equipment reservation, and day-of-the-week pricing. "We don't have any
infrastructure issues at all," said Hallman. "We tell our customers how, and how much, we can handle, and we keep to that."
Canadian Pacific is also allotting railcars at Vancouver. Spokesman Len
Cocolicchio said traffic movement was "fluid" at Vancouver and Montreal.
The railroads have blamed a lack of coordination between ocean carriers and terminal operators for the delays. CN also wants
importers to pick up shipments at its key Brampton intermodal hub near Toronto around the clock instead of just during normal weekday hours. |
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