(Canadian National)
The
reservation system for Montreal is now in place. A reservation is now required for all units ingating at Montreal yard for export traffic. Information on how to make reservations and some details on the process can be found here.
This communique is also to address concerns raised by various stakeholders. We will continue the dialogue and will continue with these communiques
to respond to the feedback and concerns as we work to make this reservation system a positive step for all concerned.
A reservation is CN's commitment to move your traffic on the specified train.
Capacity is provided for the full week to allow cut off and non cut off to move and as we move forward, it will provide all parties with a smooth flow to the ports, and a smooth flow of imports back from
ports.
We would like to clarify how we handle traffic tendered to meet vessel cut offs as this concern has been raised. The system we use for reservations has quantities built into it that work off
the information in the Steamship Line booking number provided with a reservation request. A quantity is reserved at the outset for cut off traffic based on historical information in our systems as to traffic
historically ingated on these days.
Cut off traffic is given priority up to 2 days prior to the ingate date requested. To accommodate this cut off traffic, some availability for traffic of empties or
cut offs beyond the week of reservations currently available is restricted. Please note that some vessel cut off reservations are still available for this week on the weekend. We continue to work to ensure
that cut off traffic is protected, but once released 2 days prior, these reservations now become available for traffic other than cut off if they are not taken by this time. It is important to book early for
cut off traffic to get the preferred date to ingate.
The effective date of your reservation shows the first available time/day that you may ingate with this reservation while the cut off time shows
the last time when a unit must be in the gate. Effectively this is the window that you have to ingate. We will communicate changes to these windows, but it is important to note these two times. For example,
most reservations will show an effective time of 00:01 on Monday and a cut off time of 20:00 on a Monday reservation. This is the 20-hour window that the reservation is valid for and the container needs to
ingate between. This effective period will always be shown on your response from IMX-MTL@cn.ca when providing your reservation number.
Due to issues surrounding railcar availability due to winter
storms in the Maritimes and derailments in Western Canada, reservations were restricted this week to accommodate traffic that was ingated prior to the reservation system and the high volume of containers
which ingated just prior to the reservation system taking effect. This has created concern that not enough reservations will be available for demand. This is a short-term provision to ensure that we are able
to meet the commitments on this previously tendered traffic and there will be enough reservations over the course of each week to accommodate the demand for movements. It is important to note that some of
this capacity is on the weekend.
Please remember that each container requires a reservation, so if a trucker is coming in with two 20' containers with one truck, two reservations are required.
All requests for reservations should be submitted by email to IMX-MTL@cn.ca. If you do not have access to the Internet, reservations requests can be sent by fax at 1-800-610-5222. Should you need to call,
the phone number to reach the IMX Reservations Team is 1-866-851-7837.
We appreciate the feedback we are receiving on the reservation system and we will use this as we evolve the system to meet the
needs of the market including the need for capacity.
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