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The Ag Transport Coalition released a review of railway service performance on August 20 for the 2014/15 grain year. The report tracks railway performance from the customer’s perspective, providing service performance measurement that informs commercial decisions of supply chain stakeholders and serves as the basis for short and long-term actions by government.

The Ag Transport Coalition reports on railway performance across key indicators including rail car demand, timeliness of railway car supply and corridor performance. These measures are of particular importance to the grain industry which expects the railcar orders submitted weekly to railways to trigger a timely and predictable level of railway service as a key part of ensuring on time delivery of Canadian agri-products to customers around the world.

The figures for the 2014/15 grain year summary report indicate that weekly supply of railcars is highly variable and timeliness of delivery was an issue, with CN and CP supplying 62 per cent and 36 per cent of cars ordered by shippers in the week in which they were ordered. This lack of timeliness and predictability in railcar delivery has an impact on the performance of Canada’s logistics system and Canada’s reputation as a consistent and reliable supplier of grain as each ordered railcar indicates there is farmers’ grain to move and a domestic or overseas customer expecting its timely delivery.

The Ag Transport Coalition began the 2015/16 grain year weekly reporting beginning on August 21 for Grain Week 1 and will continue to focus on metrics that measure the timeliness of weekly railcar delivery. Performance data for 2015/16 will cover more than 90 per cent of grain traffic in Canada using data collection services of QGI consulting.

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 AgriFood Canada (AAFC) through Growing Forward 2 programming. This initiative complements existing government activities to monitor the performance of the grain handling and transportation system.

Ag Transport Coalition members look forward to continuous improvement in the performance metrics through the 2015/16 grain year to ensure the transportation system is meeting the needs of Canadian businesses, contributing to their competitiveness and supporting economic growth throughout Canada.

The Ag Transportation Coalition is comprised of the Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA), the Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC), Pulse Canada, the Manitoba Pulse & Soybean 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).