(Reuters circulated the following story on May 30.)
VANCOUVER — The Canadian government said on Wednesday it will change some of the country’s railroad regulations to make it easier to respond to shippers’ complaints over service and rates.
The proposed changes will give the Canadian Transportation Agency more power to investigate complaints, and require railroads to give more notice on tariff increases and sidings available for loading grain and other products.
Grain shippers said they were pleased with the direction of the amendments, particularly those that would help settle disputes over rates and charges.
Under current rules, railways can miss their deadlines for delivering rail cars without penalty, then charge demurrage fees to the shipper if they are not loaded or unloaded quickly, an official at the Canadian Wheat Board said.
“They can put these tariffs into place and the shipper has no recourse,” said Jacqueline Cassel-Vernon, manager of commercial rail at the CWB.
“When you’re a shipper like the Canadian Wheat Board or other grain companies in Western Canada that are so captive to rail, (the current legislation) doesn’t give us any protection,” Cassel-Vernon said.
Grain, lumber and fertilizer shippers representing 80 percent of all rail movement in Canada agreed last April on basic amendments they wanted to see to improve service, said Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association.
“It appears on the surface that the minister and the government has committed to a railway level-of-service review, which is promising,” Sobkowich said.
A spokesman for Canadian National Railway, Canada’s largest rail carrier, said it was still studying the proposed changes. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd is the country’s other national carrier.