(The Canadian Wheat Board issued the following on May 5.)
WINNIPEG — The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) in a letter to six Western Canadian grain shippers, including the Canadian Wheat Board, decided against granting an emergency injunction that would have halted Canadian National Railway’s new car distribution policy, a release from the CWB said Monday.
The CTA sent the letter to participants on April 30.
However, in the letter, the CTA recognized that the introduction of CN’s new rail car order taking system will create some service programs for the CWB and single-point grain shippers.
The CTA said it will determine whether CN’s new program has failed to comply with previous CTA orders at a later date as part of a separate ruling on whether CN failed to provide adequate rail service for the 2007/08 (Aug/July) crop year.
The upcoming ruling will be part of a level-of-service case that the shippers launched against CN in the fall of 2007, the CWB said.
CN’s car distribution program creates a system where grain is “pushed” forward from its point of origin, instead of being “pulled” to destination, the grain shippers have said previously.
“This prevents efficient matching of rail car supply to ocean vessel arrival, given that each ship must be loaded with the correct class, grade and protein level of wheat or barley,” costing the shippers in demurrage fees as ships wait to be loaded at port, they said.
However, the CTA said, CN is providing service — “albeit not necessarily the service the complainants state they need” — and there’s not enough evidence of “irreparable harm” to warrant emergency relief from CN’s system.
Besides the CWB, the other shippers include North East Terminal, Parrish and Heimbecker, Paterson Grain, Providence Grain Group and North West Terminal.