GRAND FORKS, N.D. — A unit train was loaded at James Valley Grain in Oakes, N.D., this week, the Grand Forks Herald reported.
Normally, that’s not a newsworthy event, but this was the first time in North Dakota a Union Pacific train was loaded at an elevator served by the Canadian Pacific Railway.
The shuttle train of corn is headed to a feedlot in Washington, an area where Dick Moore, manager of James Valley Grain, wouldn’t normally sell grain. Because of a new partnership between CPR and UP, Moore is able to move grain to customers in the Pacific Northwest, as well as his traditional customers in Alberta.
“This is a market we haven’t been able to reach before,” Moore says.
The elevator just completed its shuttle loading facility in October.
Although the expansion was a significant investment, Moore is sure the facility will pay for itself.
New markets
Once the elevator was able to load shuttle trains, it was able to serve new markets on the CPR system.
“The strength of the shuttle program is that it allows the markets to come to the farmer,” Moore says. “When you’re running smaller trains, it’s not enough capacity to allow some of these people to reach for markets.
“When they can come to a single loader and get their needs satisfied, it allows the end user to connect with the originator and know what kind of grain he’s going to get. Over the long haul, for the end user it makes it a more pleasant and comfortable situation.”
The train is traveling from Oakes through Canada until it reaches the UP system in Kingsgate, Idaho. UP will deliver the train to the customer in Wallula Heights, Wash.
Mark Bazan, manager of strategic planning for U.S. grain for CPR, said this system will increase markets for elevators such as James Valley Grain.
“The Western grain (customer) can now purchase corn on CPR under the shuttle program, where, prior to this alliance, the customer would have only had that opportunity on the Union Pacific,” Bazan says.
SynergyCPR serves all of Canada and the northern United States east of the border crossing in Portal, N.D. UP serves most of the Midwest and western United States and Mexico. Under their partnership — called the Pacific Can-Am Corridor — the two railroads will coordinate their equipment and billing, giving customers faster shipping times and “one-phone call” convenience.
It is a continuation of corporate alliance between the two companies that began about three years ago, Bazan said.
“We are trying to find opportunities to enhance our grain product selection for both our customers and the UP’s customers,” Bazan said.
The general aim of the partnership is to make better connections between elevators on CPR lines and grain buyers served by UP. Under most shuttle-train programs, both the elevator and grain buyer commit to moving a certain number of trains over the life of the contract. Under the alliance, the train loaded this week will count toward both James Valley Grain’s commitment to CPR and the feedlot’s contract with UP.
“I would call that a rather nontraditional approach to the shuttle train dynamics,” Bazan said.