Service Update – All Modes

There are no service disruptions reported by any of the modes at this time, although blanked sailings by container lines continue to be reported by various publications.

Rail

CP reports for carload traffic as follows:

CP expects operating conditions to remain favorable across the network.Demand is balanced across all fleets. Car velocity is strong which is providing strong levels of order fulfillment on the network.

Marine

There are reports of issues with trans-pacific container service where blanked sailings have led to capacity constraints with carriers resorting to “rollovers” (i.e. delays) to contract shippers traffic unless they pay a no-roll premium above contract rates. More can be found on this in the Loadstar item at the following link.

Air Cargo

Air Canada provided an update on its wide-body flight schedule on July 10. The details of the expanded and new service offerings can be found at the first red bar below.

Supply Chain Commentaries

AAR Canadian Rail Traffic Data – Week 28

North American rail volume for the first 28 weeks of 2020 was 17,395,055 carloads and intermodal units, down 11.8% compared with 2019.

Canadian railways reported 68,300 carloads for the week, down 16.5%, and 65,797 intermodal units, down 8% compared with the same week in 2019.

For the first 28 weeks of 2020, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 3,865,702 carloads, containers and trailers, down 8.5%. The detailed statistics for week 28 can be found at the second red bar below.

Container shipping rates may have peaked.

American Shipper reported on the recent trend in container shipping rates and where they may be headed. The July 16 article can be found at the third red bar below.

FMA Government Relations

FMA has continuing communications with Transport Canada Surface Policy and Marine Policy officials and with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).

FMA Office Operations

FMA staff are primarily working from home. If you need to talk with us, please call me at 613-294-4569.

Updates are on the FMA Website

The FMA COVID-19 updates continue to be uploaded to the website and there is a link to them on the home page at www.fma-agf.ca .

The FMA updates focus only on the impacts of COVID-19 on supply chains.

Information and questions from members are encouraged and will be useful in our continuing outreach to FMA members and in our communications with the government and with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. All individual company information will be kept confidential.