18 Jul CN Tariff Update
CN issued the following customer notification on July 15.
As you may be aware, the current intermodal supply chain landscape in Canada has been disrupted. This is primarily due to the extended periods of time that loaded import containers remain at inland terminals without being picked up by consignees. The failure of those responsible to receive and handle these containers has had a cascading effect on the supply chain. It has forced CN to delay the movement of containers received at ports (West Coast in particular) because there is no room to receive them at our inland rail ramps in Toronto and Montreal.
There is tremendous pressure from all supply chain stakeholders to act with a sense of urgency and address this extraordinary situation. CN has been approached by government agencies, shipping associations, port and terminal authorities, and operators to take immediate measures that could help ease the congestion situation in Toronto and Montreal. While we believe that each party in the supply chain has a role to play in addressing the situation (especially in this case), consignees and stakeholders have turned to CN for information and solutions. We are answering these requests by taking measures which reflect a consensus amongst all involved.
To keep terminals operating in a safe and efficient manner, we are coordinating with terminal operators to meter incoming traffic from the ports in a manner that matches out-gate traffic at destination terminals. Balancing inbound and outbound containers is critical to re-establish fluidity, and this approach has helped address service levels at inland terminals. However, despite these efforts, high on-dock congestion at the ports remains, and there is a general agreement that we need new and more robust measures to address the issue.
We are therefore introducing additional measures at our rail facilities in the Toronto area to keep the consumer goods supply chain moving and maintain fluidity at our ports. Effective July 18,
- CN will open a third relief container yard in the Toronto area:
Container Storage Solutions
8373 Mayfield Rd, Brampton, ON L6P 0H5
(24 hours, 7 days a week operation).
The pickup location for any containers shuttled to this off-site location will be updated and can be found here. This new inland capacity will help keep the supply chain moving and assist with reducing congestion at the ports and vessel wait time. To subscribe for extended storage at this new off-site location, please send an email to cn-offsite@cn.ca 48 hours prior to the train arrival.
Other changes that you should be aware of include:
- The container shuttle fee will increase from $150 to $300 per unit in CN 9100 item 6900.
- The storage fees for units at Mississauga Intermodal Service Centre will increase to be the same as storage fees in Brampton and Malport (Group 1) as per CN 9100 item 6500. The storage fee for all other locations (Paul’s Transport and Container Storage Solutions) is $300 per daily unit.
We would also like to remind you of our off-peak-hour storage incentive which, in addition to providing you savings, facilitates the flow of traffic at off-peak hours. Details of this incentive are available in CN 9100 item 6500.
We all have our part to play in the supply chain and we encourage all stakeholders to assist by picking up their import containers in a timely manner from our terminals.