Borderlands: Canada

As a strike by longshore workers cripples container handling, Port of Montreal employers plan to lock out union employees.

As a strike by dockside workers disrupts container handling, Montreal’s port chief executive calls on Ottawa to force union employees back to work.

Ships are waiting at anchor after port employers at Vancouver and Prince Rupert on Monday locked out union forepersons after contract talks broke down.

The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association representing ocean carriers and terminal operators plan to lock out union forepersons after the International
Longshore and Warehouse Union rejected a final contract offer.

Transport Canada is funneling millions of dollars to expand grain-handling facilities at the Port of Montreal.

Canada’s second-busiest port is bracing for another protest by 1,200 longshore employees who have been refusing overtime work since Oct. 10.

An arbitrator has been appointed to oversee contract negotiations between Canadian Pacific Kansas City and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference.

CN and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference have scheduled mediation for early 2025 as the sides move closer to a new collective bargaining agreement.

Canadian National Railway posted third-quarter revenue slightly better than a year ago as operations appeared fully recovered from destructive wildfires and a labor dispute that briefly shut down the railroad.

Air Canada and its pilots resolved their contract dispute at the last minute on Saturday, preventing a strike.

Air Canada and Canadian businesses are imploring the Canadian government to take action as the airline’s standoff with pilots over a new contract nears a tipping point.

Despite peak season stress, supply chain bottlenecks failed to materialize during the recovery from the brief lockout of union employees by CN and CPKC.

Canada is launching a 100% tariff on imports of electric vehicles made in China, citing unfair competition that it says threatens the global EV market.

It could take the two largest Canadian railroads a week or more to recover from the effects of a shutdown that briefly stalled billions in freight including transborder trade with the United States.

Trucking industry and logistics leaders said the lockout by Canada’s two largest railroads Thursday could create capacity crunches and rate spikes across the freight industry.

CN and CPKC early Thursday locked out 9,300 union employees, bringing trains to a halt in a move that could disrupt supply chains throughout North America.

CN said it received no response from Teamsters after making a final contract offer in a bid to avoid service disruption.

While contract talks between Canadian National, Canadian Pacific Kansas City and union employees continue, a rail shutdown would reverberate through the supply chain connecting Canada and the U.S.

Amid lockout and strike notices, contract bargaining continues as Ottawa makes a push for both sides to come together on a new rail labor contract.

Canada’s busiest import gateway is managing port fluidity as railroads issue lockout notices, and Teamsters are warning of a planned strike as the latest contract talks fail.

Canadian railroads CN and CPKC say they support the interests of both rail workers and the Canadian public as a possible strike approaches.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection last week seized 3,400 pounds of methamphetamine on the Southern border and 266 pounds of cocaine on the Northern border – all on the same day.

Canadian border workers have reached a tentative employment agreement with the federal government that ends the threat of a strike on Friday.

A strike by Canadian border workers is on hold until Wednesday to allow more time for union and federal officials to negotiate.

A strike looms for more than 9,000 border agents in Canada, potentially disrupting trade flows across North America.

Truckers who hit overpasses in British Columbia could pay up to $100K, spend 18 months in jail.

Canadian operator Cargojet sharply scaled back fleet investments last year to stabilize the bottom line but reports the Q4 upturn in air cargo business carried over to the new year.

The downward slope in cargo revenue at Air Canada began to level out during the fourth quarter, and management is optimistic 2024 will be better for airfreight than last year.

Canadian authorities recently seized $51 million worth of methamphetamine from a tractor-trailer heading for Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Canadian authorities shut down two trucking companies in the Vancouver area that are tied to recent highway collisions.

Canada-based carrier Chohan Freight Forwarders has been ordered to cease operations after multiple overpass collisions in two years.

The Winnipeg Airport Authority is ready to begin the next phase of its cargo expansion and modernization project with an investment from the Canadian government.

A new owner sees air cargo potential for underutilized property at Calgary airport in Alberta, Canada.

The year’s five biggest U.S.-Canada cross-border supply chain-related stories are highlighted.

The U.S. and Canada plan to form a joint task force aimed at developing and integrating zero-emissions technologies for locomotives at a wider and accelerated scale.

Canada Cartage, one of Canada’s largest transportation and logistics companies, has acquired Montreal-based GTI Group.

Swiss freight forwarder Kuehne+Nagel has acquired Farrow, a Canada-based customs broker, to expand its offerings across North America.

Lineage is bolstering its Canadian cold chain logistics network with the expansion of a facility in Calgary.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance has created a tip sheet and reporting guide to root out fraudulent carriers in the trucking industry.

Partnerships with other Class I railroads will help the freight rail industry gain market share, CN executives said during the Canadian railway’s third-quarter 2023 earnings call Tuesday.

The Prince Rupert Port Authority is starting construction on a project that will increase rail-to-container transloading at the Canadian port, particularly for agricultural, forestry and plastic resin products.

Patrick Whitehead and Derek Taylor will lead different aspects of CN’s operations as the Canadian railway seeks to make its operations more “innovative” and “modern.”

The Port of Montreal has received funding from Canada’s National Trade Corridors Fund to build a new terminal aimed at boosting the port’s container handling capacity.

CN has released its operational plans for the 2023-2024 winter season. But the Canadian railway says new regulations create some uncertainty.

Texas-based Arrive Logistics recently added an office in Toronto to service its growing Canadian customer base.

TFI International has acquired food-grade tanker carrier Vedder Transportation Group.

Canadian railway CN and Norfolk Southern are partnering to create a domestic intermodal service that will connect Canadian customers with markets in the U.S. Southeast.

Rail service for the 2023-2024 crop year in Canada is expected to be smooth — provided that weather conditions and unforeseen global events cooperate.

STG Logistics will extend its reach in Canada by offering “port-to-door” services in six new markets in addition to the Toronto and Montreal markets that it already serves.

Canada is pushing back against the latest U.S. decision to keep imposing import tariffs on Canadian lumber.

Jagger Canada Inc. is being fined $37,500 by the province of Ontario for failing to comply and clean up a fuel spill in 2019.

Rail volumes to and from the Canadian ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert are returning to normal after the 13-day strike in July, although capacity to catch up on the backlog appears limited for now, according to RailState’s analysis of its data.

Canadian carrier Highlight Motor Group is building a $250 million facility near Toronto that includes offices, warehouse space, a truck yard and a repair shop.

CPKC eyes opportunities for intermodal and for beefed-up business in Mexico to help recoup higher costs and lost revenue in the second quarter.

Consumer demand is putting pressure on intermodal and lumber volumes and that is weighing on how CN views the back half of this year.

U.S. rail imports from Vancouver and Prince Rupert are imperiled again. ILWU Canada has rejected the proposed dockworkers contract.

The extended strike in western Canada was beginning to affect U.S. supply chains. Its resolution limits the fallout.

Although international intermodal traffic has come to a halt at the Canadian West Coast ports since the start of the work stoppage on July 1, carload volumes for commodities such as coal and grain have grown, according to supply chain data visibility firm RailState.

As the labor strike continues at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert, Class I railroads are taking steps to ensure that their networks face minimal disruptions.

More than 7,400 dockworkers in Canada remain on strike Wednesday after labor contract negotiations with their employer have stalled.

More than 7,400 dockworkers have gone on strike in Canada, potentially causing disruptions at ports in Vancouver and Prince Rupert.

Some families of victims of deadly railway accidents say railway police are torn between seeking the truth and protecting the company name. Railroads say safeguards are in place.

Canadian railway CN is monitoring wildfires across several provinces and is adjusting operations as needed.

The partnerships with the two truck carriers for intermodal service will create new business opportunities for all three companies, CPKC officials said during the company’s first-quarter 2023 earnings call.

Not to be outdone by CPKC, CN said it is partnering with Union Pacific and Grupo México to provide a new, cross-continent intermodal service that will seek more truck-to-rail conversions.

Two Canadian cities are taking an aggressive stance against illegal truck parking and storage in their communities.

Lawmakers in Canada are working to keep trucking companies with poor safety records off the roadways.

Canada has allocated $46 million in funding to recruit and train up to 2,600 new truck drivers and other transportation related jobs.

Rail shippers see Transport Canada’s amendments to collect more freight rail data as a good start, but they maintain that more can be done.

The railway said it moved 2.29 million metric tons of Canadian grain and grain products in January, setting a monthly record.

Annual volumes at the Nova Scotia port exceeded 600,000 twenty-foot equivalent units for the first time in its history.

Canadian government official introduces new legislation that represents the culmination of multiyear efforts to address port funding and railway safety needs.

Cargojet is better protected from an economic downturn than airlines handling general air cargo because of e-commerce and deep partnerships.

Unifor, Canada’s largest union, opposes a federal supply chain task force’s recommendation to curb workers’ ability to go on strike.

Canadian railway CN says it is positioning assets and adding more horsepower in order to keep the network fluid during extreme winter weather.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has asked for a halt to the U.S. border vaccine mandate.

Hurricane relief trucking is filled with chaos and disruptions to normal operations and requires specialists that can handle the massive surges and lack of forward planning.

Truck drivers from around the world will soon be eligible for participation in Canada’s Express Entry immigration program.

Loomis Express workers have called off a strike after reaching a tentative agreement on a new contract.

Loomis Express workers across Canada could go on strike by noon Wednesday.

Transport Canada says it is initiating the first steps toward implementing a version of positive train control in the country.

Edmonton International Airport is organizing itself as an air hub for e-commerce shipments.

Canadian midstream operator Keyera and CN are considering creating an energy terminal that would serve the production-rich region.

Transport Canada is considering making the data collection of rail service metrics permanent — a move the Forest Products Association of Canada supports.

CN and Canadian Pacific say they’re ready for an anticipated grain volume rebound in the new crop year that runs from Aug. 1 to July 31.

The Canadian government wants the railways to submit details on how they will maintain equipment when it gets cold in winter as part of a rail safety initiative.

The Canadian government says it will fund infrastructure projects in Saskatchewan and Ontario, as well as research into how the railways can respond to climate-induced events.

Canadian trucking association says officials still need to iron out all the details for the ELD mandate scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.

Enforcement of Canada’s federal ELD mandate will begin Jan. 1, requiring electronic data collection of truck drivers’ hours of service.

Canada has extended its border restrictions for unvaccinated truck drivers to Sept. 30.

Three commissioners of the Federal Maritime Commission contend a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern would result in diverting U.S.-bound intermodal traffic to Canadian ports.

In the past two days, the Canadian railway has announced approximately CA$1.5 billion (US$1.16 billion) in capital investments for four provinces.

The port is undergoing a modernization initiative and aims to double container capacity as part of a broader effort to attract market share from Northeast and Midwest customers.

FreightWaves founder and CEO Craig Fuller lays out the premise of Freedom Trade.

Transport Canada’s proposed changes affect waybill reporting requirements for long-haul interswitching and they detail new traffic reporting requirements for smaller Class I operations.

Cargojet last year announced an order for two passenger-to-freighter conversions of the Boeing 777 but was less public about buying six more of the aircraft.

Lineage Logistics has acquired Canadian cold chain provider VersaCold, adding 24 facilities to its network.

Large-scale real estate developer Focus Equities will oversee the construction. Its head explained to FreightWaves why Winnipeg is a prime location for customers.

Air Canada is a major international passenger carrier, but did you know it is going big on cargo with special planes, warehouses, IT systems and drones?

Two truckers working for the same Canadian company were arrested four months apart after separate seizures of cocaine and meth in Michigan.