COMPANY NEWS

April 16, 2018 – Canadian Pacific Railway says a new labour agreement with thousands of train conductors and other workers remains elusive, less than a week before the deadline for the start of a strike that could cripple its network.

“Despite CP’s best efforts, a significant gap remains” between the company and two unions, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Calgary-based railway said in a statement late Friday. A work stoppage could occur as early as April 21.

The talks come as the country’s second biggest railroad grapples with increased volumes following contract wins.

A work stoppage “will severely impact CP’s ability to continue to provide safe and efficient freight and passenger and commuter service,” Canadian Pacific said. “All customers and commodities would be impacted at a time when demand is soaring.”

April 14, 2018 – Please see the following update:

CP and two of its unions – the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference – Train & Engine (TCRC) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) – are currently working through the collective bargaining process. A significant gap remains between CP and these unions, but talks are ongoing. In the event an agreement cannot be reached, a work stoppage could occur as early as 00:01 on April 21. Given the challenging winter, increased demand across commodities and struggles for others in the transportation supply chain, the environment is such that there is no latent capacity in the system and recovery from a work stoppage, of any length, will be prolonged.

Currently, further meetings with the TCRC and the IBEW are planned for the week of April 16.

April 12, 2018 – CIFFA (the Canadian Freight Forwarder’s Association), of which Canaan Transport is a member, has sent a letter to four federal ministers asking for their attention and intervention in a possible strike at CP Rail.

On April 11, CIFFA contacted the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of International Trade, and the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, expressing concern and a sense of urgency regarding the movement of goods and intermodal marine transportation.

It underlined the potentially catastrophic impacts to Canada’s trade, to our ports and to our economy of the current labour negotiations at CP Rail and to urge the Government of Canada to take any necessary action to keep the railroad operating.

The union representing engineers and conductors employed with CP Rail voted to authorize strike action as early as April 21, according to an announcement made last week.

With a 92 percent margin in favour, the strike authorization affects 3,000 members across Canada and ‘a few hundred’ in the southeast corner of B.C., according to a Teamsters Canada Rail Conference spokesperson.

The last contract between the two sides expired at the end of December 2017, while a one-year ratification vote was rejected by union members in November after an initial agreement was struck a few months earlier.

The union argues that rising profits are based off cuts, layoffs, closures and working crews to the point of exhaustion, said a press release. Canaan Transport will continue to update its customers about a potential strike action.

April 9, 2018 – Canadian Pacific Railway conductors and locomotive engineers on Friday voted to authorize a strike action that could have the 3,000 workers walk off the job as early as April 21, Teamsters Canada said in a statement. The workers, whose collective agreement expired late last year, are asking for more predictable schedules to combat crew fatigue, among other demands, a Teamsters spokesman said. The union also said that it opposes cuts and concessions requested by CP, because the company is reporting higher profits and strong fundamentals.

In addition, on June 1, 2018 CP Rail will cancel its express service between Toronto and Montreal. Although unannounced publicly, Canaan Transport is already making contingent plans for our customers affected by this change.

April 6, 2018 – Canaan Transport Group Inc. extends its deepest condolences to the families and individuals affected by the tragic accident today. We mourn for those who passed away and pray for those who are recovery. May God Bless this situation.

March 26, 2018 – The trucking situation remained problematic on Friday at the Port of Montreal. Late gates were open, from 6:00 am until 11:00 pm, only for Maisonneuve Terminal at Termont. The port is aware of the situation and attempting to identify causes and longer-term solutions. Appointments could be considered as options.

March 25, 2018 – On Friday, the Port of Prince Rupert advised that recovery is well in hand. Ground count is way down. Average dwell times on the dock are now down to 3 days and falling. The port expects to issue a communication in the coming weeks outlining its action plan to ensure that the port stays fluid.

March 19, 2018 – As a result of the fire that broke out March 6 on the Maersk Honam, a 15,262-TEU vessel en route from Singapore to the Suez Canal, general average has been declared for the vessel.

Maersk declared general average (GA) on March 9, and appointed Liverpool-based average adjuster Richards Hogg Lindley to collect the necessary GA security. Maersk confirms that cargo owners have been advised, including 2M partner MSC, of its decision to declare GA.

Canaan Transport’s affected customers have also been personally contacted and we have requested that insurance companies be contacted as well so that cargo can be released without delay.

General average is a process whereby the parties whose interests have been sacrificed or who have incurred extra expense are recompensed by the contribution of those whose interests have been saved. Any standard marine policy will include GA losses, so if the goods have been insured, the importer should obtain a GA guarantee from the insurers. If no insurance has been organized, then a cash deposit will be needed.

Upon receiving notification that a GA has been declared for a vessel, Canaan Transport is responsible to give immediate notice to the shipper and consignee. The appointed average adjusters will need to be in possession of completed guarantees and bond forms or cash deposit before release of cargo, so it is vital that the all parties takes immediate action. Please see Clause 15 on our limitation of liability.

March 18, 2018 – The Canadian Freight Forwarder’s Association (CIFFA), of which Canaan Transport Group Inc. is a member of, has been engaged, along with the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers and the Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters, in providing stakeholder input to the CBSA’s coming changes for ‘release time frames’ that will affect importers, brokers and forwarders. The Release Time Frames FAQ and Customs Notice will be published soon. However, the release time frames themselves won’t be changing until AFTER the eHBL/eManifest systems fixes are made and the eHBL portion of eManifest is mandatory.

As there is no concrete date for when the systems fixes will be made, the change to release time frames is unlikely to happen in 2018!

Forwarders will need to embrace the new eHBL Notices in order to be able to manage releases and arrange deliveries. In CIFFA’s opinion, the pending/new release time frames are not the ideal solution, but do level the playing field between types of cargo control numbers.

March 12, 2018 – Harsh weather conditions which are now affecting Canada have caused operational disruptions across the Canadian National Rail Network (CN), and affected Canaan Transport’s intermodal cargo flow through Canada in the North America region (eastbound and westbound).

The below provides an excerpt of the relevant information as was most recently communicated by CN in an advisory that could nevertheless be useful to Canaan’s customers on the effects of the occurrence:

Impact of Canada’s current extreme weather on Canaan’s cargo operations for intermodal customers

• Reduction in train lengths, capacity and velocity across the entire CN rail network have collectively increased congestions at the ocean port terminals of Halifax, Prince Rupert and Vancouver.
• The extended harsh weather conditions have also led to productivity implications on the availability of crew and locomotives, and created real structural issues on rail operations, i.e., difficulties to pump through the air brake system.

Spring Thaw – Weight restrictions

• Spring Thaw weight restrictions are in effect for cargo to/from the Province of Quebec from February 26th, 2018 – May 25th, 2018.
• Maximum Payloads during Spring Thaw 2018:

• 21,760kgs / 48,000lbs / D20’
• 23,800kgs / 52,500lbs / D40’
• 22,800kgs / 50,400lbs / D45’

Customers are reminded to ensure they have appropriate permits / special equipment to dray any overweight unit from the rail ramp to their final delivery location.

For more updates of the situation, kindly visit the CN Customer News web link at https://www.cn.ca/en/customer-centre/stay-informed/customer-news

We thank you for your business and continued support.