March 7, 2022 – The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) has voted to authorize a strike action as early as March 16, 2022. The TCRC represents approximately 3,000 of Canadian Pacific’s locomotive engineers and conductors. The parties will continue to participate in the mediation process with the assistance of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) with planned meetings in the March 11-16, 2022 timeframe. A work stoppage would have far reaching effects on the entire supply chain, particularly with ocean inland moves. Canaan Transport is looking at contingencies in the event of a disruption, which could potentially arise prior to March 16. We will continue to monitor and provide you with updates as they are received. Customers are invited to contact their local representative to discuss contingency planning.
February 28, 2022 – CERS associations and new applications must now be completed on the CBSA’s new BSF831: Exporter reporting application form. This form can be completed and signed electronically.
February 25, 2022 – With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine early Thursday, energy costs are soaring, stocks are plunging, Western sanctions are being sharpened, and central bankers already worried about inflation face additional drags from weaker consumer confidence and bigger potential shocks to fragile European economies.
For global supply chains, “a kinetic conflict in Ukraine could generate a wide range of challenges,” Chris Rogers, an economist in the UK with Flexport, says in a report this week. The risks extend beyond higher energy costs to include disrupted air space in the region, higher rates for shipping insurance and cyberattacks, he says.
February 21, 2022 – When global supply chains snap back to some form of normality – widely tipped to be in the second half of the year – transport operators will have to brace for a new headache, with an avalanche of empty containers predicted to cause some chaos. The delays in the supply chain during the pandemic have led to the need for additional containers to be used. When the supply chain normalizes, this will potentially create a pile of 3.5 million TEU of empty containers from the transpacific alone, according to a new report from Denmark’s Sea-Intelligence.
February 11, 2022 – Please note that currently Vancouver and Prince Rupert are experiencing delays with dwell times and longer berthing times for vessels. Currently, we are seeing delays of two to four weeks in delays for vessels docking in comparison to their original ETA. The empty return situation has improved slightly, but there are still many delays in containers being accepted for return versus normal return timing. Similarly, even when a vessel has docked and offloaded, terminals are experiencing delays (some more than others) in making the containers available for pick up as some are being put on block stow.
Understandably, this can cause much frustration as to importers it can appear that vessel and containers have arrived but are still not available for pickup, delivery or furtherance by rail. In some instances, containers were not being made available for up to one month. These delays are being felt across the board and are expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
February 6, 2022 – Ottawa’s chief of police says he does not have enough resources to end the turbulent protests launched in the nation’s capital more than a week ago – nor can he say when they might come to an end. "We need an additional surge of resources," Chief Peter Sloly said Saturday, even though every available Ottawa Police Service (OPS) officer is on active duty and hundreds of other law-enforcement officials have come to help. More than 7,000 demonstrators came into the downtown Saturday, according to police, and 500 heavy trucks still remain in the so-called "red zone." Deliveries to Ottawa will be delayed until this situation is resolved.
January 24, 2022 – With containers overflowing in and out of its borders, the operators of Yantian terminal, the largest port facility in Shenzhen, have from January 21 ruled that full containers can only be trucked in four days before vessels are due to berth. Shenzhen, the world’s fourth largest container port, is suffering from severe congestion just ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, exacerbated by recent COVID-19 outbreaks that have seen parts of the city forced into lockdown. Ships arriving at Yantian are currently having to wait around one week for a berth space.
January 17, 2022 – Ontario and the US Midwest is going through a significant weather event and customers are warned that deliveries and pick ups will be delayed. Please call us at 416.621.6800 if you have any urgent requests.
January 10, 2022 – China’s whac-a-mole approach to containing COVID-19 is seeing restrictions rushed in at many more important hubs across the country as the nation struggles to contain more contagious variants spreading. Two COVID-19 cases in Shenzhen have seen local authorities usher in travel bans, making it difficult to leave the city, with more mass testing underway in the city’s Longgang district. Trucker availability at the key southern Chinese box port is likely to be hit by this latest outbreak. Meanwhile, a suspension of trucking services in several parts of East China’s Zhejiang province has slowed the transportation of manufactured goods and commodities through one of the world’s most important ports. There are strict controls on trucks moving goods to or from the Beilun district in Ningbo after the discovery of several cases of COVID-19 in the area, shipping line A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S said in a Thursday customer advisory. This suspension, along with restrictions on truckers in some areas in and around Zhejiang, has halted operations at some yards and warehouses at Ningbo port.
January 4, 2022 – The CBSA has notified that, effective January 31, monetary penalties for non-compliance with electronic house bill requirements may be issued. For information, refer to Customs Notice 21-15, Mandatory Electronic House Bills – End of the Zero-Rated Penalty Period.