September 17, 2018 – CN sent the following customer advisory on September 14, outlining procedures for empty container in-gate capacity at its Inland Terminals, and regarding Port of Montreal Gateway.

The advisory reads as follows:

“CN would like to advise those Ocean Carriers who use the Port of Montreal Gateway that we will be temporarily limiting available empty container in-gate capacity at CN Inland Terminals commencing 0001 Friday September 14 through to 2400 Monday September 17 due to continued production challenges at the Montreal Port Terminals.

Since last week, CN has been holding loaded export trains outside of the port to be exchanged with loaded import railcars. Currently and for the next 4 days, CN’s export loaded footage at the Port of Montreal will far exceed the amount of expected Import loaded railcars that will be released due to limitations mainly related to available labour.

At this time, CN has not received confirmation of the required Port labour through the weekend, and will continue to plan outbound train lengths based on the performance at the port Terminals. CN will be reviewing the situation and will be in a position to react quickly if production at the Port were to increase. All existing reservations will remain valid and will be honored.

We are closely monitoring the situation and will continue to make adjustments to ensure we move your assets as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Capacity is available for alternate destinations; we encourage you to review current inventory plans and work with your CN service delivery team to plan alternate routing for your assets.”