Maple Leaf Motoring: How the CN strike played on the freight market

After the strike was announced on Nov. 16, the Canadian Outbound Tender Volume Index crept upward as outbound loaded rail cars dropped, suggesting that trucks picked up some of the slack. 

When the strike ended on Nov. 26, the index surged again, likely a sign of intermodal operations moving again. In Toronto, where the disruption was especially bad at CN’s terminal, the Outbound Tender Volume Index jumped by 6.19% after the strike ended. 

While some carriers have actually gotten a nice bump from the strike and its end, a proactive disruption probably would have hurt everyone.  

Transport continues to fall in GDP numbers

As supply chains recover from the CN, the latest release of government GDP data shows continuing softening of the transport sector.

Canada’s C$87 billion transportation and warehousing industry fell by 0.9 percent in Statistics Canada’s monthly GDP figures, which measure economic output of individual sectors. It marked four consecutive months of declines. 

Brian Depratto, a senior economist at TD Bank, noted that the temporary shutdown of a mine was a major contributor, driving down rail activity. “That said, the story for most of the major categories (freight-related) does indeed look fairly weak of late,” Depratto said in an email to FreightWaves.

Trucking proved more stable – basically flat in September. Overall, the sector was down about 2% from a year earlier. 

Here’s hoping we get a stronger finish to the year.

Bison rocks the party in Winnipeg 

Even in these uncertain times in freight, Bison Transport threw what was clearly an awesome party in Winnipeg, bringing trucks into a hotel ballroom. 

The carrier’s annual awards dinner brought 750 members of the Bison family together. They recognized some truly remarkable drivers, including one with 3.5 million safe miles. It sounds even more impressive as 5.6 million kilometers. 

Naturally, poutine was on the menu. As the evening progressed, there was even some live-streamed team-dancing.

Well done, Bison.