Dear Importer,

The Canadian National Railway Co. (CN), the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. (CPK), and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) are currently negotiating a new deal for all parties. Unfortunately, they have failed to make meaningful strides forward, and labor action seems a likely outcome in the very near future. 

CN intends to issue a 72-hour lockout notice as early as August 18th. If a new deal is not reached by then, the lockout could begin by August 22nd. 

A disruption of this nature will impact nearly all forms of transport in Canada, including ocean, ground, and air carriers, as a disruption of one form of transport invariably adds increased demand and costs to others, all while reducing availability. It is recommended that you prepare for a significant supply chain strain and an increase in delays on every shipment into and out of the country—even those not explicitly traveling by rail. 

Several steps have already been taken by CN to ensure the safe staging of commodities when the threat of an unpredictable disruption has ended. These may affect any or all of your imports over the coming days: 

• CN is embargoing all temperature-controlled intermodal traffic and hazmat traffic across its network, effective August 15.
• It is embargoing all intermodal traffic destined to all points in Canada from US origins or US interchange, effective August 16. 
• All US-to-US intermodal shipments will continue to move per normal operations.

During a work stoppage, the following will be enacted with specific considerations for both outbound and inbound shipments:

• Canadian rail terminal gates will remain open as capacity permits.

Outbound shipments from Canada:

• Customers will be able to ingate containers until terminals have reached their capacity. Once ingated at any origin, shipments will not be available for release to customers.
• Private perishable protective service (PPS) equipment and international reefers are excluded and will not be allowed in the terminals should a work stoppage commence. 

Inbound shipments to Canada:

• In-transit shipments destined for Canada will not be available for release to customers and will be held in terminal until furtherance to destination can occur.

Please visit cn.ca/TCRCinfo and the CN News Release for more information. 

As a valued client of PCB, we will monitor this investigation closely and inform you of any updates. With a vast network of global partners, we encourage you to contact PCB Freight Management at 866.535.4038 for assistance in arranging alternative transportation solutions.