CUSTOMER ADVISORY

Dear Customer,

CN has issued the following update to the industry:

We are very pleased to advise you that new tentative collective agreements have been reached between CN and Unifor, avoiding a potential strike. The union represents approximately 3,000 employees working in various departments such as Mechanical, Intermodal, Facility Management, and in clerical positions in Canada.

Although we were prepared with a contingency plan that would have ensured continued safe service for our customers, CN has always been committed to achieving negotiated settlements to improve the conditions of this important group of employees as we continue our essential work moving the North American economy.

Please be guided accordingly.

Sincerely,

HENSALL GLOBAL LOGISTICS

Dear Customer,

CN has issued the following update to the industry:

I am writing to provide a status update on our collective bargaining with Unifor, the union that represents approximately 3,000 colleagues working in various departments such as Mechanical, Intermodal, and Facility Management, and in clerical positions in Canada.

Discussions have been ongoing since March 13, 2023 and are continuing. The union is required to provide a 72-hour notice of their intention to strike. At this time, no such notice has been provided although we are prepared with an extensive operational contingency plan should it be necessary.

CN remains committed to doing everything necessary to reach an agreement with Unifor that balances the interests of employees, the Company and our stakeholders, avoids any labour action, and protects the supply chain.
 

We are continuing to monitor and will provide further information as it is made available.

Please be guided accordingly.

Sincerely,

HENSALL GLOBAL LOGISTICS

Dear Customer,

Please be advised that gate restrictions continue at CP Vaughan due to continued high ground counts resulting from a heavy imbalance of rail traffic (export vs import).

CP is limiting ingate on a per vessel basis for all terminals – Racine / Cast / Viau.

It should also be noted, that CN continues to limit the number of available reservations ex Toronto for export cargo destination to POM.

Please reach out to your HGL representatives should you require update on a specific file.

We are continuing to monitor the situation and will provide further updates as new information is available.

Sincerely,

HENSALL GLOBAL LOGISTICS

Dear Customer,

Maersk has issued the following update to the industry:

We have been made aware that as of March 1, 2023, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has increased the number of export exams it conducts at the port of Montreal. This is due to the increase in stolen property and other contraband being exported. These containers will be referred to the LaFrance Examination Facility for a full destuffing and exam. Please expect delays if your export container is pulled for a full inspection. LaFrance does not expect these exams to have an impact on their import examinations.
 
Maersk will be billed for these exams directly by LaFrance at the rate specified in their current schedule and Maersk will be adding these charges to your ocean bill of lading accordingly.
 
Below is the current rate schedule for full destuffing and exam at LaFrance (subject to change without notice). Note that these fees are not set by Maersk and are specific to the LaFrance location in Montreal.

20 ft container - $850
40 ft container - $1200
45 ft container - $1500
(plus $350 drayage charge for all containers)

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your business and trust. We look forward to continuing to serve your global transportation needs.

Please be guided accordingly.

Sincerely,

HENSALL GLOBAL LOGISTICS

Dear Customer,

CN has issued the following update to the industry:

I am writing to provide a status of our collective bargaining with Unifor, the union that represents approximately 3,000 colleagues working in various departments such as Mechanical, Intermodal, and Facility Management, and in clerical positions in Canada.

Discussions with Unifor have been ongoing since October 2022 and the Union filed for conciliation in December 2022. To protect your business and the North American supply chain, CN presented a monetary proposal including wages and benefits to the union on February 14, 2023. On numerous occasions, we requested the union’s response to this offer to progress the discussion, but CN has yet to receive any response to its comprehensive offer.

CN remains committed to achieving a negotiated settlement and avoiding any labour action, which could occur as early as March 21, 2023. Earlier this week, Unifor indicated that they have received support for a strike mandate with their members. As a result, consistent with our protocols and in an effort to protect our customers, we diligently began to take action to mitigate the impact of a potential disruption. 

CN will leverage management employees to maintain activities and we do not expect any labour action to impact our carload operations or our CNTL trucking services. We do expect to begin ramping down some parts of intermodal operations as of March 14, 2023.

In the event of a Unifor strike, CN will maintain intermodal services to all ports in Canada as well as inland terminals in Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax. All terminals in the United States will remain open.

For containers destined to Prince George, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg and Moncton, final cut offs will be dependant on the container’s origin and destination, and the cut off may start as early as March 14.  

CN remains committed to doing everything necessary to reach an agreement with Unifor that balances the interests of employees, the company and our stakeholders, avoids any labour action, and protects the supply chain.
 

We are continuing to monitor and will provide further information as it is made available.

Please be guided accordingly.

Sincerely,

HENSALL GLOBAL LOGISTICS

Dear Customer,

Unionized employees in contract talks with CN Rail voted in favour of potential strike action which could commence on March 21. Unifor represents 3000 mechanics, clerical workers, excavator operators and intermodal employees across 5 collective agreements with CN that expired on December 31, 2022.

CN and Unifor are expected to resume negotiations on March 13th with support from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services.

CN says it does not expect its operations to be impacted if the workers — including clerical staff and mechanics — take labour action.

We are continuing to monitor and will provide further information as it is made available.

Please be guided accordingly.

Sincerely,

HENSALL GLOBAL LOGISTICS

Dear Customer,

Please find advisory to the industry regarding the implementation of gate restrictions at CP Vaughan:

Effective March 7th, 2359hrs – no Pre-billed traffic will be accepted at Vaughan IMS with Montreal Racine as the destination Port. This will include export loads, or empties.

It should also be noted that CN continues to limit the number of available reservations ex Toronto for export cargo destination to POM.

Please be guided accordingly.

Sincerely,

HENSALL GLOBAL LOGISTICS

Dear Customer,

CP has issued following update to the industry:

Quebec Ministry of Transport annual spring thaw weight restrictions.

In support and preparation of the province of Quebec spring weight restrictions CP will be implementing our reduced weight requirements as outlined below in Tables 1 & 2.

Effective Monday, February 20, 2023 CP will not accept or in-gate any overweight containers.

Overweight loads will be returned to the Shipper at the payer of freight’s expense. Domestic shipments where CP performs the drayage, weights must be reduced and evenly distributed in the unit in order to avoid possible charges and fines associated with the Quebec and New Brunswick spring thaw restrictions. The payer of freight retains responsibility for any such charges. If the Government of Quebec issues an earlier date for spring thaw weight restrictions than CP’s effective date, we will advise accordingly.

CP will advise via Customer Bulletin when the reduced weight restrictions will be lifted, this will be based on Quebec spring thaw restrictions end dates published by the Ministry of Transport.

Final dates to ship without restrictions

The final shipping dates without restrictions are listed below in Table 1. Maximum payload is noted in Table 2. We encourage you to visit the Government of Quebec website here for a complete guide on spring thaw zones, dates, regulations, and restrictions.

Overweight traffic delayed online, but shipped on or before the Last Shipping Date will be delivered by CP without the application of overweight charges.

Table 1:

Last shipping date with regular payload weight:

Table 2:

Maximum Payloads - allowable content weight:

Spring Thaw Allowable Axle Weights:

CP Dray Restrictions

CP will not move any containers with a payload in excess of the Government of Quebec spring thaw weight restrictions on CP chassis (Triaxles and Tandems). On all overweight shipments, the payer of freight is responsible for securing their own dray vendor and chassis equipment to move overweight containers to and from CP’s Lachine ramp.

Should the payer of freight request CP assistance to support movement of overweight load from Lachine terminal, CP may arrange for use of a quad axle chassis. Quad axle chassis use fee as per Tariff 3 is $600 per unit, per day or part thereof. This fee applies from the time the chassis leaves the terminal until it is returned to Lachine. Please refer to CP’s Tariff 3 for all ancillary charges or click here. The overweight arrangements will be done after receiving written confirmation that the payer understands and accepts the charges. Only live offload deliveries will be permitted.

Shipments moving to/from Lachine IMS, destined for Eastern Ontario

Please click here to refer to CP’s Domestic Dray tariff 7551 for a complete list of Ontario cities serviced by Lachine IMS which are subject to spring thaw weight restrictions.

This broadcast is intended for Intermodal customers shipping to Quebec, (excludes International marine traffic). If you have difficulty reading this email, click here to log into Customer Station and view it there.

Service Plan (22, 25, 62, & 65)

CP will not load any overweight containers on CP chassis (Triaxles and Tandems) as per the Government of Quebec spring thaw weight restrictions after CP’s spring thaw start date of February 28, 2023. When booking a load as Door-to-Ramp or Ramp-to-Ramp, the payer of freight is responsible for securing their own dray vendor and chassis equipment at destination Lachine IMS ramp.
 

Please be guided accordingly.

Sincerely,

HENSALL GLOBAL LOGISTICS

Dear Customer,

CN has issued following update to the industry:

To all Customers shipping to/from the Province of Quebec. In order to avoid a potential backlog of heavy loads requiring special handling, we are implementing our Spring Weight Restrictions in advance of the Quebec Government notice. We are planning to have all heavy loads arrive prior to the anticipated start of restrictions on March 6, 2023. If the Government of Quebec issues an earlier date, we will adjust accordingly.

Please note that payload weights in equipment to be delivered by CNTL must be reduced per the requirements below for shipments planned to arrive after the start-date noted above.

To assist our customers during this period of reduced payload:

CN will establish a "Latest Shipping Date" where customers may ship at regular payload weights from each terminal (based on the consignee receiving the traffic immediately upon arrival at the destination terminal).

Note, the shipping date will be referred to as the Reservation Date. CN’s online tools can assist in determining the Reservation Date and Trip Plan.
 

In the event of an overweight load, CN may arrange transloading, or use specialty equipment to deliver the load. Any transloading requirements will be done at the prevailing market rate to be confirmed. Charges for use of quad chassis are as per tariff CN 9100 ($800 premium per delivery). To ensure the specialty equipment is not detained, all deliveries must be live-unloads. The overweight arrangements will be made after receiving written confirmation that the payer understands the charges.

Overweight traffic delayed online, but shipped prior to the "Latest Shipping Date", will be delivered by CN without the application of overweight charges.

The following table shows the "Latest Shipping Date" relative to the start of CN’s Spring Weight Restrictions:

Table 1 – Latest shipping date for deliveries in Quebec’s Zone 1
 

The maximum payload handled using CNR equipment during the Spring Weight Restriction period is:

Table 2 – Maximum Payloads and Axle Weights
 

Table 3 - Maximum Gross weight
 

Please be guided accordingly.

Sincerely,

HENSALL GLOBAL LOGISTICS

Dear Customer,

CP Rail has issued following update to the industry:

Gates reopened for all export loaded traffic to POM, effective 00:01 EST today / Wednesday 15 Feb (no restrictions).

Please be guided accordingly.

Sincerely,

HENSALL GLOBAL LOGISTICS