As trains across the country come to a grinding halt due to a labour dispute, those in the trucking industry are preparing to pick up the slack. However, it’s going to be hard to keep up with the volume, they say.
For the first time in the country’s history, Canada’s two freight rail lines are expected to cease operations and strike at the same time, putting unprecedented pressure on the trucking industry.
A phased shutdown of the networks at Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. is already underway as the clock ticks down on negotiations with the union representing 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers. Both companies have issued lockout notices while the union has also threatened to strike.
If the work stoppage goes ahead, shipping companies would be forced to turn to Canada’s big rigs to hit the road with more loads than they can possibly handle.
“We’ve heard rumours that it’s going to affect us, that our workload could increase,” said long haul truck driver Paul Logie. “I think we can handle some increase; I don’t know just how much, but in the long run, it’s definitely going to hurt the end supply.”
FMI Logistics’ Jon Finnimore said the trucking industry won’t be able to handle the same volume rail lines carry. Trucks are limited to one or at most two containers per truck and it costs significantly more than rail to move the same amount of product.
“A lot of product touches the rail before it gets to the end user; trucks handle a lot, but they can’t handle the same volume as the rail companies do,” he said, adding warehouses that are full now will soon see their supply start to dwindle.
“Even though they haven’t gone on strike yet, we still have three to four days of backup already. So we’ve moved everything we can onto the road, but what we’re starting to see already is the costs are starting to go up.”
Those increased costs will eventually be passed down to the consumer the longer the strike drags on.
With the deadline of 12:01 a.m. Thursday, Canada Labour Minister Steve Mackinnon met with both rail companies and the union to find common ground, urging a deal to be worked out.
“My job is to be there to remind these parties that their responsibilities go way beyond their own interests at this table, and a lot of people are counting on them to make a deal,” Mackinnon said Wednesday.