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12 A P R I L 2014 ❯❯ FO O D LO G I S T I C S W W W . F O O D L O G I S T I C S . C O M CN Rail Challenged to Meet Mandates on Grain Shipments Canadian National Railway said last month it's doing its level best to meet the Canadian government's requirement to transport more grain, but warned that grain elevators on Canada's west coast are nearing capacity while ice coverage and persistent cold weather is preventing shipping via the Great Lakes. The railroad reports they are moving more grain in response to an order from Ottawa to CN Rail and Canadian Pacific Railway to more than double the amount of grain they hauled or face stiff daily fines. The Canadian government's order to the railroads to move 1.1 million tons of grain total came after many Canadian farmers complained the bumper grain crop wasn't being transported fast enough and they risked losing export business as a result. In their defense, the two railroads said the most severe winter in decades has forced them to shorten their trains, reduce capac- ity and slow services while increasing transit times. "As I have said before, blaming railways alone, or even worse, threatening to punish them with re-regulation for an outsized crop and winter conditions beyond their control, will not help to move any more grain, now or over the longer term," CN Railway's CEO and President Claude Mongeau said in a statement. Meanwhile, CN Railway is concerned that grain elevators on Canada's west coast are nearing capacity, limiting export potential before the Great Lakes shipping lane re-opens and the export program at the Port of Thun- der Bay, Ontario, begins. Furthermore, the Great Lakes ice cover is the largest in decades, and while the shipping season normally begins in March, some carriers don't expect to begin shipping until early to mid-April, according to The Detroit News. "We need urgent support from the Canadian Coast Guard to open navigation channels if we are to meet the federal gov- ernment's order in council requiring CN to move 500,000 tons, or close to 5,500 cars of grain per week," said Mongeau. California Drought Threatens State's Salmon Industry California has begun hauling 30 million young Chinook salmon hundreds of miles toward the Pacific Ocean in tanker trucks to try and save the state's fishing industry, after a record drought left rivers too low for the fish's normal migration. Three climate-controlled trucks, each car- rying 130,000 silvery three-inch smolts, were transported from a federal hatchery near San Francisco for a three-hour drive to San Pablo Bay, where they are being held in netted pens to acclimate before release. T he newly launched M-580 container-on-barge service between the Port of Stockton and the Port of Oakland promises to add a much needed transportation alternative to importers and exporters in Northern California. Last summer, the service started with an initial demonstration phase then ramped up into full operations in late 2013. Shippers of grain, bulk commodi- ties and wine are among those cargoes being targeted by the M-580 service, said Mark Tollini, the Port of Stockton's senior deputy port director, in an interview with Food Logistics earlier this year. Currently, the service operates twice weekly with two barges—M- 580A and M-580B—but is expected to expand to four round-trip rotations per week later this year. On average, the transit time one-way is about 9.5 hours. Interstate 580 is a heavily traveled truck route between the two ports, and it's also one of the most congested corridors in the nation. Therefore, the container-on-barge service, which can accommodate the equivalent of 350 trucks for every barge move, offers a number of attractive benefits: including reduced transportation and logistics costs, improved air quality, less truck traffic, and ultimately a safer highway for other motorists. But those aren't the only advantages, according to the Port of Stockton's Tollini. The barge service allows shippers to load containers up to the maxi- mum allowed volume of weight and cubic capacity of the container, which can save about 20 percent on ocean freight charges for shippers. L O G I S T I C S T R E N D S I N O U R I N D U S T R Y FOOD ON THE MOVE Port of StocktonÕs M-580 Container-on-Barge Service Making Waves FLOG_12-15_0414 FoodMove.indd 12 4/4/14 9:19 AM