Even at the peak of interswitching, during 2014-17, only 1% of grain was moved through it. Typically, it's the canola processors who are big movers of it. It's a corporate negotiation strategy. A shipper can say to one class I railway, “We need 500 grain cars this week.” If that railway says, “We can only send 300”, the shipper can then call the other class I railway and say, “We need 500. How close can you get?”
With the duration of the pilot being only 18 months and with no path to permanency or no horizon for an extension at this point, many shippers are scared to use it, for fear of retaliation from the class I railways after the expiration of interswitching. Again, it is a negotiation tool. It's not something that is typically used a lot, but it provides the only way our shippers can say.... We have geographic monopolies that, at the best of times, operate as a duopoly. In the worst-case scenario for farmers, if a grain elevator processor gets full, they can't deliver their grain even if they have a contract. Then they can't pay their bills. Increasingly, we're seeing, in your neck of the woods, that all the anchorage or demurrage from vessels is as a result of poor grain car fulfillment from railways.
For us, 80% is good. CN has been pretty good post-labour action. CPKC is still in the 70% of grain car fulfillment. When those ships anchor, those demurrage costs, up to $15,000 a day, get passed on through the value chain. Then they have to go back to sea. They cause Vancouver Island residents heartache, etc.
It's a significant issue. It affects our global reputation as an on-time, reliable trading partner.