Category Archives: Transportation

Wood products from British Columbia traditionally have moved south to the United States by way of rail or truck, and to a lesser degree, by sea.

Now with the demand for British Columbia’s wood soaring in China, and drastically weakening in the U.S., lumber is hitting a transportation bottleneck at B.C.’s ports.

Vancouver and Prince Rupert both have lumber jamming up their ports, waiting for transportation to China. Half of the containers leaving Vancouver’s port are said to be filled with lumber or pulp.

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A new servicing agreement is in place with Squamish Terminals Ltd., its pulp producing customers, and the railway.

The deal will see the Canadian National Railway provide 7 day a week service to the Squamish Terminals. In return, Squamish Terminals will guarantee to unload pulp cars daily.

Forest companies involved in the agreement:

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The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) is calling on the federal government to act quickly and decisively on the problem identified by the Rail Freight Service Review panel. Early in 2008, the federal government committed to addressing the deficiencies in rail service to rural industries. After two and a half years of process and deliberation the time has come to act.

The interim report from the Rail Freight Service Review panel correctly recognizes “there is a need for change” and that “improvement in rail service is required”. It goes on to make several positive recommendations that would help address some of the service inadequacies faced by all Canadian shippers. However the panel is relying on CN and CP to voluntarily bring in the changes and says the government should only consider regulatory measures after 2013.

“If the railways were serious about improving service they would have done so by now. Service is poor because there is no effective competition. A delay is simply unacceptable and a deep blow to resource communities in rural Canada that depend on rail shipping,” says Avrim Lazar, the President and CEO of FPAC. “Why would the government want to give the railways another three years of virtual monopoly status, three more years to underserve and overcharge, and three more years of failing to adequately serve rural communities. The government needs to do its job now.”

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RailAmerica, Inc. today reported that its subsidiary RaiLink Canada Ltd. has entered into a long term operating agreement with the Canadian Pacific (CP) Railway to operate a portion of the Ottawa Valley Railway (OVRR) line.

In December of 2009, the company announced the termination of its lease with CP of the OVRR. As part of the terms of the lease termination, the company continued to operate 157 miles of the line between Sudbury and Mattawa, Ontario, and between Mattawa and Temiscaming, Quebec for an interim period of time.

RailAmerica has now agreed to continue to operate these segments of the OVRR under a new, five year operating agreement with an option for future extension. The Company expects the agreement to result in a positive contribution to net income.

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Thomas Olsen has stepped down from his position of president for the British Columbia Truck Loggers Association.

Olsen has also stepped down as an executive and director of Triumph Timber, one of the coast’s leading-edge companies in developing ecosystem-based logging to focus on his new role as the managing director of Haida Economic Corp. As managing director, his new business duties include spearheading economic development on Haida Gwaii.

The current forestry crisis has shut down most coastal forest operations. Olsen said he is no longer the right person to lead the organization in its transition out of crisis.

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The Huron Central Railway (HCR) is planning to close its rail service between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie in Northern Ontario due to a loss in revenue.

The HCR snakes its way along Highway 17 through the North Shore corridor, and provides freight services to major industrial companies within the area.

The company plans to stop their service in mid-August and the rail line will return it to the jurisdiction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), which owns the railway. 35 people will lose their jobs.

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A former logging truck driver in British Columbia, Amber Crutchley, says she is very concerned about key safety measures she says are not being followed by truck drivers, not the least of which is excessive speeding.

“It’s awful — it’s absolutely awful out there. You could hear this one guy bragging (on the radio) that he could get up to 120, 130 km/h, on the 3200 road, which is just outside of 70 Mile House,” said Amber Crutchley. “I can’t understand why anyone would brag about something like that. What if you came around the corner and met a camper or a family or a school bus? There are school buses there, that go out to Canim Ranch.”

Read about the logging truck accidents you don’t hear about, and the safety practices that aren’t being followed:
Former trucker at logger- heads with mill (100 Mile House Free Press)

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The British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has approved the use of 9’6″ log bunks on highways – a foot wider than previously allowed.

The Central Interior Logging Association says it’s heard some concerns over a new initiative that allows some logging trucks to haul a wider load.

“These are wider by a considerable margin and when you’re through some of the communities like Quesnel, Burns Lake, and others where the main streets are fairly tight, especially in some of the corners, these wider bunks can cause a problem clearing obstructions, poles, those kinds of things,” said CILA Executive Director Roy Nagel.

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Buchanan Forest Products plans to build a floating commercial dock on Lake Superior to ship pulp from its Terrace Bay, Ontario mill to be in operation next spring.

Buchanan plans to use the dock to transport pulp to U.S. customers along the Great Lakes.

The proposed steel floating dock, to be made of steel, still has to be approved by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources.

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A damaged railway line in Saskatchewan is causing many problems for the three Meadow Lake mills who rely on rail to move their product.

The railway is run by the Carlton Trail Railway and is owned by Omnitrax Canada. It has been shut down since April 11.

The rain and wet conditions have caused problems with the structure of the railroad. The trains can not operate safely on the rail line.

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