May 2023

Widespread wildfires in Alberta have impacted freight volume through the region. On May 6, no trains moved westbound from Alberta. May 19-22 saw another period of significant variability.

Total southbound traffic from Canada was 134,124 cars in February, 139,283 in March, and 138,996 in April. CN commands the majority of that traffic, 62.4% of total southbound traffic over the past three months. This is higher than the proportion of total export traffic to western ports, for which CN moves 58% of total traffic.

Import traffic into the ports of Vancouver and Ridley eclipsed traffic moving westbound into the ports region in April, with 143,173 carloads coming into Canada compared to 138,194 moving toward the ports, a 4,974 car difference.

For the period May 1-15, 30,109 intermodal containers originated in Vancouver, resulting in a daily average volume of 2,007 containers per day. This represents a 10% increase in the daily average volume from April.

More than 53,000 intermodal containers originated in Vancouver in April, resulting in a daily average volume of 1,775 per day, a 0.93% increase over March.