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The port terminals and railroads are moving quickly to resolve any backlogs as a result of the work stoppage.
RailState is closely monitoring the flows of rail traffic in the western ports region as a result of the ILWU strike.
Intermodal experienced the most immediate changes from the work stoppage, slowing to a halt soon after the start of the strike on July 1. Volume changes in other commodities, while not as immediate and stark as intermodal, are also showing a substantial impact from the strike.
RailState is closely monitoring the flows of rail traffic in the western ports region as a result of the ILWU strike.
The most dramatic change has been in intermodal. All non-domestic intermodal rail traffic into and out of the Ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert has stopped.
The dockworkers’ strike at the western ports began on July 1 and we have seen a fast and significant impact on freight rail volume out of the ports. Container volume out of the ports quickly dropped and there are now no 20 and 40 foot imported containers moving from port terminals.
Overall traffic moving into the western ports region declined in June, going from 137,550 carloads moving to the ports in May to 130,906 carloads in June, a decrease of 4.8%. Daily average volume in June was 4,364 carloads per day. CN experienced a significant drop of 7.9% in carload volume in June, and CPKC stayed mostly flat, decreasing only 0.65% from May.
Total southbound traffic on CN in June was 82,266 cars, which was 3.5% lower than traffic in May (85,256 cars). CPKC showed a larger decrease in total southbound traffic from May to May, dropping 15%. Average daily southbound traffic for CPKC was 1533 cars per day, which is the lowest average daily southbound volume seen this year.
June saw 63,523 containers enter through the western Canada ports. This is a drop of 5.27% of total container volume from May and 12.6% lower volume than June 2022. Average daily volume was 2,117 containers per day. While June volume was lower than volume in May, it remained above container volume seen in October 2022 through April 2023.
Southbound traffic into the US declined in June on both carriers. CPKC saw a larger drop of 10.9% in southbound traffic compared to May, and CN saw a modest decrease of 2.8%. Based on data from June 1-15, this month is on pace to have the lowest total southbound traffic in the previous five months. Traffic moving northbound into Canada in June, however, is in line with trends so far this year.
Overall traffic moving into the western ports region is down 4.9% in the first two weeks of June. Total volume to the western ports region is on pace to hit 130,800 carloads by the end of the month, about 7,000 fewer carloads than in May. Daily average volume in June is 4,360 carloads per day, about 200 fewer carloads per day than the previous month.
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