CN Rail continues to recover from the slowdown during the bitter cold temperatures of a few weeks ago.
CN's Assistant Vice President of Grain David Przednowek says in December the network velocity was at about 215 miles per day, which dropped substantially during the cold snap but has once again regained momentum.
"We have moved about 460,000 tonnes in each of the past couple of weeks. We would have liked to have moved more, but again we're catching up. From where we've been at the same time, demand has ramped up. It feels like we're going to have a stronger run right through March. Then I guess we'll see what happens from April forward."
He adds they are also dealing with the impacts of the atmospheric rivers that are rolling through southern British Columbia and the terminal closures that have occurred.
"It's a commercial decision for most of them as to whether or not they're going to set up and take down all of the infrastructure that's required to load in inclement weather. That's a decision that gets made from shift to shift every eight hours. It's not that it isn't happening, some terminals use this more than others. There are a couple of terminals where there is no means at all of loading grain during inclement weather, but there are places where that can occur."
He notes this is an end-to-end supply chain so if one component isn't functioning at full capacity it has a ripple effect down the line.