Transport Canada Update
- June 8, 2021
July 8, 2021
To our valued industry partners,
Last month we prepared an advocacy bulletin for membership outlining the details of our meeting with Transport Canada. The purpose of the meeting was to bring forward concerns WRLA members continue to experience on the transportation front. Lack of containers, pricing and perceived prioritization of other product lines were the key topics of discussion.
Quick recap of key discussion points include:
- Issues behind container availability, pricing and the inability to guarantee quicker shipping of containers at the inflated/premium price. Profit margins on a variety of products do not have the profit margin to justify the increase in cost.
- Addressed the comments that other industries have been sequestering more containers and have been given priority.
- Concerns pertaining Line 5 and the impact that increased transport of oil through rail will have on other products that rely on rail for transport.
- Lumber thefts that have taken place and concern that transport trucks are a target.
- Suspected timeline for the congestion and issues to level out.
- Positioned the WRLA and its members as a resource to government and we will continue to be part of the conversation.
While we have not yet received responses to our concerns we will continue to follow up on these issues. It will be important to communicate what steps are being taken from a Transport Canada perspective to address these issues and how they are working with various stakeholders across the globe to deliver a roadmap outlining a timeline and next steps. Having a better understanding of how the backlog and pricing issues will be dealt with, will help businesses plan for the coming months and alleviate the stress of the continuous unknows.
Once again, we will be in touch once we have received responses to our questions and concerns. If you have any feedback or are interested to participate in some discussion on any of the above, please do let me know.
Best regards,
Liz Kovach
President, WRLA
Liz Kovach
President, WRLA
E: e2eae551KM4D0u07phfKud4fa|
P: 204.770.2416