New CEO: CN will immediately improve movement of Western Canadian grain
March 07 2018 - 6:00AM
CN (TSX:CNR) (NYSE:CNI) Interim President and Chief Executive
Officer JJ Ruest said the company will quickly improve the movement
of Western Canadian grain and is directing additional people and
equipment to clear backlogs across its network.
“We apologize for not meeting the expectations
of our grain customers, nor our own high standards,” Ruest said.
“The entire CN team has a sense of urgency and is fully focused on
getting it right for farmers and our grain customers, regaining the
confidence of Canadian businesses, and protecting Canada’s
reputation as a stable trade partner in world markets.
“Moving the Canadian economy is in our DNA. We
can and we will do much better, and that starts today – no
excuses,” Ruest continued. “CN has taken immediate steps to
mobilize our proud and dedicated team of railroaders – the best in
the business – in order to move more grain faster.”
These steps include:
- Offering incentives for key operating employees to delay
retirement and postpone vacations, and for recently-retired
operating employees to return to work
- Deploying qualified management employees to operate extra
trains
- Adding train crews in Western Canada: about 250 conductors put
in the field in last three months of 2017, with about 400
conductors coming into the field in the first three months of 2018,
and an additional 375 from April to June
- Leased 130 locomotives to increase capacity in Western Canada,
almost all of which are now online
- Investing over $250 million this year to build new track and
yard capacity in Western Canada to boost supply chain fluidity and
build in capacity resiliency for future grain crops
CN delivered 4,577 empty hopper cars last week,
up 35 percent from the February average of 3,400. All available
hopper cars are in service and we will show sequential weekly
improvements progressing towards 5,000 per week by the end of
March.
“Canadians can count on CN to get this job done
and to get it done safely, reliably and efficiently,” Ruest said.
“We will provide regular weekly tracking on our grain movements and
engage our grain customers. We also encourage Parliament to pass
Bill C-49 swiftly.”
CN is a true backbone of the economy whose team
of approximately 24,000 railroaders transports more than C$250
billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business
sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to
consumer goods, across a rail network of approximately 20,000
route-miles spanning Canada and mid-America. CN – Canadian National
Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries –
serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C.,
Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the
metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary,
Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., and
Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America.
For more information about CN, visit the Company’s website at
www.cn.ca.
Contacts:
|
|
Media |
Investors |
Patrick
Waldron |
Paul Butcher |
Senior Manager
|
Vice-President |
Media Relations
|
Investor Relations |
(514)
399-8803 |
(514) 399-0052 |
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0fa51329-02ce-4705-b9a1-ca412d6391d5
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