Canada’s biggest grain handler says it’s broken the record for unloading the most railcars at the Port of Vancouver in a 24-hour period.
Viterra, owner of the Cascadia port terminal, working with Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), said it unloaded 323 railcars on Oct. 24 and thus broke a 14-year-old record of 304.
“This achievement gives credence to our belief that operating improvements will result when the asset operators are given the ability to manage the entire pipeline from country elevator to vessel,” said Bob Miller, Viterra’s senior vice-president for grain for North America, in a company release Wednesday.
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Over 28,800 tonnes of grains and oilseeds were unloaded from the 323 cars. The terminal at the same time loaded out 12,800 tonnes of canola to a ship and loaded three trucks, “meaning the facility was not solely operating in pursuit of the record,” the company said.
The planning and execution of the loaded and empty train movements was co-ordinated between Viterra’s logistics teams at Vancouver and at its Regina head office, along with the Calgary and local Vancouver operations groups within CPR.
Of the 323 cars unloaded, 122 cars held canola, 112 red winter wheat, 35 red spring wheat and 54 cars held durum. Viterra said that shows its plan to enhance the “multi-commodity capability” of the Cascadia facility, which it took over last year, is “on track.”
