US Freight Forwarder Diverting Cargo Away from Canadian Ports

August 19, 2024

© Bumble Dee / Adobe Stock
© Bumble Dee / Adobe Stock

US freight forwarder C.H. Robinson said on Monday it was diverting some of its U.S. customers' ocean cargo away from Canadian ports as the threat of a rail strike looms.

It said roughly 80% of its customers who had switched are now exporting through Los Angeles/Long Beach ports and the rest through Seattle/Tacoma ports.

Canadian railroads, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, are bracing for a possible work stoppage by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Union.

"Now that a strike notice has been declared, some of our Canadian export customers are starting to ship time-sensitive goods to the ports by truck to avoid containers being stuck at rail terminals during a strike," C.H. Robinson's Canada VP Scott Shannon said in a statement to Reuters.

C.H. Robinson is lining up extra trucking capacity on both sides of the border, as volumes are expected to shift to highways following the disruption.
A strike, which could come as early as August 22, brings a level of uncertainty for shippers in both U.S. and Canada, forcing them to think about over-the-road options.


(Reuters - Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Sriraj Kalluvila)

Logistics News

Port Everglades Welcomes First LNG-Powered Cargo Ship

Port Everglades Welcomes First LNG-Powered Cargo Ship

Indian Billionaire Gautam Adani to Sell Australian Port Terminal

Port of Corpus Christ: 51.3 Million Tons Moved in Q1 2025

Port of Corpus Christ: 51.3 Million Tons Moved in Q1 2025

Port Esbjerg: Fairway Deepened to Expand Capacity

Port Esbjerg: Fairway Deepened to Expand Capacity

Subscribe for Maritime Logistics Professional E‑News

Russian oil rates from Baltic to India continue to fall as Urals remains under price cap
At least 148 people die after boat catches fire in Congo, media reports say
Russia increases oil product supplies to Indonesia