CIFFA Advocacy Update
CIFFA is regularly engaged in advocacy efforts on behalf of membership.
The following is a recap of several consultations that took place in July, 2022.
On July 22, Executive Director Bruce Rodgers met with Mr. Trever Heryet, A/Assistant Deputy Minister Pacific Region, Transport Canada, to discuss container congestion challenges. The department has been meeting with relevant stakeholders looking for initiatives that can resolve current challenges within the next 60-90 days.
Mr. Herbert expressed that last year there were significant disruptions: extreme weather, rail stoppages, flooding, highway washouts, etc. Now one year later, we are in a seemingly worse position with heavy anchorage use and more volume than rail can handle. Concerns are around grain bulk exports that will be starting soon, coupled with other heavy bulk exports as well.
Transport Canada has convened a small working group of carriers, terminal operators, ports and rail providers to address the issue.
CIFFA discussed the issues of vessel unreliability, importer volume surplus, warehouses at capacity, driver shortage, the metering of trains, etc., and the delays of actioning additional yard space (Milton, Bolton).
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Also on July 22, CIFFA consulted with Cascadia Partners, which was seeking input on behalf of the Office of the British Columbia Container Trucking Commissioner (OBCCTC) and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, to better understand the drayage landscape, and in particular, driver compensation and working conditions.
CIFFA’s Bruce Rodgers provided an overview of CIFFA and the challenges that members are facing.
CIFFA was informed that there is a slowing of drivers entering the BC market, although small in comparison to what is occurring in Ontario. They also requested to speak with a large and small drayage operator, which CIFFA facilitated.
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CIFFA was also engaged with Mr. Michael Benton, Chief of Political and Economic Affairs. U.S. Consulate General to obtain views on cross-border supply chain issues. This conversation also occurred on July 22nd, where Bruce Rodgers provided insight into the challenges surrounding road and rail bottlenecks around borders and major ports, significant weather events, worker shortages, security disruptions, work stoppages, and the need for redundancy and forward planning.
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On July 19, CIFFA’s Executive Director Bruce Rodgers and Director Policy and Communications Julia Kuzeljevich met virtually with a team from the National Supply Chain Task Force for a discussion about supply chain issues affecting membership.
On July 28, CIFFA provided its written submission to the National Supply Chain Task Force. Members can read the notes of the submission here.
CIFFA also invited members to provide their own input directly to the portal, as desired.
