US rails cancel embargoes after Canada work stoppage ends (updated)

CH Robinson Worldwide

26/08/2024 19:15

(Adds details from BNSF, background throughout)
       Aug 26 (Reuters) - U.S. railroads Norfolk Southern
 NSC.N  and BNSF Railway on Monday said all embargoes associated
with the potential Canadian work stoppage stand canceled and
affected rail traffic has resumed, putting an end to an
unprecedented service disruption in the movement of goods across
the border.
    Canadian National  CNR.TO  and Canadian Pacific Kansas City
 CP.TO  previously issued embargoes on goods moving to the U.S.
as part of an orderly shutdown before a potential work stoppage.
    The railroads also locked out more than 9,000 unionized
workers at midnight of August 22, triggering a simultaneous rail
stoppage.
    The Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered a halt to work
stoppages on Saturday, issuing binding arbitration, while ruling
a continuation of existing contracts.
    Both CN and CPKC have previously highlighted that it might
take several weeks for them to fully recover from this work
stoppage.
    Freight forwarder C.H. Robinson's  CHRW.O  Canada VP Scott
Shannon in a statement to Reuters said, "We expect it to take up
to a week for each railroad to be fully reset and running
smoothly again. It will take much longer to catch up with
shipments that have gotten backlogged."

 (Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay
Kishore)
 ((Abhinav.Parmar@thomsonreuters.com;))