Intermodal Service Scorecard : Spring 2024 September | 11
What We Heard — CPKC
Positive-Neutral
“ Willing to work with us on pricing . Actively involved .”
“ On-time service and transit into and out of Mexico have consistently been very good .”
“ Much better transit times than their competitors .”
“ Their train service is lights out when you make the train , but customer service responsiveness is poor at best .”
Negative
“ The focus on Mexico has brought about degradation in other vital parts of their network ; inability to say ‘ no ’ to certain international demand has led domestic intermodal to suffer greatly .”
“ CPKC continues to struggle with empty containers in Dallas . Whether it be no chassis or a lack of empties , we have missed over 40 loads in April due to the issues . Pricing is also a concern and the speed at which we get an answer is very troubling . Finally , service out of Calgary has been horrible . We have had multiple instances of containers sitting 7 + days waiting to depart . I guess CPKC does not use the PSR [ precision-scheduled railroading ] model any longer to move freight .”
“ There are IT / systems issues on Canadian cross-border traffic . The time from entry filed to the time CPKC shows customs cleared in their system — i . e ., when the driver can finally ingate — averages 45 minutes to 1 hour . As a comparison , the CN system is almost instantaneous , and drivers can ingate within 10 to 15 minutes at the ramp .”
“ Price competitive while trying to grow business to fill their trains post-merger , but a small and aged CPPU fleet [ CPbranded containers ] has resulted in some over-promised / under-delivered situations with a customer of ours . Also being live lift only in Bensenville has been a complaint by our draymen that have to go in and out multiple times per day . I ’ m curious to see their plans grow at scale .”
“ CPKC promotes Mexico service , but service is largely limited to private box haulers . Moving loads to the East Coast [ eastern Canada ] is challenged due to no direct line or tunnel .” www . spglobal . com | www . joc . com © 2024 S & P Global