With a new connection to the deepwater port in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canadian Pacific Railway is ramping up the competition with rival Canadian National for inland intermodal cargo from the east coast of Canada.

A hearing into whether a strike or lockout would be so disruptive to the Port of Montreal that it should be prohibited will continue after the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) rejected a claim by employers that a board member had shown a pro-union bias.

The investment adds momentum to the port’s efforts to improve truck fluidity following high single-digit growth last year that has since moderated to mid- single-digit gains.

The Port of Montreal believes that by the end of the summer truckers will be able to plan their pick up or drop off of cargo at the port with the help of a turn-time prediction created by using artificial intelligence techniques.

The port of Montreal’s primary container terminals are developing programs that will cut turn times by allowing truckers to process container documentation before they arrive at the port in an effort to cope with rising cargo volumes.

The expansion of one of four main terminals at the port of Montreal will help Canada’s second-largest port cope with growing cargo volumes as shipping services increase.

VIDEO: With an electronic logging device (ELD) rule set to take effect this year, the Canadian container shipping industry is working to mitigate anticipated trucking pressures as the mandate will tighten capacity. JOC Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi spoke with Groupe Robert Vice President Martin Roy, and OEC Group President and CEO Marc Bibeau on how beneficial cargo owners can work with their transportation providers to mitigate. Those tactics are one of the various subjects that will be addressed at JOC’s Canada Trade Conference on June 3-5 in Toronto. https://events.joc.com/canada-trade-2019

A slew of upgrades, efficiency improvements, and new services are all aimed at boosting business.

Montreal’s extended gate hours have improved fluidity since their introduction in September. Now, amid rising volume and construction, among other factors, port officials would like to see the off-hours cargo pickup continue to trend higher to further decease congestion.

Maersk Line will stop at the port of Montreal only, and no longer the port of Halifax, on its route linking Canada to Europe, to speed up transit times.

In the midst of a volume uptrend, Montreal is the latest North American port to try extending its terminal gate hours to improve cargo fluidity in and out of the terminal, and to place a charge on containers to pay for it.

At a June 6 meeting in which 30 port stakeholders reviewed the impact of increasing the hours from beyond the old time of 6 a.m. to 2.30 p.m., to close instead at 7 p.m., the terminals agreed to extend the project, which began May 14 and was due to end on June 22, at least through the summer.

Shippers that view Montreal as a quick and direct way to move cargo in and out of Canada, and perhaps connect to the United States, can rest easier regarding their assessment; a pilot program that extended gates by 4.5 hours appears to have diminished congestion inside the port.

Canada's strong economic fundamentals, adequate transport infrastructure, large population close to key ports, and Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement implementation, among other factors, point to a strong trade performance in the immediate years ahead.

Shippers concerned that rising cargo volumes at the Port of Montreal will increase rail dwell times may have their fears allayed by a Canadian Government investment designed to improve rail efficiency and make the port more competitive.

Shippers that send cargo through Montreal because there were fewer delays than at the Port of New York and New Jersey and other ports are finding that the Canadian port’s growth is helping trigger greater congestion.