“The problem is that precision railroading isn’t very precise,” said Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevators Association, in an interview. But some customers blame a cost-cutting and efficiency focused push known as “precision railroading” for diminishing capacity and flexibility to deal with unexpected changes in demand. Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway have faced intense scrutiny over extended shipping delays this winter that have created a backlog in grain shipments. “The purpose of precision railroading is to create efficiency and to improve capacity because your network is fluid,” he said in an interview. But for farmers, who are losing money as trainloads of their grain sit empty, the winter weather explanation is cold comfort.

Source: thestar March 29, 2018 14:26 UTC