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| Keith Creel, president and chief executive officer |
“Overall, it was a good quarter that sets the franchise up well for the remainder of 2018 and beyond,” said Keith Creel, president and chief executive officer. “Our quarterly performance was impacted by service interruptions related to labor negotiations and strike notices. However, we were able to reach tentative long-term agreements with both the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers which will serve the CP family, customers, shareholders and the North American economy well for years to come.”
During a July 18 conference call with analysts, Creel elaborated on regulatory developments that came about during the quarter, including the introduction of Bill C49.
“It’s (Bill C49) allowed us to fulfill our commitment for a much-needed investment in our grain hopper fleet,” he said. “Over the next four years, we’re going to be investing (C$500 million) in hoppers, enabling CP to move more grain more efficiently across our network. And most of all, stakeholders will have substantial benefits from this, which is very encouraging, not only to CP, but our customers, our farmers. Canada’s reliability as a world supplier of grain, this product — or these hoppers — will allow us to create additional capacity, faster loading and unloading for our customers in a much more reliable fleet.”
Another aspect of the bill that Creel said he loves is the fact the bill provides CP with the ability to make a significant enhancement on the safety side. He said it will allow CP to use data from locomotive, voice and video recording equipment as a proactive measure to improve railway safety.
“This act is a step forward for efficiency and safety in Canada’s rail sector, and it’s a quantum leap in safety,” he said. “Be good for our employees, good for the communities that we operate in and through, great overall for Canada, for the U.S. and for the industry.”
CP said it generated C$372 million in revenues from grain shipments in the second quarter, up from C$363 million in the same period a year ago.
