The independent monitor for Canada's grain handling and transportation system is saying the federal legislation designed to help issues with moving 2013's record crop is making a difference.
"I think it's going to be debated as to whether or not it was the legislation or whether or not the railways actually reacted to the movement, either way it cut it," said Mark Hemmes, the President of Quorum Corporation, who spoke at CropSphere in Saskatoon last week.
"I think the focus that was to it by the government was an impetus that got things moving, and allowed us to move the kind of volumes that we had for the last 10 months," he added. "Either way you look at it, it's positive."
Hemmes says today, things are moving smoothly for a majority of shippers, but there are still some small issues left to deal with.
"One is for the people who sell who sell grain in smaller blocks of rail cars, there are still some challenges going down into the US, although not like we were seeing seen last year, as well as movements into Eastern Canada of milling products," he added. "But for the better part, I think we are miles ahead of where we were at this time last year."
Hemmes adds he doesn't think there was anybody in the industry who thought a crop as large as what was harvested in 2013 would be moved in just one year.