Railway Container Shipments Plummet Due to BC Port Strike That’s Poised to End

Signs displaying "closed" are seen at the Centerm Container Terminal as striking International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada workers picket at the port, in Vancouver, B.C., July 11, 2023. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

Railways suffered a sharp drop-off in container shipments this month as the strike by B.C. port workers — now poised to end after a tentative deal Thursday — halted more than half of steel-box cargo.

Canadian National Railway Co.’s revenue ton miles—a key industry metric used to gauge income and freight volume—fell 60 percent in the first week of the job action, according to RBC Dominion Securities analyst Walter Spracklin.