PORT METRO VANCOUVER | 2015/16 INTERMODAL INTEGRATED WINTER PLAN
Vancouver Gateway Intermodal
Integrated Winter Plan
Winter 2015/2016
PORT METRO VANCOUVER | 2015/16 INTERMODAL INTEGRATED WINTER PLAN
Introduction
The 2015/16 Vancouver Gateway Intermodal Integrated Winter Plan is designed to focus
attention on key aspects of Vancouver Gateway intermodal supply chain performance to
help ensure service reliability through the winter months.
These areas include, but are not limited to: winter preparedness planning; planned events
(such as holiday closures); unplanned events (such as rail service and terminal disruptions);
planned communications; and escalation processes in the event of disruptions.
Winter Preparedness Planning
Both CP Rail and CN Rail have extensive winter plans in place to address the impact of
winter weather conditions across their networks including:
CN

Implementation of Winter Train Length guidelines for temperatures below -25C;

Store of serviceable ready units positioned at key outlying terminals;

Reserve of railcars at strategic non snow belt locations across the network to ensure
consistent car supply;

Pre/Post Christmas car supply plan in place.
CP





Proactive monitoring of weather and train length reductions to reduce issues over the
road;
Locomotive and crew resources available to supply demand as well as contingency
requirements;
Snow removal equipment in place at high risk locations;
Approximately two days of safety stock stored within less than a day transit of
Vancouver. Safety stock reviewed daily;
Significant capital investment in 2015 to improve ability to recover from outages.
Winter 2015/2016
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PORT METRO VANCOUVER | 2015/16 INTERMODAL INTEGRATED WINTER PLAN
Gateway Container Terminal Holiday Work Schedule
December
January
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
01
02
Centerm
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Open
07:3012:00
Closed
Work
from
01:00
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Open
07:3012:00
Closed
Work
from
01:00
Normal
Hours
Deltaport
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Open
08:00
-12:00
Closed
Work
from
01:00
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Open
08:00
-12:00
Closed
Work
from
01:00
Normal
Hours
Fraser
Surrey
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Open
08:00
-12:00
Closed
Work
from
01:00
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Open
07:3012:00
Closed
Work
from
01:00
Normal
Hours
Vanterm
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Open
08:00
-12:00
Closed
Work
from
01:00
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Open
07:3012:00
Closed
Work
from
01:00
Normal
Hours
CP Rail
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Down from
00:01 to 12:00
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
CN Rail
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Reduced service
12/24 18:00 12/25 12:00
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Normal
Hours
Terminal
Railways
Winter 2015/2016
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PORT METRO VANCOUVER | 2015/16 INTERMODAL INTEGRATED WINTER PLAN
Gateway 2015/16 Holiday Work Schedule – Container Terminal Truck Gates
Centerm
Vanterm
Deltaport
FSD
Monday, December 21
08:00 – 00:00
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
08:00 – 16:00
Tuesday, December 22
08:00 – 00:00
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
08:00 – 16:00
Wednesday, December 23
08:00 – 00:00
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
08:00 – 16:00
Thursday, December 24
08:00 – 00:00
08:00 – 10:59
08:00 – 10:59
08:00 – 12:00
Friday, December 25
Closed
Closed
Closed
Closed
Saturday, December 26
Closed
Closed
Closed
Closed
Sunday, December 27 (1)
Closed
Closed
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
Closed
Monday, December 28
Closed
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
08:00 – 16:00
Tuesday, December 29
08:00 – 00:00
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
08:00 – 16:00
Wednesday, December 30
08:00 – 00:00
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
08:00 – 16:00
Thursday, December 31
07:30 – 12:00
08:00 – 10:59
08:00 – 10:59
08:00 – 12:00
Friday, January 1
Closed
Closed
Closed
Closed
Saturday, January 2
Closed
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
Closed
Sunday, January 3 (1)
Closed
Closed
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
Closed
08:00 – 00:00
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
08:00 – 15:59
17:00 – 23:59
08:00 – 16:00
Monday, January 4
(1) Exports and Empties only
Winter 2015/2016
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PORT METRO VANCOUVER | 2015/16 INTERMODAL INTEGRATED WINTER PLAN
Planning for Holiday Closures

Container terminal operators and both Class 1 railways will work in collaboration to
draw down import intermodal on-dock footage to agreed-upon targets leading into
each holiday shutdown.
o
Draw-down based on short term (7-14 days) forecasting information and
latest view vessel ETAs provided by the shipping lines;
o
Rail car supply to increase as needed 7-14 days prior to shut down.

Prior to the December 24th shutdown, each container terminal will have an operating
plan in place to ensure an adequate supply of railcars on-hand coming out of the
holiday shutdowns.

Ample labour supply is expected to be available over the holiday period.

Additional emphasis will be placed on the repair of bad order railcars and
pre-inspections by railways during terminal shut down to ensure car supply for
re-start of operations.

Terminals have established on-dock import rail footage minimum/maximum targets
leading in to the December 24th and December 31th shutdowns.
o
Each terminal is targeting one day or less of rail production on-dock leading
into the Christmas and New Year shutdown;
o
Vessel on-time arrivals plus terminal and railway operating conditions during
the draw-down period will play a significant factor in achieving the agreed
upon on-dock footage targets;
o
The draw down will allow for the normal resumption of terminal operations on
December 26, 2015 and January 2, 2016.
Recovery from Unplanned Disruptions



A variety of unplanned disruptions can impact intermodal service reliability during
the winter season, including:
o
Rail service disruptions including extended periods of severe winter conditions
outside the Vancouver Gateway;
o
Late vessel arrivals and “bunching” of arrivals;
o
Marine terminal disruptions (weather/equipment/labour).
To minimize the impact of these unplanned short term disruptions, both CP and CN
have committed to hold a “safety stock” of empty railcars at storage locations within
the Vancouver Gateway.
o
Both railways have safety stocks in place equal to approximately two days of
productions within easy access of the Vancouver Gateway to help mitigate
any short term service disruptions;
o
Safety stock inventory is reviewed weekly to ensure adequate supply in the
event of a disruption.
Each marine container terminal currently has the capacity to ramp-up rail loading to
off-set lost production due to disruptions.
Winter 2015/2016
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PORT METRO VANCOUVER | 2015/16 INTERMODAL INTEGRATED WINTER PLAN

Both the railways and container terminals have detailed contingency plans in place to
cover a variety of potential disruptions.
Lines of Communication
Scheduled Operations Communications

Terminal/Railway operations:
o
Daily conference calls between container terminals and railways to review
railcar requirements and vessel arrival performance.
o
Daily operating scorecards circulated to each rail carrier summarizing Import
volumes, rail car supply, on-dock dwell and plan vs. actual performance.
Short-term Forecasting

PMV provides weekly import vessel volume forecasts to all terminal operators and
railways to aid in operations planning.
o
Vessel forecasts provide a consolidated 14-day view of inbound container
volume by vessel, destination and container size.
Winter Performance Reporting

To ensure that stakeholders are updated on key aspects of winter performance, PMV
will make the following available through its website:
o
Holiday Shutdown Schedule;
o
Integrated Winter Plan;
o
Weekly updates on Rail and Truck performance are available at:
http://www.portmetrovancouver.com/port-dashboard/supply-chain-performance/

Container terminals and railways will also continue to provide their customers with
specific service information as required.
Escalation Processes

Each terminal and railway has existing escalation channels of communication which
are triggered by operating conditions, as identified on daily operations scorecards
that are widely circulated.

PMV Operations monitors terminal fluidity on a daily basis to identify any potential
issues that may arise. On-dock footages are widely reported on a daily basis within
PMV.
o
Potential issues are reviewed with operating personnel from the container
terminal and/or railway to confirm that an action plan is already determined
and set in motion;
o
Should an issue not be resolved in a timely manner, PMV Operations will
escalate the issue internally for senior PMV involvement with the container
terminal and/or railway management for resolution.
Winter 2015/2016
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PORT METRO VANCOUVER | 2015/16 INTERMODAL INTEGRATED WINTER PLAN
Summary
The Integrated Winter Plan focuses on ensuring intermodal performance reliability through
the winter months, and is developed based on input from all key operating entities within
the Gateway.
The Plan takes a proactive approach to dealing with holiday closures, ensures formal
recovery and escalation processes are in place in the event of any disruptions, and improves
visibility through short-term forecasting and daily monitoring through scorecards and
reporting.
Winter 2015/2016
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