U.S. Railroads Resume Operations After Canadian Work Stoppage Cancellation

(Reuters) – U.S. railroads Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) and BNSF Railway announced the cancellation of all embargoes associated with the potential Canadian work stoppage. This development allows affected rail traffic to resume, effectively ending a significant disruption in goods movement across the U.S.-Canada border.

Previously, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific (NYSE:CP) Kansas City had imposed embargoes on goods heading to the U.S. as part of a planned shutdown prior to a potential work stoppage. Additionally, over 9,000 unionized workers were locked out at midnight on August 22, leading to an immediate rail stoppage.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board intervened on Saturday, halting work stoppages and issuing a ruling for binding arbitration while maintaining existing contracts. Both CN and CPKC indicated that recovery from the work stoppage could span several weeks.

Scott Shannon, Canada VP of freight forwarder C.H. Robinson, stated, “We expect it to take up to a week for each railroad to be fully reset and running smoothly again. It will take much longer to catch up with shipments that have gotten backlogged.”