CUSTOMERCONNECTIONThe Sylvite Transportation Group team: (from l to r) Gord McNeil, Vice-President of Sales; Scott Beattie, General Manager, Reefer Division; Jodi Lester, Executive Sales Coordinator;Allan Ward, President; Barry Stevens, Vice-President of Operations; and Mike Krell, Senior Account Manager at <strong>Trailcon</strong>.SYLVITE – A SOARING SUCCESSHow many transportation companiescan claim to have movedinto new offices, doubled theirwarehouse space, established twonew divisions, and added 30 staff,all in <strong>2004</strong>?Meet the Sylvite TransportationGroup, which has accomplishedall of this, and is poised for moreof the same in the coming year.The Sylvite Transportation Groupis a division of the Sylvite Groupof companies, which includesSylvite Agri-services, Sylvite Fuels,Sylvite Packaging, SylviteFinancial, and Sylvite Industrial.A mere two years old, SylviteTransportation Group was formedwhen Sylvite purchased NorrisTransport and opened a full-service3PL operation as a service for itscustomers and suppliers. In thatshort period of time, it hasalready become one of thelargest steel haulers in Ontario,transporting over 120 loads perday. Its fleet now boasts over 200pieces of equipment – including5-axle rack and tarp, sliders, 53-foot vans (both dry and reefer),bulk trailers, tankers, and fueltrucks – to enable the companyto provide customized logisticssupport and solutions for variousshippers, from steel to packagingto food, to name just a few.Following its latest growth spurt,the Sylvite Transportation Groupnow consists of three divisions:Sylvite Freight Systems (steel,van, reefers), Sylvite LogisticsSolutions, and SylviteWarehousing, all consolidated atthe Group’s new head office inBurlington, Ont. Besides morethan 90,000 square feet of warehousespace at the Group’s headquarters,the Warehouse Divisionhas over 150,000 square feet ofquality food-grade space in asecond location in Burlington.Yet another building is in theworks as well, to be announcedbefore year-end.With its new Burlington-basedhead office, Sylvite has strategicallylocated facilities acrossOntario, as well as distributionfacilities in Pennsylvania, Florida,and Kansas, giving the companyeasy access to all points throughoutNorth America and abroad.Founded in 1977, the SylviteGroup of Companies is a privatelyowned Canadian company thatoffers a diverse range of services.It is the largest independentCanadian-owned supplier offertilizer agricultural products. ItsAgri-services division offers planning,planting, grain-handling andstorage, while its Financial divisionservices the agriculture,industrial, transportation, andinvestment industries. Other divisionsprovide sourcing, handling,bagging, and distribution ofmaterials for both industrial andmanufacturing customers.“It has been a pleasure to workwith Al Ward, Barry Stevens andthe incredible team at Sylvite,"says Mike Krell, Senior AccountManager at <strong>Trailcon</strong>. "Watchingthem grow from a start up divisionto a successful business hasbeen both challenging and exciting.We look forward to continuingand expanding this partnership inthe future!”6 REPORT ON TRANSPORTATION
ON TRACKCN reports rise innet incomeCN recorded a healthy 34%increase, to $326 million, in second-quarter<strong>2004</strong> net incomeover 2003. Operating incomewas $575 million, an increase of32% from year-earlier figures,while the operating ratio of65.5% was 4.6 percentage pointsbetter than the prior year’squarterly performance.“Our strong quarterly resultsreflected a comeback inCanadian grain traffic, marketshare gains as a result of goodservice, yield improvement initiatives,and improved profitabilityresulting from CN’s IntermodalExcellence (IMX) strategy,” saidpresident and CEO E. HunterHarrison.The quarter also marked CN’sacquisition of the railroads andrelated holdings of Great LakesTransportation LLC. In July, therailroad also completed a $1-billionacquisition of BC Rail fromthe British Columbia government.CN terminatesRoadRailer serviceCN has ceased commercialoperations of its RoadRailerintermodal service betweenMontreal, Toronto, and Chicago,due primarily to a strike inFebruary of this year by mechanics,clerks, and intermodal yardworkers.According to Today’s Trucking,many shippers shifted freightfrom rail and intermodal totrucks during the strike. Followingthe strike, some of the truckfreight extended into longercontracts.CPR Q2 revenuetops $1 billionStrong growth in five of its sevenbusiness lines pushed CanadianPacific Railway’s revenue past the$1-billion mark in the secondquarter of <strong>2004</strong> – a 10%increase over the same period in2003. The revenue increasehelped drive net income up146% to $84 million in the quarterended June 30. This compareswith second-quarter 2003 netincome of $34 million, whichincluded a special charge for jobreductions, an asset write-down,and network restructuring.Operating income in the secondquarter increased 19% to $221million, while operating ratio forthe three-month period was78%, a 1.7% improvement.Intermodal revenue grew by $21million, or 9%, in the secondquarter of <strong>2004</strong>, on top of arecord second-quarter 2003.Progress continued on therailroad’s MaxStax initiative toboost efficiency and margins inthe intermodal business. CPR hascompleted about 80% of its programto convert its intermodalfleet to high-capacity doublestackfreight cars, and is on trackto achieve its goal of a 16% productivityimprovement on intermodaltrains.CPR posts key statson Web siteCanadian Pacific Railway hasadded carload and key performancemeasure reports to its Website. The measures include averageterminal dwell time, averagetrain speed, freight cars on line,and bill of lading timeliness.As of press time, <strong>2004</strong> totalweekly carload for intermodal(originated and received) rangedfrom 19,409 to 25,191, whileaverage train speed fluctuatedfrom 25.3 to 30.4 miles per hourfor intermodal, and from 22.0 to26.4 mph for total system.Capacity crunchreaches crisis“North America’s surface transportationinfrastructure – our networkof railways, ports, and highways– is headed for a capacitycrunch,” said Rob Ritchie, presidentand CEO of Canadian PacificRailway, speaking at the CPRConnections <strong>2004</strong> Regional andShort Line Conference inSeptember.The transportation network has notkept pace with economic growth,he said. “Far too many outdatedregulations and policies continue tosap the strength of our railways andother parts of our transportationsector.” He called for regulatory andtaxation changes that would allowrailways to increase their pace ofinvestment in their networks.China’s rapid manufacturing growthis a major culprit in the capacitycrisis. According to a report in TheGlobe and Mail, port bottlenecks inVancouver and backlogs on theintermodal rail network are causingdelays of 10 days or longer for trainshipments to other parts ofCanada, while growing truck volumesand inefficiencies atCanada–U.S. border crossings arecosting millions of dollars. Importsfrom China have been rising steadilyover the years. In the first sevenmonths of <strong>2004</strong> alone, they soaredalmost 25 per cent, to $12.6 billion,compared with a year earlier,according to Statistics Canada. Theonly good news is that someCanadian suppliers may be able tocash in on the offshore backlogwith promises of fast delivery.Intermodal trafficup, but trailerloadings downLoadings of intermodal freight –containers and trailers hauled onflat cars – for the second quarter ofthis year rose 11.9% to a recordhigh 7.1 million tonnes, accordingto Statistics Canada. Trailers, however,appear to be on a downwardtrend compared with containers,accounting for only 5.7% of intermodaltraffic for the period, downfrom the peak of 7.8% in the firstquarter of 2003.Intermodal loadings in June fell2.5% to 2.3 million tonnes,accounting for 9.6% of total tonnage.Similarly, loadings in Julywere slightly more than 2.3 milliontonnes and accounted for 9.7% ofthe total tonnage loaded. On ayear-to-date basis, intermodalloadings increased 3.1% to 15.6million tonnes.FALL <strong>2004</strong> - VOLUME NO. 317
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