The Canadian Pacific Railway Limited and Maersk have reached an agreement to build and operate a transload and distribution facility in Vancouver “to expand CP’s and Maersk Canada’s supply chain options for customers,” they said in a joint statement. The facility will be an expansion of CP’s existing Vancouver Intermodal Facility, which is located near Pitt Meadows outside Vancouver.

In keeping with Maersk’s global strategy, the “transload facility is designed to apply Maersk’s global integrator of container logistics strategy and will offer customers access to a multi-commodity transload facility that will rely on the substantial use of rail instead of truck in the Vancouver market, as CP will shuttle containers to and from the ocean terminals via rail. Maersk’s ambition to establish a sustainable supply chain aligns with CP’s initiatives to fight climate change. This compelling combination will provide an effective and efficient long-term intermodal solution for customers,” the companies said.

The agreement signals another step by Canadian railroads to work with shipping lines and terminal operators to develop infrastructure. CN Rail has worked closely with DP World at Prince Rupert, and more recently signed a JV with Hutchison Ports to develop a new box terminal at Quebec City.

CP is now working with Maersk. “CP’s unique landholdings in Vancouver enable us to bring to market a first-of-its-kind transload facility that creates tremendous opportunity for sustainable growth,” said CP’s President and CEO Keith Creel. “Together with Maersk, the global shipping leader, we will transform intermodal transportation in North America.”

The area around Vancouver, British Colombia has long had potential for inland terminals and transloading operations. The PSA recognised this in 2018, when it took a 60% stake in Ashcroft Terminal, a privately owned 320 acre site approximately 300km east of Vancouver. This new agreement puts Maersk at a site much closer to the Vancouver market and its marine terminals, with the all important support of a railroad.

Omar Shamsie, President of Maersk Canada said, “This agreement installs more agile supply chain options and capacity to and from Vancouver for our North American customers. Marketplace fluctuations, e-commerce demands and omnichannel fulfillment are testing every company – so this integrated logistics solution with CP will clearly elevate supply chain performance.

The Port of Vancouver has managed to grow its share of the west coast market in recent years, and there is a shortage of warehouse space around the port. “So we applied our global integrator strategy to simplify the current situation and create more end-to-end supply chain solutions by reducing multi-modal handoffs,” said Shamsie. “We can now offer more responsiveness to the pace of business by giving supply chain leaders more control of order timing/fulfillment through inland routing flexibility, better velocity gained from one day savings of rail versus truck and cost savings through seamless transload operations into domestic 53’ trailers. We feel this is quite compelling to lower their year-on-year cost goals while creating a more sustainable supply chain with less truck emissions.”

The import transload facility will be operational in 2021.