Cando gets potash on the move
Cando Rail Services is helping to keep Saskatchewan’s potash industry on track.
The company moves more than 13 million tonnes of potash a year in more than 125,000 railcars, handling 70 per cent of all potash produced in Canada. In Saskatchewan, Cando has more than 80 employees working at potash mines and the company builds unit potash trains that are anywhere from 75 to 205 cars long.
“We have been providing rail service to Saskatchewan’s potash mines for more than 20 years, starting with a track maintenance and inspection contract at PCS Rocanville,” said Julie Pomehichuk, Cando director of marketing and communications.
“Since then, we have grown our presence and provide a variety of rail services at six potash mines in Saskatchewan: Allan, Rocanville and Vanscoy for Nutrien (formally PCS and Agrium), and Colonsay, Esterhazy and Belle Plaine for Mosaic.”
Cando is a complete rail solution company focused on connecting industry to the Class 1 railways. Its specialized services include rail switching, material handling, logistics, engineering and track services, terminal and transload services, railcar storage and mechanical services.
As Pomehichuk explained, a key asset that allows the company to haul massive amounts of potash out of Saskatchewan are the partnerships it has committed to creating with its customers. She said the company is on the ground working with its customer’s team, analyzing their supply chain so it runs more smoothly, safely and efficiently.
To aid with this, Pomehichuk said the company is preparing to launch a new proprietary, cloud-based logistics service offering.
“Using GPS technology, the new offering provides customers with real time railcar and shipment visibility, predictive and presumptive analytical insights into the supply chain, and a nation-wide, cross-commodity, real-time health assessment of the railbased supply chain,” she said. “Several customers in Saskatchewan are currently testing the new offering with very positive feedback.”
She said the company also has close working relationships with Class 1 railways and have earned their confidence to operate on their tracks, with main line running rights at a number of locations across Saskatchewan.
“Our rail experts, who have been trained on all railway rules and have years of experience working on the railway, switch the loaded cars into the correct order in the customer’s yard, building full trains and smaller blocks of cars depending on customer orders,” Pomehichuk said. “Our running rights then allow us to pull the trains out to the main line track for CP or CN to hook and haul away. We build the trains as per customer orders and perform all necessary inspections, ensuring the trains are ready for the Class 1 railways to pull them away.”
Chad Jones, Cando’s general manager of Industrial Rail Services for the Saskatchewan region, added that Cando acts as the “linchpin” between the mining companies and the Class 1 railways, focusing on the rail aspects so that mining companies can focus on their core business.
“We communicate with the Class 1 railways and ensure all railway regulatory standards are being met in the mining companies’ yards,” he said. “The sustained collaboration between Cando, the mining companies, and the Class 1 railways reflects the close working relationships that are fundamental to Cando’s service. Through Cando’s involvement, we ensure each party benefits by gaining operational and cost-saving efficiencies, and strengthening their focus on their core business.”
Cando’s largest customer in Saskatchewan is the Mosaic Company. Cando was awarded the switching and mechanical services contract for Mosaic’s three potash mines in Saskatchewan and began the implementation process in fall 2015.
Throughout this process, Cando established mechanical railcar services at the Belle Plaine and Colonsay mines, including car repair and cleaning. The company worked closely with Mosaic and CP to develop operating plans for the switching services at Belle Plaine and facilitate the efficient movement of full loads and empty cars. These plans, finalized in early 2016, provided Cando with the operating authority between the mine site and CP’S Belle Plaine serving yard.
Cando also worked collaboratively with Mosaic and CP to develop the switching operations for the Colonsay and Esterhazy mine sites, which required coordinating shipping volumes through CP’S Bredenbury serving yard. CP gave Cando operating authority along their mainline subdivision between Esterhazy and Bredenbury, a distance of approximately 23 miles.
Jones said that on top of delivering quality services, Cando is committed to safety. He said it’s a “way of life” for the company. Cando maintains a railway operating certificate from Transport Canada, and Jones noted the company’s safety management system meets or exceeds Transport Canada and provincial railway regulations and industrial standards such as Isnetworld, Avetta and Cognibox.
The company has won several industry and customer safety awards in recent years, including a safety award from the Railway Association of Canada in 2018 for its employee safety education program.
“We are committed to the personal safety, health and well-being of every employee of our company,” Jones said. “We have a shared safety culture that includes the participation of every one, every day, in every job, to perform our required duties and provide safe and efficient services to our customers. At Cando we are Tracksmart, with every job we do, every day that we do it.”