How to apply for producer railway cars
Producer railway car administrators and producers who are administering their own producer railway cars can apply for a producer railway car online.
- Sign in to your producer railway car account
- For each car applied for, submit the non-refundable fee (code 335) to the Canadian Grain Commission.
Important: fees are adjusted annually on April 1. - Payment may be by credit card (MasterCard, Visa, American Express) or electronic funds transfer. An application will not be processed until the fee is paid.
- If paying by credit card, the Canadian Grain Commission will contact the applicant for more information. Do not provide account information on an application.
- The Canadian Grain Commission will send a letter acknowledging the receipt of the producer railway car application(s), once the application(s) have been processed.
- A copy of the credit card transaction and a receipt will be emailed if the car application fee was paid by credit card.
Once a credit card payment is processed, all credit card information is destroyed.
Allocating producer railway cars
The Canadian Grain Commission allocates producer railway cars in the order it receives applications. A producer railway car may be scheduled for the requested week, provided that:
- the Canadian Grain Commission receives the application at least one week before the requested week
- the producer has demonstrated to the Canadian Grain Commission’s satisfaction that the grain to be shipped is committed to a confirmed sale
- the administrator or self-administering producer has demonstrated to the Canadian Grain Commission’s satisfaction that authorization has been obtained for the unload destination
Before a car is allocated, the Canadian Grain Commission will:
- contact the producer or administrator by phone or fax to make sure the producer can load the car during a given shipping week
- email the producer or administrator an authorization letter when their order is finalized
- email loading instructions with an authorization number and a railway Order Reference Number (ORN) to the producer, administrator or the railway
There is no guarantee that a producer’s car(s) will be allocated or spotted before the end of the crop year.
Shipping request lists
Administrators may submit shipping request lists to the Canadian Grain Commission. This is a list of cars that an administrator wants allocated for the next shipping week and is based on existing applications that have been processed by the Canadian Grain Commission.
Administrators must submit their shipping request lists for the following shipping week to the Canadian Grain Commission before 12 pm (CT) on Monday.
Each request list must include, by loading site:
- name of producer
- number of cars
- commodity
- destination
Backlog rule
The backlog rule ensures fair access to producer railway car loading sites because it limits the number of cars allocated to a producer or company to 2 times the maximum car spot at a loading site. For example, a producer can load up to 8 cars at a 4-car spot. After that, the next producer in the queue may load cars at that site.
Cancelling or postponing your application
If, at any time, the producer does not require the requested producer railway cars, the producer or administrator must immediately notify the Canadian Grain Commission to either cancel or postpone the producer’s application before the cars are ordered from the railways. Once the Canadian Grain Commission has placed a car order with a railway and the railway has accepted it, the producer may be charged a cancellation fee by the railway.
The Canadian Grain Commission will cancel any order if the status of a confirmed sale, destination authorization or producer identified on the order changes.
For any cancellation, the Canadian Grain Commission will cancel the cars and advise the railways, administrator and producer.
Completing the declaration of eligibility form
If a producer is delivering any type of grain regulated by the Canada Grain Act, to the licensed handling system or by a producer railway car, they are required to complete a declaration of eligibility for delivery of grain form. This form confirms that the grain the producer will deliver is of a variety eligible for the kind of grain and class for which payment is requested.
If a producer is using an administrator, the producer is responsible for signing the declaration form and sending it to the administrator before the producer loads a car. If a producer is self-administering a car and it is being shipped to a licensed terminal elevator, the producer must send a copy of the signed declaration form to the terminal elevator before the car is unloaded there.
Spotting producer railway cars
You can receive updates on when a producer’s cars will be spotted.
If the producer is shipping on CN lines:
-
Grain Car Order Status for Producers
- Enter the required information as instructed. A Planned Service Report for car orders will be provided and updated accordingly.
If the producer is shipping on CP lines:
- Contact the producer car administrator for the car’s status.
Contact
For other inquiries, please contact the Canadian Grain Commission’s producer railway car unit directly at railwaycars-wagons@grainscanada.gc.ca.