Canadian Pacific Kansas City Rail announced the Viterra Weyburn terminal as its winner for Elevator of the Year for the 2022-23 crop year in Canada.
CPKC presents this award annually to grain elevators that achieve high volumes from a single loading point, while consistently demonstrating efficient railcar loading and a strong commitment to safety. A celebration with staff and representatives of both Viterra and CPKC Rail was held at the terminal site on Thursday.
“CPKC is proud to recognize the people who operate these elevators for their dedication in helping farmers in Canada and the U.S. supply the world with high-quality products,” said Jonathan Wahba, CPKC Senior Vice-President Sales and Marketing, Intermodal, Automotive & Bulk.
Viterra in Weyburn is a valued customer and first-time winner of the CPKC Elevator of the Year award. Viterra has shown efficient and safe practices with each unit-train loaded at the site while moving an impressive amount of grain.
“We’re very pleased to be recognized by CPKC for the performance of our Weyburn facility last year,” said Kyle Jeworski, CEO of Viterra Canada. “This is one of many facilities across our asset network where we’ve made significant investments to provide our farm customers with superior service to market and move their products efficiently. I’d also like to thank our team at Weyburn for their consistent focus on safety and high performance, because without their efforts we would have not been able to achieve this milestone.”
The investment at Viterra’s terminal in Weyburn has included an 8,500-foot continuous lead track that came online in 2021. This has enabled Viterra’s terminal to load 144 rail cars in one spot, an improvement on the 112-car trains they had been loading before.
“I want to thank the folks at CPKC for recognizing the Weyburn facility, for their high performance this past year. We’ve made significant investments in our assets, like the one we have in Weyburn here, over the past number of years to provide our customers with the customer service we’ve achieved,” said Kent Klimpke, Viterra’s director of country regional management for Western Canada on Thursday, as he was present for the celebration at the Viterra terminal.
“I would also like to recognize the staff of the Weyburn site for the work they put in, and doing it safely to ensure we achieve these results. Without them, this wouldn’t be possible,” he added.
“We have a long-standing relationship with CP Rail, and collectively we’ve done some major investments over the past number of years to facilitate the 8,500-foot train we’re loading out of here,” added Tim Kennedy, director of transportation for Viterra.
One of the CPKC representatives at the celebration, Brittany Stidham, said, “I want to thank Viterra for the long-standing relationship we have with them,” adding they were involved in the planning for the 8,500-foot trains they are now able to load at the terminal. “We look forward to partnering with them for more products in the future, and hope they will win this award again.”
Jon Ellis, director of sales for CPKC, added, “I just wanted to congratulate all the employees of Viterra here in Weyburn on this achievement. At CPKC, safety is at the forefront, and certainly this elevator not only is shipping incredible volumes and tonnage, but they’re also doing it in a safe way.”
With its global headquarters in Calgary, Alta., Canada, CPKC is the first and only single-line transnational railway linking Canada, the United States and México, with access to major ports from Vancouver to Atlantic Canada to the Gulf of México to Lázaro Cárdenas, México.