TORONTO, Ont. — A public meeting regarding the worsening state of affairs at the CN terminal in Brampton is scheduled for this coming Monday, Sept. 8.

The meeting, slated for 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 600 Dixon Road (Dixon & 401) – Centennial Room A, will address the ongoing problems with container retrieval at CN’s terminal in Brampton. All stakeholder groups are invited to attend.

The invitation says “something has to be done now” to prevent a full walkout by all drivers in protest to the ever deteriorating situation at the terminal. Already, many drivers simply refuse jobs that require a stop at CN’s Brampton terminal and some cartage firms have followed suit by simply suspending services involving the Brampton terminal.

The following invitation was issued by meeting organizer Robert Volfson, president of Carmel International Transport:

“To our valued clients,

This is an update to the email we sent out on August 22. Beginning Tuesday a group of Owner/Operators parked their trucks and set up in protest at the CN Bit yard. They are protesting the delays in picking up and dropping off containers at that facility. These delays are often in excess of three to seven hours without compensation.
Yesterday the group was much larger. As of now, we have had a number of our drivers and owner/operators threatened because they continue to move in and out of CN Bit. There are also rumours of CN Bit employees writing the truck numbers down that are attending the terminal.

“We hear that the machine operators in the terminal support this work action and in future may punish those not supporting it. Overnight there were reports of violence and vandalism against carriers operating into CN Bit. Peel Police are involved but can’t monitor every truck in our fleet. We are very concerned for the safety of our drivers and our equipment.

“Due to this, we are suspending service to and from CN Rail facilities. We will return any exports already in our system up until 6 p.m. today. We will also return empty containers to the MISC facility. This will remain in effect until such time as a resolution can be reached and everyone is back to work. If the situation is resolved over the weekend, we will certainly be moving in and out of CN Bit on Monday.

“We are working with various associations/clients/competitors, etc. to resolve the situation. We ask that all Steamship Lines using CN Rail get involved. They are the customers of the rail and there must be major changes in service levels to prevent something like this from happening in the future.

“You will remember this happened less than a year ago. The service levels are much worse now. We thank you for your understanding and patronage and will keep you informed of any new developments. We truly regret having to take this action.”

Watch Truck News for updates on the ongoing terminal troubles.