CIFFA Forwarder Magazine

13 THE FORWARDER | WINTER 2025 Moderator: Michael Angell, Senior Editor, Journal of Commerce Panel: Dan Bresolin, Vice President, Intermodal, Sales & Marketing, CN, Grace Liang, President, OOCL, Paul Bird, Chief Commercial Officer, Port of Montreal Will 2026 bring a climate of softening to maritime cargo? Grace Liang, President of OOCL, thinks so. She anticipates some hesitation in investment going forward. According to Dan Bresolin, Vice President, Intermodal, Sales & Marketing, it has basically been a normal Q4-maybe a little soft. “Volumes this year have been very good. I think inventory is quite normal right now. There is an opportunity for 2026 to surprise,” he said. Paul Bird, Chief Commercial Officer, Port of Montreal, said that U.S. cargo has softened quite a bit. “There a more steep reduction in volumes going into the U.S. Midwest. There are more opportunities for diversification into Asia, Europe. We looked at volumes flowing through the port-if we only had 6% of those markets diversifying we are full,” he said. Angell asked what do we need to do to turn ships efficiently? Liang said that it’s about ports having sufficient anchorage and capacity. “We don’t have a down moment in our business. Disruptions are also a norm. Things are good but also not good-because of the economy,” she said. This is where infrastructure needs come in. Contrecoeur is one major example. It has been in the books for over 20 years, said Bird. “We were able to build with a mix of private operators and public subsidies and by injecting private equity. The markets shaped how we built terminals in Canada today-the in-water works are tricky. The markets molded this into us splitting this in two to de-risk this project to a certain point. It’s still a low CapEx project. It’s mainly a rail terminal with capacity to connect into Brampton and Milton,” said Bird. “Contrecoeur will come on line in 2030-with hopefully one key wall in 2029,” he noted. “Getting back to capacity-our message is that all capacity is good,” said Bresolin. “Right now more than ever it’s important that we run as efficiently as possible. The Milton terminal has a 200 acre footprint and another 400 acres of industrial land. Most of the new DCs are being built on the west side of Toronto. We are also building a new facility in Chicago on the southwest side of the suburbs,” Bresolin said. What can intermodal terminals do to increase efficiency? “Increased access to CY yards, and technologies to get the trucker in and out in a lower amount of time,” he noted. Labour has been a frequent issue for the last few years. Angell asked about the CUPE local 375 arbitration hearings at the Port of Montreal. Bird said “we are hopeful to get a decision this fall, or maybe more realistically in the Q1 stages of 2026. We are hopeful to get a longer term deal, something north of more than four years. With binding arbitration it is usually not a long term deal. We are hopeful for stability for a couple of years in Montreal and a better partnership going forward with the union,” said Bird. He noted that “we have lost some of the volumes to the U.S. East Coast ports, and once cargo is lost it is very difficult to bring it back,” he added. “It’s an interesting time to talk about labour,” Liang said. “It’s anticipated that maritime labour will have an action plan after their November meeting. Statistics Canada has noted tha in the transportation sector we have had 62 work stoppages in 2023/4. What does that do to reliability?” she said. Liang is on the Board of the MEA, the employers’ association that staffs the Port of Montreal. “The arbitrators appointed by the government have been extremely helpful. We need all stakeholders to change the bargaining behaviour. On the West Coast in 2023 there were 14 days of stoppage, in 2024-11 days. Each day of stoppage takes weeks to recover. The status quo doesn’t work-we need some changes in the legislation.” Trends and innovations in Maritime Cargo