SETARATransport Get a quoteQuote
Embargoes and congestion

What does a rail embargo or ramp congestion mean for your container?

A rail embargo is a railway's notice that it is not accepting certain traffic for a time. Ramp congestion means CN Brampton or CPKC Vaughan holds more containers than it can move, which can add charges and delays.

Get a drayage quote Call dispatch

Last reviewed:

White truck hauling a shipping container at an intermodal terminal
What it is
A railway noticeIssued by CN or CPKC, with dates
What changes
The pickup and the chargesAn off-site move adds to both
What to send
The container numberAnd the railway's notice, if you have it
Embargoes

What is a rail embargo?

CN describes an embargo as a way to control traffic when, in the railway's judgement, temporary circumstances call for restrictions. Its examples are congestion, track conditions and acts of God.

What it covers

A restriction with dates

An embargo names the traffic it covers, such as a lane, a commodity or a destination, and the date it takes effect.

An example

August 2024

On August 13, 2024, CN issued an embargo on some lanes bound for Brampton, effective August 16, ahead of possible strike action.

On your tracking

The embargo hold

CN's tracking has an Embargo hold code. The shipment cannot go by its original route, and the railway awaits instructions from the customer.

An embargo limits what the railway accepts. Read which lanes, commodities and dates it covers before you decide your container is caught by it.

On its way

What does an embargo mean for a container already on its way?

It depends on the notice. A container it covers can wait at the port or at a terminal on its route. It moves when the railway lifts the embargo or gets new instructions.

Whoever booked the rail move, usually your ocean line or forwarder, deals with the railway on routing. Ask them for the container's status and a new ETA.

When an embargo is lifted, the railway accepts that traffic again. By August 25, 2024, CN's embargo schedule marked its strike embargoes cancelled and its reservations resumed.

Once the container is moving, read the railway's status words on what arrived at the rail ramp means.

Read on the notice
  • Lanes or terminals covered
  • Commodities covered
  • The effective date
  • Active or cancelled

If your container is not covered, the embargo does not hold it.

Congestion

What is ramp congestion, and why does it slow a pickup?

Congestion means the ramp holds more containers than it can work through. The railway can respond with holds, embargoes on new traffic and moves off site.

CN's tracking has a hold reason for this: Congestion, which CN describes as operating conditions. CN also names congestion as a reason for an embargo.

CPKC's intermodal tariff has a section called terminal decongestion. It covers moving containers that stay past free time to an off-site location.

Congestion does not change what a pickup needs. Releases, storage and holds still decide whether the container can leave.

What congestion can bring
  • A congestion hold
  • Embargoes on new traffic
  • Moves to an off-site yard

Ramp details: CN Brampton and CPKC Vaughan.

Off-site yards

What happens when the railway moves a container to an off-site yard?

It sits somewhere else, and the charges grow. Item 55 of CPKC's intermodal services tariff, in force since October 2, 2026, sets out how it works on CPKC.

1

Past free time

Import and export containers that stay at a CPKC terminal past free time can be moved to an off-site location.

2

Notice first

CPKC notifies the payer of freight before it moves a container off site.

3

Extra charges

A transfer fee and off-site storage apply on top of terminal storage. The storage clock keeps running, with no new free time.

4

Not every container

Containers held for customs or another government agency are not moved, and neither are dangerous goods.

CN sets its intermodal storage charges in tariff CN 9100, listed on its optional services and tariffs page. If the railway tells you a container has moved, send dispatch the notice and the container number. The pickup point can change.

Who pays

Who pays the extra moves and storage?

The railway bills its fees under its tariff. CPKC's tariff assesses them to the payer of freight, the party paying for the rail move.

If that party is your ocean line or forwarder, their own terms decide what reaches your invoice.

Our conditions of carriage say, in section 10: "Where a delay is ours, we own it. Where it comes from the ramp, the line, customs or the receiver, it stays with the shipment."

Delay not yours? Read who pays, and how to ask for a waiver. Shippers can also bring disputes about railway tariff charges to the Canadian Transportation Agency.

Keep in writing
  • The railway's notice
  • Both last free days
  • Release dates
  • The off-site move notice

Keep each one for a waiver request.

Notices

Where can you check the railway's own notices?

Go to the railway itself. Each one posts its own notices.

CN

Customer News

CN's Customer News lists customer notices, such as intermodal gate hours and bargaining updates. Quick Trace shows an embargo or congestion hold on your container.

CPKC

Customer Station

CPKC's Customer Station gives its customers shipment tracing, notifications and bulletins. Labour updates appear in the media section of its website.

Your side

Whoever booked the rail

The railway may send its notice to only one party. Ask your ocean line or forwarder to pass on anything about your container.

Setara Transport

What does Setara Transport do?

We work from the railway's notice and your releases.

What you send
  • The container number
  • The ramp: CN Brampton or CPKC Vaughan
  • The railway's notice, if you have one
  • Both last free days
  • The delivery address and receiving hours
What we do
  • Tell you what is still missing
  • Book the pickup at the ramp: the CN Brampton gate appointment or the CPKC Vaughan pickup
  • Deliver across the GTA and Ontario
  • Bring the empty back to the ramp or the depot your ocean line names

It depends on the releases, the ramp and the schedule that day, so we do not promise a time here. Send us the container number and we tell you what is still missing.

Questions

Embargo and congestion questions.

What is a rail embargo?
A railway's notice that it is not accepting certain traffic for a time. CN uses embargoes to control traffic when temporary circumstances call for restrictions. Its examples are congestion, track conditions and acts of God.
What happens when an embargo is lifted?
The railway cancels it and accepts that traffic again. Containers that were held then move as the railway works through them. Ask whoever booked the rail move for an updated ETA.
Why was my container moved to an off-site yard?
Under CPKC's intermodal tariff, containers that stay at a terminal past free time can be moved off site. CPKC notifies the payer of freight before the move. Containers held for customs are not moved.
Who pays for a move to an off-site yard?
The railway bills the transfer and the off-site storage under its tariff. CPKC assesses them to the payer of freight. Whether they reach you depends on that party's terms and on who caused the delay.
Is a rail embargo the same as a strike?
No. An embargo limits the traffic a railway accepts, often on certain lanes or goods. A strike or lockout stops work across the railway. Our page on rail strikes explains what happens to containers then.
Related answers

More answers for importers.

What happens during a rail strike?

Containers, clocks and pickups when trains stop

What does arrived at the rail ramp mean?

Arrived, deramped and available, and what comes next

Can storage or demurrage be waived?

Who pays when the delay was not yours

What are storage and demurrage at the ramp?

Two charges, two clocks

When does per diem stop?

The ocean line's clock after the container leaves the ramp

All answers

Every answer for importers and forwarders

Container held at the ramp? Send us the number.

The container number, the ramp, the railway's notice and both last free days.