How is CN performing on grain car orders in 2026-27?

Through grain week 11 (ending Oct. 18, 2026), CN filled an average of 82.8% of hopper car orders within the requested week, down from 88.1% over the same weeks of 2025-26, according to Ag Transport Coalition data.

How is CPKC performing on grain car orders in 2026-27?

CPKC averaged 95.2% of hopper car orders filled on time through week 11 of 2026-27, up from 90.9% a year earlier, and stayed at 89% or better every week.

What does the Ag Transport Coalition measure?

Its headline figure is the share of hopper cars ordered for a given week that the railway supplied in or before that week. Late cars are tracked separately. ATC says it covers about 90% of grain movement originating in Western Canada.

When are weekly grain rail results published?

Ag Transport Coalition results are typically released about eight days after each Sunday-to-Sunday grain week ends, usually on a Monday.

CN vs CPKC Grain Car Performance: 2026-27 Weekly Tracker

Key takeaways (through grain week 11, ending Oct. 18, 2026)

CN has averaged 82.8% of hopper-car orders filled on time in 2026-27, against 88.1% over the same 11 weeks last year. It has reached the 90% line once (week 7) and fallen below 80% four times.
CPKC has averaged 95.2%, up from 90.9% a year ago, and has not dropped below 89% in any week.
Combined, the two railways average 89.5%, almost identical to last year's 89.4%. CPKC's strength is covering for CN's misses.
Source: Ag Transport Coalition (ATC) weekly reports. Next update: week 12, expected around Nov. 2.

Related explainer: Rail and Port Capacity for Prairie Grain

Short answer

In the 2026-27 grain year, CPKC is delivering grain cars on time far more consistently than CN. CPKC has filled 89% to 99% of orders every week. CN has ranged from 74% to 90%, and in eight of 11 weeks it trailed its own result from a year earlier. If you deliver on a CN line, plan for slower car spots and wider gaps between calls.

Weekly results, 2026-27

Percent of hopper cars ordered for the week that were supplied in or before that week. "LY" is the same grain week in 2025-26.

Week	Week ending	CN %	CN LY	CPKC %	CPKC LY	Combined %	Combined LY
1	Aug 9	77	91	98	98	88	93
2	Aug 16	79	98	99	100	90	99
3	Aug 23	74	97	95	94	85	95
4	Aug 30	89	86	91	91	90	89
5	Sep 6	86	68	93	90	91	80
6	Sep 13	88	73	98	86	94	80
7	Sep 20	90	84	89	79	90	81
8	Sep 27	82	91	96	83	89	87
9	Oct 4	78	92	95	93	87	92
10	Oct 11	86	96	94	91	90	93
11	Oct 18	82	93	99	95	91	94
Avg		82.8	88.1	95.2	90.9	89.5	89.4

What the numbers say

CN's weak start was the worst of it. Weeks 1 to 3 ran 14 to 23 points behind last year. CN beat 2025-26 in weeks 4 to 7, when last fall's numbers were also soft, then fell back 9 to 14 points behind in weeks 8 to 11.
CPKC has been the steadier carrier, beating or roughly matching last year in every week and posting 99% twice.
The railways are moving a lot of grain anyway. Both CN and CPKC reported record August grain volumes, beating their August 2020 totals. Record volume and missed car orders can happen at once when demand outruns supply.
Our read: with September farm deliveries at a record 8.05 million tonnes, CN's car shortfall matters most for elevators on CN-only lines, where basis and delivery calls can tighten while shippers wait for cars.

Methodology

Metric: ATC's headline figure, hopper-car orders supplied within the want week. Cars supplied early count as on time; late cars are tracked separately and not included here.
Coverage: ATC says its reporting captures about 90% of grain movement originating in Western Canada.
Weeks: grain-year weeks run Sunday to Sunday from Aug. 1. Week 1 of 2026-27 was Aug. 2 to 9. Results are published about eight days after a week ends.
Averages are simple averages of the weekly percentages, not weighted by car volume.
The 90% line is the benchmark ATC's weekly releases use when describing results.

Data notes

Weeks 1 to 4 of 2026-27 come from ATC's published weekly PDFs. Weeks 5 to 11 come from ATC's weekly releases as carried by regional outlets; the PDFs for those weeks were not yet posted on ATC's site. Week 6 figures come from the prior-week numbers in the week 7 release.
Coverage of 2025-26 week 5 conflicts: the original release reported CN 68% and combined 80%, while the following week's release cited CN 65% and combined 78%. We use the original figures.
We will correct any figure that ATC revises, with a dated note on this page.

Sources

Weekly coverage of rail performance runs in The Daily Kernel. This tracker is updated as each new week is published.