In my job, I have to arrange rail transportation for my employer. We have one plant in Quebec. Some things have been happening there that have really tied the railroads in knots, yet I've seen next to nothing in the media or on this site, despite numerous members living north of the 49th.
Most of us saw reporting of derailments and subsequent fires involving two crude trains, both in a section of Saskatchewan. In reaction to that, the transport minister imposed handling requirements on movements of hazmat cars. Any train with 20 or more hazmat cars is required to travel no faster than 25 MPH (20 MPH in urban areas). Any train with even ONE car of TIH product (chlorine, EO, HF, etc) is also subject to those mandates. With schedules and crewing plans based on moving cars at 50 MPH, easy to see what will happen. CN has imposed a permit system for shipping TIH cars.
Making things worse, political actions by Native Peoples (I hope that isn't offensive to those citizens) in BC and ON have blocked CN lines. The ON activity has closed the line from Montreal to Toronto. In BC, the Prince Rupert line is affected. The last report from CN is they have parked "hundreds" of trains and suspended service for traffic between stations in eastern Canada (PQ and the Maritimes) and the west, including their Detroit-Chicago traffic.
Courts have issued injunctions in both situations. At least in ON, that has been ignored and the enforcement authorities have stated a reluctance to confront the demonstrators after an unpleasant experience recently elsewhere.
Consequently, the economy is slowing without replenishment of inventories rails handle. Ships at ports are not able to move cargoes on and off.
Again, nothing about this has been mentioned in US media, even the WSJ has been silent (through the other day). With the car handling restrictions, digging out of this situation will take an extended time meaning the distress to industry will be prolonged.
