We learn more about ourselves in hard times than we do in good times. I’ve found that to be true in my personal life as well as within the organization that I lead.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced every industry to find new ways to work, and Canadian Pacific (CP) employees stood up and showed leadership across the company, coming together to protect each other while delivering critical supplies for the broader economy through the most challenging of times.
Looking at the broader supply chain, signs of fragility have emerged in unexpected areas. In early 2020, it was the manufacturing shutdown in Wuhan. Since then, the industry has witnessed shortages ranging from semiconductors to truck drivers to capacity at port and inland container terminals and warehouses.
Asia will continue to be critical to supply chains in North America, but CP customers say they’re rethinking the extent to which they rely on it for sourcing. North America has so much to offer: abundant natural resources, processing and manufacturing capability, and resourceful workers, to name a few things.
These strengths, combined with the need to consider the climate impacts of US import supply chains, will push a trend of nearshoring. The successful North American supply chains of the future will connect the places where natural resources are produced with regions where those resources are turned into consumer goods and the manufactured goods are consumed. That means shippers will need closer ties than ever before between the US, Canada, and Mexico.
In 2022, I look forward to completion of the regulatory review of CP’s proposed combination with Kansas City Southern. I am convinced the time is right to create the first railway to directly serve these three countries.