You talked about the $1,200 that they saved on board grains. Is it possible that the reason farmers are using them on board grains is because they can save $1,200 on board grains whereas they can't save $1,200 on non-board grains? I would just like to make that point, Mr. Easter.
If the board had a way of looking at how they go about allocating their basis at the grain elevators and how they pay storage, and all these other little costs that they ding farmers for, maybe we would see that cost go down and things would change. There's one thing that I found really interesting in this whole topic of short lines. I have two short lines in my riding. I have a short-line, for example, that goes out to Choiceland through Nipawin and it went from no cars, and last year it went to 400 or 500 cars of oats. I know Mr. Phillips made the comment that sometimes you need to threaten to remove it before everybody wakes up and says they're going to utilize it, and that's exactly what's happened in this case.
So I can understand why you say the process and the time is required there. So it's a consideration we should take in place.
The other thing I think we need to talk about is level of service, which you mentioned. I've been on the other end where I've loaded trucks on a Sunday night. I had five trucks on the road heading to North Battleford. I got a phone call at 8:30 that the trucks were almost there, which is a two-hour drive, and the train didn't show. So that level of service to me costs a pile of money every time that happens. Unfortunately, it seems to happen way too often, and it seems like, again, who pays for it? The farmer pays for it. I know there's the comment that Mr. Easter made about the leaking car and all that. Again, who pays for it? The farmer pays for it. It seems like every time we turn around it's either the farmer, or the grain company, but never the railways that are accountable for anything they do.
I had a scenario with a pulse processor in my riding, and it was the same thing; he loaded a car and CN made him actually dictate the route to Mexico. So it was not just, here's the train car and give it to CN and let them figure out the logistics to get it there. If he didn't figure out the route for them, he'd get penalized. So I think when we look at rail transportation and agriculture products, if there's not a reason to look at it, there are a lot of examples of why this needs to be looked at, for sure. You have a very compassionate ear right here.