By Paul Scott Abbott, AJOT As president of Montréal’s venerable Grunt Club, independent transportation consultant Ken Christensen is already busy planning for the maritime industry organization’s Dec. 7 annual dinner. But he’s not so busy that he couldn’t find time earlier this month for a vacation with his wife to Virginia Beach – from which he took time out to engage in an exclusive interview with the American Journal of Transportation, during which he shared thoughts on the impressive growth of the Port of Montréal and its intermodal links, on the possible impacts of a U.S. labor action and on his passion for swimming – but just not in the bloody cold St. Lawrence River.
Ken Christensen enjoys his role as president of Montréal’s Grunt Club
First, I must ask you about your role as president of the venerable Grunt Club, which, since its inception in 1931 – before even either one of us was born – has become one of the most vital local maritime industry organizations in the world. What is it that makes the Grunt Club so special? We have an annual dinner, which we’ve been working on since the beginning of the summer, and it’s the first Friday in December, with 1,100 to 1,200 people for the dinner. We have two golf tournaments—one in the spring, one in the fall. We have the curling luncheon… A curling luncheon? They don’t have too many curling luncheons down here in the States. Do you enjoy curling? No. No, no, no. I’m not good at that. I’ll stand around and watch, but no, no. I throw that thing and I make it bounce backwards, you know what I mean? I don’t know how they do it, I really don’t. Anyway, we also have events for the members’ families. In the summer, we have a picnic, where the members can bring their kids and families. In the winter, we have a Christmas party for them. So it’s not just for the members; it’s for the members and their families. We support the Mariners’ House [of Montréal], which is probably our main beneficiary. We donate money to both children’s hospitals in Montréal, as well as the Maritime Institute of Québec, so they can give grants to some of their students, and we do that every year. As far as what makes the club so special, it’s hard to say. Obviously, it started out as a local membership, and now we have members that come from the United States. It’s a social club, that’s basically what it is, for any individuals involved in the maritime industry. Why the name Grunt Club? I’m told it goes like this: At dinner, we went back to our age-old discussions of forming a club. The drinks and dinner had been a little much for Barney, and he was sleeping peacefully at the head table, emitting from time to time loud and unmistakable grunts. Before breaking up the party, someone suggested we elect Barney president of the club and call it the Grunt Club. The rest is history. You’ll notice, too, if you look at the club’s insignia, it’s a gold pig. Now let me next ask a question that relates to an issue that is top-of-mind this month for most of us in the industry, that being the possibility of an Oct. 1 labor action at U.S. East Coast and Gulf ports. Clearly, Montréal and other Canadian ports could be huge beneficiaries of shifts in cargo routings. What impacts upon Canadian ports do you see possibly occurring? It’s going to be more of a hindrance if something like that happens. The ports in Canada will be able to handle it, no problem, but it becomes a hindrance for everybody else. More traffic, be it rail, truck, ship, what have you. And, of course, there are going to be delays for everybody. That’s going to be your biggest problem. Things will still move. There’s no question about that. Things will move. There will be delays, of course, and delays for everybody, including the clients, who are waiting for their goods or are waiting to get rid of their goods. The ports in Canada will handle it.