Aug 19 (Reuters) - U.S. freight forwarder C.H. Robinson ( CHRW )

said on Monday it was diverting some of its U.S.

customers' ocean cargo away from Canadian ports as the threat of

a rail strike looms.

It said roughly 80% of its customers who had switched are

now exporting through Los Angeles/Long Beach ports and the rest

through Seattle/Tacoma ports.

Canadian railroads, Canadian National and Canadian

Pacific Kansas City ( CP ), are bracing for a possible work

stoppage by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Union.

"Now that a strike notice has been declared, some of our

Canadian export customers are starting to ship time-sensitive

goods to the ports by truck to avoid containers being stuck at

rail terminals during a strike," C.H. Robinson's ( CHRW ) Canada VP Scott

Shannon said in a statement to Reuters.

C.H. Robinson ( CHRW ) is lining up extra trucking capacity on both

sides of the border, as volumes are expected to shift to

highways following the disruption.

A strike, which could come as early as August 22, brings a

level of uncertainty for shippers in both U.S. and Canada,

forcing them to think about over-the-road options.

(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim

Zahid and Sriraj Kalluvila)