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Oct
22

UP revenue, earnings fall in Q3, but operating ratio improves

Union Pacific Railroad today reported third-quarter 2020 net income decreased 12% to $1.4 billion, or $2.01 per diluted share, from $1.6 billion, or $2.22 per diluted share, in the same quarter last year.

Operating revenue in the quarter fell 11% to $4.9 billion from a year ago. Third-quarter business volumes, as measured by total revenue carloads, decreased 4%. Premium volumes increased compared to Q3 2019, while industrial and bulk declined, UP officials said in a press release.

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Sep
29

UP named top ‘military-friendly’ employer

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 9/29/2020 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
More than 17 percent of Union Pacific employees have military backgrounds.Photo – UP

Union Pacific Railroad was designated the top “Military Friendly Employer” in the transportation industry for 2021 and ranked No. 7 overall by Viqtory Media, publisher of G.I. Jobs magazine.

More than 17 percent of UP employees, or 6,300, are veterans and active-service military members. 

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Sep
25

UP, CEMEX agree to transport liquid carbon dioxide from Texas port

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 9/25/2020 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Port Freeport yesterday announced a new operational agreement between CEMEX Inc. and Union Pacific Railroad to transport liquid carbon dioxide from Freeport, Texas, to Mexico.CEMEX transloads the liquid carbon dioxide from tank trucks into rail cars while UP arranges the transport of the loaded cars to their destination in Mexico, port officials said in a press release.The liquid carbon dioxide is used in various applications, including the manufacturing of carbonated beverages."The collaboration between CEMEX, Union Pacific and Port Freeport opens the door for additional opportunities for economic growth in our region and beyond," said Port Commission Chairman Shane Pirtle.The port's recent investment in rail infrastructure has garnered the attention of many multinational companies, said Port Executive and Chief Executive Officer Phyllis Saathoff said.Port Freeport is a leading port in the export of crude oil and natural gas liquids, port officials said.

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Sep
18

UP awards millions in grants to pandemic-related efforts

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 9/18/2020 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
UP SVP and Chief Administrative Officer Scott Moore is president of the Union Pacific Foundation.Photo – up.com

Union Pacific Railroad's Community Ties Giving Program has awarded $10.2 million in local grants to more than 930 nonprofit organizations across the Class I's 23-state system.

Traditionally, UP awards grants in the company's three philanthropic priorities: safety, workforce development and community spaces. However, this year, nearly $7 million is being awarded to efforts to address needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, UP officials said in a press release.

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Sep
09

UP dispatches 'water train' to fight California wildfires

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 9/9/2020 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
A UP crew used the water train to fight a fire near Spring Garden, California.Photo – UP's InsideTrack newsletter

A team of Union Pacific Railroad engineering employees have been on the front lines of battling hot spots along the railroad's track, bridges and tunnels as wildfires roar across Northern California.

The crew have been using the UP water train, which consists of two rail cars that each hold 12,500 gallons of water and a pumper. The train goes back and forth over a 7-miles stretch, traversing up to 50 miles a day, UP officials said in railroad's InsideTrack newsletter.

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Sep
03

UP to operate Bailey Yard as single classification yard

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 9/3/2020 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad will begin operating its Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska, as a single classification yard, the railroad confirmed yesterday.The Class I will consolidate its rail-car sorting operations in the yard's newest and westernmost hump yard.The change is due to improved customer shipping processing times, said Raquel Espinoza, UP's senior director of corporate communications and media relations, in an email."All rail shipments will be sorted on the west side of Bailey Yard, which plays a critical role on the Union Pacific network," she said. "The changes are a testament to the team's operational excellence and safe, reliable service to customers."UP does not anticipate the changes to have a "significant impact" on its 1,600 employees in North Platte, Espinoza added.The yard's workforce went through several rounds of layoffs and other job reductions after UP unveiled its Unified Plan 2020 in late 2018, according to The North Platte Telegraph. In May, another round of layoffs was announced due to lower traffic related to the COVID-19 pandemic.Considered the world's largest rail classification yard, Bailey Yard covers 2,850 acres, reaching a total length of 8 miles.

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Aug
27

UP preps for Houston intermodal yard consolidation, Hurricane Laura damage

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 8/27/2020 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
As part of its Unified Plan 2020 operational strategy, Union Pacific Railroad plans to consolidate its intermodal operations in the Houston area in fall.Currently, both the Englewood and Settegast yards process intermodal shipments. But beginning Sept. 21, the Class I will consolidate all intermodal operations for international and domestic service at Settegast Yard to make operations simpler and more efficient, said UP Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales Kenny Rocker in an Aug. 26 customer announcement.The consolidation will streamline train service and ramp operations, and help increase service frequency to multiple markets.
 
“After we move intermodal operations out of the Englewood facility, we will have additional capacity for our manifest operations at that location,” Rocker wrote. “This shift will further improve the network fluidity in the Houston area, providing … safer and more consistent service — a major win for all customers.”Meanwhile, to prepare for the effects of Hurricane Laura — which struck Louisiana and Texas today — UP over the past few days staged resources such as generators and ballast at strategic locations, and added fueling stations and crews in the Gulf Coast area.
 
“Our teams have made preparations to ensure any potential outages are addressed and repaired as quickly as possible,” Rocker wrote.

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Jul
23

UP's Q2 revenue, profit plummet on lower volumes

Union Pacific Corp. posted a 24 percent decline in second-quarter operating revenue and a 28 percent decline in net income as the Class I faced a 20 percent drop in volume due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Class I reported second-quarter 2020 net income of $1.1 billion, or $1.67 per diluted share, compared with $1.6 billion, or $2.22 per diluted share, a year ago.

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Jun
05

UP's Fritz calls for action on racial injustice

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 6/5/2020 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Lance FritzPhoto – up.com

Union Pacific Corp. Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Lance Fritz earlier this week posted on the railroad's website a statement about the recent racial injustice events that spurred protests throughout the nation over the past week.

Fritz began by noting that UP employees formed the Black Employee Network 40 years ago to help company leadership understand and respond to the company's African American employees.

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May
22

UP reduces Bailey Yard workforce

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 5/22/2020 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad earlier this week laid off an unspecified number of workers in the mechanical department at Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska.The layoff was related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the North Platte Telegraph reported.Raquel Espinoza, UP's senior director of corporate communications and media relations, confirmed the workforce reduction in an email. She declined to indicate how many people were affected. "Union Pacific is experiencing volume declines as the COVID-19 pandemic impacts the country," she said in a statement to the Telegraph. "We are operating fewer locomotives and rail cars, requiring us to reduce our workforce in the mechanical department."Bailey Yard lost about 250 jobs last year, based on local estimates, as the Class I implemented its Unified Plan 2020 operating model throughout its network, the newspaper reported.For the week ending May 16, UP handled 67,603 carloads, down from 92,535 during the same week in 2019, according to Association of American Railroads data. 

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May
12

UP shutters Cold Connect service

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 5/12/2020 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Cold Connect is a Loup Logistics service that moves refrigerated products from the West Coast to UP's warehouse in Rotterdam, New York.Photo – upcoldconnect.com

Customers were notified late last week that Union Pacific Railroad is ceasing operations of Cold Connect, a Loup Logistics service that moves refrigerated products from the West Coast to UP's warehouse in Rotterdam, New York.

On May 8, employees were informed that the service would permanently close and most Cold Connect-related positions have been eliminated, said UP spokesman Tim McMahan in an email.

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Apr
30

UP to host annual meeting via audio

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 4/30/2020 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Corp. announced yesterday it will conduct its 2020 annual shareholders meeting on May 14 only through live audio.The decision to cancel an in-person event was made to protect the health of shareholders, employees and other stakeholders during the COVID-19 pandemic, UP officials said in a press release.All UP shareholders as of the close of business on March 20 are invited to attend the meeting, they said.

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Apr
23

UP posts 'strong' Q1, expects Q2 volumes to fall 25 percent

Union Pacific Railroad today posted first-quarter net income of $1.5 billion, or $2.15 per diluted share, compared to $1.4 billion, or $1.93 per diluted share, a year ago. 

Operating revenue during the quarter declined 3 percent to $5.2 billion compared with the same quarter last year. Business volumes as measured by total revenue carloads fell 7 percent during the period versus a year ago, UP officials said in a press release.

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Apr
22

Report: UP to cut executive salaries, require nonunion workers to take unpaid leave

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 4/22/2020 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Corp.'s senior executives will take a 25 percent salary cut and nonunion workers will be required to take unpaid leave, as the Class I responds to a drop in volume due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dow Jones Newswires reported according to Morningstar.com.The executive salary reductions will apply from May through August. Nonunion workers will be required to take one week of unpaid leave each month during the same period. About 85 percent of UP's 37,000 workforce are represented by unions.UP logged a 24 percent drop in carloads and intermodal containers shipped last week versus a year ago.UP reports first-quarter 2020 results on Thursday.

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Mar
10

UP pledges science-based targets for GHG emission reduction

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 3/10/2020 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad today announced its intention to set science-based targets to determine how much and when the Class I will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to support global climate change goals.UP sent a a commitment letter to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), which independently assesses corporate emissions reduction targets in line with what climate scientists say is needed to meet the Paris Agreement goals — limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, UP officials said in a press release."As one of the nation's largest freight railroads, it is our responsibility to act as environmental stewards, reducing emissions and enabling sustainable economic growth across our supply chain," said Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Lance Fritz. "This is a challenging task as it means examining every aspect of our operation and looking for innovative solutions while continuing to create long-term value for our shareholders, customers, employees and the communities where we operate."UP's target will use the SBTi's Sectoral Decarbonization Approach Transport tool, which models targets for direct and indirect transportation emissions. UP anticipates finalizing its target and submitting it for approval to the SBTi within a year, company officials said.

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Feb
21

UP in talks to sell Burnham Rail Yard to Colorado DOT

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 2/21/2020 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) have reached a preliminary agreement for the sale of 59 acres of the Burnham Rail Yard south of downtown Denver, according to local news reports.The High Performance Transportation Enterprise, a CDOT-owned entity, earlier this week approved a nonbinding term sheet that would set a purchase price of $50 million, according to a Colorado Public Radio (CPR) report.The term sheet is the first step toward a contract, which could be finalized later this year.The Burnham property is key to a number of transportation projects in Denver, including adding capacity on the Regional Transportation District of Denver's light-rail network and expanding Interstate 25.“We believe this a good opportunity for Union Pacific and CDOT, allowing the agency to address congestion issues on I-25,” UP spokeswoman Kristen South said, according to the CPR report.UP closed the yard four years ago. In July 2019, UP released a request for qualifications to solicit interest in redeveloping the property.

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Feb
04

UP launches API-driven portal for customers

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 2/4/2020 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
"APIs are going to be the preferred communication channel that's used going forward for system integration because they lay the foundation for systems to more freely and quickly transfer data in real time," said Lee Sorrick, UP's director of information technologies.Photo – up.com

Union Pacific Railroad announced last week that it has launched a developer portal that allows shippers to access relevant railroad data within their own business platforms.

Driving the service are application program interfaces (APIs), which allow computer applications to interact with each other to pass data or perform actions, UP officials said in an announcement on the company website.

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Jan
23

UP reports net income, revenue fell in Q4

Union Pacific Railroad reported today that fourth-quarter 2019 net income fell to $1.4 billion, or $2.02 per diluted share, from $1.6 billion, or $2.12 per diluted share, in fourth-quarter 2018.

Operating revenue dipped 9 percent to $5.2 billion during the quarter compared to the same period a year ago. Fourth-quarter business volume — measured by total revenue carloads — decreased 11 percent.

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Dec
10

UP reorganizes marketing and sales structure

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 12/10/2019 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad today announced a new organizational structure for marketing sales, consolidating its business groups from four to the following three: bulk, industrial and premium. The changes will take effect Jan. 1.Formerly agricultural products, bulk will add coal and petroleum coke products to its portfolio, while liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), petroleum and sand products will shift to the Class I’s industrial business, UP officials said in a press release. Coal, LPG, petroleum, petroleum coke and sand currently are part of the energy business group."This new structure will allow us to better serve our customers while helping Union Pacific remain agile to market conditions," said Kenny Rocker, executive vice president-marketing and sales.

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Nov
22

Union Pacific earns Gold Medallion for veteran support

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 11/22/2019 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Sam Shellenberger, deputy assistant secretary for the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, presented UP Vice President of External Relations Printz Bolin, right, with a Gold HIRE Vets Medallion Award.Photo – Union Pacific

The U.S. Department of Labor HIRE Vets Medallion Program named Union Pacific Railroad a 2019 Gold Medallion recipient for its support of military veterans.

The department recognized the railroad’s operations management training program, employee benefits and the UP VETS employee resource group that connects service members to provide camaraderie and mentorship, UP officials said in a press release.

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