Union Pacific

With no end in sight to the pandemic in North America, BMWED says railroads should enhance worker safety.

Rail traffic continued to build through June. U.S. intermodal traffic was only off 5% year-over-year in week 26.

Border agents found 48 stowaways attempting to enter the U.S. illegally at rail crossings at the El Paso, Texas, port of entry.

Class 1 railroads reiterate that some measures they took to cut costs because of the coronavirus could become permanent.

With the second half of the year just weeks away, Class I rail executives are eyeing at least some recovery in rail volumes as shelter-in-place restrictions ease.

BNSF and others are monitoring their rail networks as Cristobal moves up the Mississippi River Valley.

The railroad’s deployment of precision scheduled railroading resulted in faster and longer trains and reduced car sorting, according to the company’s recent sustainability report.

Despite U.S. rail traffic remaining sharply lower on a year-over-year basis, rail volumes for commodities such as grain and motor vehicles and parts helped to push volumes higher on a week-to-week basis.

The western U.S. railroad can deploy additional cost reduction measures, but how much cost savings it can realize from those measures will depend on how much rail volumes fall in the second quarter.

Despite lower revenues, the western U.S. railroad saw its first-quarter net income increase as the company trimmed quarterly expenses by 10%.

The railroads say the coronavirus pandemic could influence their financial results in 2020, but how deep that impact will be will depend on how long the pandemic lasts.

Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific each have employees who have contracted the virus, and they and those around them are in self-quarantine.

The three Class I railroads have set or will set targets as part of their involvement in a global initiative.

Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific say they have contingency plans should the coronavirus threaten to disrupt operations.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen wants freight and passenger railroads to temporarily alter their sick leave policies and provide stronger sanitizing materials.

Uncertainty is still an underlying theme facing North American freight railroads.

The transportation of goods and people was transformed when eastern and western rails were connected in 1869.

Union Pacific opens lanes, while Norfolk Southern talks lane opportunities to take market share from trucks.

Quarantines and factory shutdowns could deepen and extend the traditional Chinese New Year trough.

The railroad eyes slight volume growth in 2020 amid plans for longer trains and reduced headcount.

Net income falls in the fourth quarter amid a decline in operating revenue and a decrease in rail volumes.

Los Angeles port signals efficiency gains as the third-largest container alliance plans additional SE Asia stops.

Lower rail volumes, an active Surface Transportation Board and a strike were among the key events that the U.S. and Canadian freight rail industry experienced this year.

The next step is achieving full interoperability with other railroads.

Proposal providing relief for shippers could be rolled out next year.

Several management teams from North America’s largest Class I railroads were on hand to discuss current demand, their networks and the future at the Credit Suisse 7th Annual Industrials Conference.

Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) is suing the city of Palestine, Texas, to nullify a 150-year-old contract to keep a certain number of jobs in the town indefinitely. The agreement between […]

North American Class I carloads increased year-over-year in week 47 on a favorable comp. The prior four-week average remains weak.

The terminal wants to be an alternative for those needing intermodal services to the U.S. West Coast.

Rationalizing additional network assets is still a possibility in 2020.

Now Goldman thinks that ISM data won’t turn positive until Q2 2020.

Carloads on the railroads remained under water in the first week of the fourth quarter 2019. Intermodal weakness will be in the spotlight as third quarter earnings season approaches.

Excerpt: The companies promote and assign new roles to longstanding employees.

Companies file a flurry of lawsuits against the big four U.S. Class I railroads, alleging their fuel surcharge programs violated antitrust laws.

Heading into earnings season, the railroads clearly have a revenue headwind as carloads declined again in the latest week.

Jennifer Hamann will succeed Rob Knight on January 1, 2020.

But a lot depends on stabilizing global growth and an industrial recovery in the United States.

Amazon Air to begin flying at Dallas/Fort Worth regional hub next month

Hub Group believes “soft” intermodal volumes will begin to flatten out and that the 2019 peak shipping season will be similar to that of 2017.

Hub Group sees record earnings despite a “softening demand environment” and “increased truckload and intermodal competition.”

Passenger train proposal asks for comment on freight requirements as well.

“You’ve heard me say this many, many times – we’re not going to use the lack of volume as an excuse not to make aggressive achievements on our productivity,” Union Pacific chief financial officer Rob Knight said.

Union Pacific set an all-time record for its operating ratio in the second quarter despite lower freight volumes and a decline in freight revenue.

Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific are modifying some of the ways they collect demurrage and accessorial charges for some commodities, but some shippers are questioning the modifications.

Union Pacific’s (NYSE: UNP) intermodal rail service saw average speeds sink to a two-year low in the second quarter, with shippers and intermodal marketing companies reporting extensive delays in getting […]

Maersk’s (Nasdaq OMX: MAER) fight to bring automation to its largest North American marine terminal is getting support from shippers and non-ocean carriers concerned about the impact on the environment […]

Rail volumes were off again for the week ending June 29, 2019 with U.S. railroads reporting a 5.5 percent decline.

Barge grain movements on Mississippi 85 percent lower than a year ago

The legislation comes four years after Washington and California passed laws requiring better preparation for derailments and spills.

Year-to-date U.S. rail volumes fell again amid a loosening truck market, receding floodwaters in the Midwest and overall economic uncertainty.

Flooding impacts, cheap natural gas prices, and trade and economic uncertainty could be factors contributing to a significant slump in weekly U.S. rail volume.

Railroad market expert Jim Blaze writes about the movement of chemicals by rail and how that sub-set of railroad traffic is profitable and may grow significantly in the near future.

“It’s just a confusing time for all of us in transportation and anybody in manufacturing or business in general to have a really good sense of why we’re seeing this kind of softness,” said CSX chief executive officer Jim Foote.

U.S. intermodal volumes fell 5.9 percent in May, while carloads fell 2.1 percent amid economic uneasiness and uncertainties surrounding U.S. trade between Mexico and China.

While the degradation was seen across most sectors, the transports are seeing outsized declines.

Only 17 percent of the relationships between the U.S. passenger and freight railroads required to utilize positive train control technology have interoperability, meaning that the host railroad can communicate with a non-host train through the technology, according to data released by the Federal Railroad Administration.

Total number of trains carrying loads, total number of trains held both increasing as Great Plains flooding washes out tracks.

Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) announced this week it would lay off almost 200 employees in eastern Oregon as part of a series of cuts the railroad is making in order […]

Hundreds of miles of rails still out of service, other assets at risk from flooding by severe storms.

Rail congestion in regions such as Chicago and Houston may have eased for now, but the railroads will still need to find ways to increase capacity at those busy city locations as the U.S. population grows, Class I railroad executives said at an investor conference this week.

Canadian rail volumes rose again year-to-date for the week ended May 11, while U.S. rail volumes continued downward amid U.S. tariff uncertainty and a fuzzy economic picture.

Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) announced which intermodal terminals it would close around Chicago, Illinois, weeks after hinting on its first quarter earnings call that it planned to consolidate operations there. […]

Berkshire Hathway (NYSE: BRK) chairman and CEO Warren Buffett said he would be willing to consider some form of precision scheduled railroading (PSR) for western U.S. railroad BNSF, although he […]

Union Pacific’s (NYSE: UNP) first quarter net profit rose 6 percent amid company efforts to rationalize or reorganize existing assets to streamline operations under precision scheduled railroading (PSR).

Hundreds of miles of critical freight rails once out of commission due to flooding are back in service.

Precision scheduled railroading (PSR) could benefit customers and shippers, but its deployment pace and how shippers respond to changes will be key to its success, panelists said today at the North East Association of Rail Shippers conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

U.S. rail volumes fell again last week as rail service issues continue to plague the post-flooding Midwestern landscape.

Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) confirmed that it is slowing down its pace of construction at the multi-million dollar Brazos classification yard in Robertson County, Texas. This comes amid UNP’s plans to implement precision scheduled railroading and modify its operating plan to minimize railcar classification events.

Historic flooding has caused around $1 billion dollars in agricultural damage in Iowa, Nebraska. Roads, rails still out of service.

The largest freight railroad network in the U.S. still has several tracks out of service after Midwest flood damage. At least one other company also suffering losses.

BNSF (NYSE: BRK) and Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) are grappling with the aftermath of the recent historic floods, with both companies scrambling to assess and repair damage as quickly as possible.

Two major railroads have stopped freight service because of catastrophic flooding in the Midwest where rails are washed out.

Rise in expansion and efficiency projects comes after strong year of growth in company’s intermodal business.

Five-year high in growth seen last year thanks to tariff front-loading and tight truck supply, but shippers likely to put brakes on growth this year.

Class 1 railroads may have to shorten train lengths and reduce speeds to cope with cold, while drayage supply will also be tight.

The company moved up its operating ratio targets on the back of a strong performance in the early days of precision railroading.

Just a few months after its CEO expressed some skepticism about the practice, the NAFTA-focused rail company will adopt its principles.

The operating ratio—strong enough in the third quarter that it can be argued it was earth-shaking—weakened slightly but was still ahead of the fourth quarter of 2017.

A current rail attorney who was with the STB for many years wonders whether it has ever broken free of the changes envisioned by the Staggers Act.

After first saying in November that operating ratio for the year would be flat, a strong December has enabled it to tick up slightly.

Jim Vena, protege of vaunted rail executive Hunter Harrison, seen as likely helping boost UP’s move to greater efficiency.

Cowen expects softening trucking prices in 2019 to be a headwind for truckload carrier earnings, but should widen gross margins for freight brokerages.

Rail and truck demand a secondary casualty in trade dispute.

In this final part of the three-part series, the author looks at what steps need to be taken to successfully implement precision railroading.

Precision railroading has worked, but consistent success has been elusive.

The Unified Plan 2020 is in place in one corridor, with another to come. So far, UP executives are boasting about its success.

The usual signs of an upturn in the trucking sector aren’t there, according to the Wall Street house, and Morgan wonders if a lot of the demand got pushed forward.

Railroad sees more appliance and brown paper freight moving off road transportation to rail.

In his preview of the railroads’ Q3 earnings reports, Susquehanna’s Bascome Majors set optimistic price targets but warned that P/E valuations are at historically high levels.

Michigan-based asset-light logistics provider aims to boost western U.S. presence with latest acquisition.

Howard Green is best on fights between the serial CEO and his boards, activist investors, and proxy wars, but there’s a lot in the book for railroad buffs who want to know more about Harrison’s signature philosophy, precision scheduled railroading.

Mike Lacey sees some improvement in his relationship with railroads, but it’s coming from a very low point.

Largest U.S. intermodal rail carrier sees uptick in domestic containers and trailers as trucking capacity remains tight.

Port aims for new on-dock rail facility to handle increased container throughput and meet clean-air goals.

The Southern California International Gateway is no nearer completion 13 years after it was first proposed.

Never the trains shall meet as CSX’s intermodal changes rile UP service.

The class 1 railroad owned by Berkshire Hathaway had the worst OR of any of the class 1 railroads for the second quarter.

Analysts have issues with the operating rate, and price increases that seem small compared to the transport sector as a whole.

Delays by other railroads in implementing PTC is the basis for BNSF to request a delay in its end-year deadline.

With transport stocks surging, some market watchers are hopeful that the current expansion period will continue despite downturns in the broader market earlier this year.