Railroad News

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Union Pacific Chief Financial Officer Rob Knight will retire on Dec. 31, the Class I announced yesterday. Jennifer Hamann will succeed him effective Jan. 1, 2020.

Knight joined UP in 1980 and held numerous leadership positions prior to being named CFO in 2004. During his tenure as CFO, he led many initiatives that helped the company earn the highest market capitalization of any North American transportation company, UP officials said in a press release.