April 2009 Archive

April 30, 2009

M&S Appoints Two; Collier Retires

(01:26 p.m. CDT) Marketing and Sales has announced two new appointments for UP's Mexico and Industrial Development businesses. More...

April 29, 2009

Train Dispatcher Awarded Volunteer of the Year

(09:20 a.m. CDT) Described as a "one-woman whirlwind," Train Dispatcher Connie Rose accepted United Way of the Midland's Volunteer of the Year Award at its annual luncheon on April 22, celebrating National Volunteer Week. More...

April 28, 2009

Koraleski Honored As Advocate for Women

(12:35 p.m. CDT) Jack Koraleski, executive vice president-Marketing and Sales, recently was honored by the Institute of Career Advancement Needs (ICAN) with the Tim Rouse Advocate for Women in Leadership Award at its annual conference in Omaha. The honor recognizes those who actively participate in the advancement of women in leadership, business and the community. More...

April 24, 2009

BNSF Q1 Profit Dips

(04:00 p.m. CDT) Burlington Northern Santa Fe reported quarterly earnings of $0.86 per diluted share, which included a $0.19 per share charge related to an unfavorable coal rate case decision and an $0.08 per share loss on unwinding interest rate hedges on debt no longer expected to be issued. This compares to first-quarter 2008 earnings of $1.30 per diluted share. More...

Sharp Decline Reported in Rail Freight Traffic

(03:55 p.m. CDT) U.S. railroads originated 255,269 cars during the week, down 24.3 percent from the comparison week in 2008, although up 2.8 percent from the previous week this year. Compared to last year, loadings were down 20.6 percent in the West and 28.6 percent in the East. More...

April 22, 2009

NS Profits Fall on Declining Volume

(12:40 p.m. CDT) For the first quarter of 2009, Norfolk Southern Corporation reported net income of $177 million, or $0.47 per diluted share, compared with $291 million, or $0.76 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2008. More...

April 21, 2009

CN Revenue Drops in 1Q

(05:00 p.m. CDT) Canadian National said its first-quarter profit rose 36 percent after it sold a rail corridor, though its adjusted profit was flat with year-ago results. More...

Toyota Recognizes UP's Customer Service

(02:15 p.m. CDT) Union Pacific has been recognized as the top railroad in customer service by Toyota Logistics Services for 2008. More...

April 20, 2009

Celebrate Native American Heritage

(02:00 p.m. CDT) The Council of Native American Heritage (CONAH) is inviting employees across the UP system to join its newly formed employee resource group. More...

April 17, 2009

Team Leader Earns Chairman's Environmental Award

(08:48 a.m. CDT) It's no surprise to Patrick O'Leary's coworkers that he's been honored with UP's annual Chairman's Environmental Award. More...

April 16, 2009

Rail Freight Traffic Off

(01:00 p.m. CDT) Bad weather in the Upper Midwest, the slow economy and the Good Friday holiday all combined to produce another down week for U.S. rail freight traffic during the week ended April 11. More...

Obama Calls for High-Speed Passenger Trains

(12:50 p.m. CDT) President Barack Obama, along with Vice President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, announced a new initiative April 16 to transform travel in America, creating high-speed rail lines from city to city, reducing dependence on cars and planes and spurring economic development. More...

April 15, 2009

CSX Reports Earnings Decline

(03:40 p.m. CDT) First quarter revenues of $2.2 billion were down 17 percent from the prior year, primarily due to a 17 percent decline in volume. More...

April 14, 2009

Retiree Recognized for Environmental Efforts

(09:45 a.m. CDT) The railroad engineering program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently recognized Union Pacific retiree Ken Welch with its Railroad Environmental Achievement Award. Welch worked 34 years with UP and retired in 2006. More...

Safety Champions Win 2008 Beachler Award

(09:40 a.m. CDT) Together with their teams, Buck Russell, locomotive engineer, and Gary Mehalic, manager-track projects, have dedicated themselves to accident prevention, and by doing so represent the very best of what it means to be a safety champion. It's why they've both been named winners of Union Pacific's 2009 Dennis B. Beachler Grade Crossing Safety Award. More...

April 9, 2009

Weather, Economy Produce Rail Traffic Decline

(10:23 a.m. CDT) U.S. railroads reported originating 262,624 cars during the week, down 20.5 percent from the comparison week in 2008, with loadings down 19.4 percent in the West and 22.0 percent in the East. More...

April 8, 2009

UP Employees Celebrate Earth Day

(09:05 a.m. CDT) Employees continue "going green" this month, celebrating Earth Day with more than 50 activities in nearly 40 communities systemwide. More...

April 3, 2009

El Paso Employees Celebrate by Giving

(10:40 a.m. CDT) When El Paso Service Unit employees celebrated their "No. 1 in Safety" record for their region in 2008 with a barbecue, they used it as an opportunity to help others. Employees were asked to bring food donations to benefit the West Texas Food Bank, and they responded with full force. More...

Key Senator Sees Rail Talks on Track

(10:35 a.m. CDT) Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va, said discussions among congressional staff, rail customers and railroads to craft new competition rules for that industry "are moving along nicely." More...

Down Week for Freight Traffic on U.S. Railroads

(10:30 a.m. CDT) U.S. railroads originated 1,082,514 carloads of freight in March, down 17.3 percent from March 2008. Intermodal rail traffic totaled 729,033 units in March, down 14.9 percent compared to March 2008. More...

Carman Works 40 Years Injury-Free

(10:24 a.m. CDT) Carman John Quinones began a railroad career that would span 40 injury-free years. He was 20 years old and had just returned from Vietnam after serving in the Army. Hiring on as a laborer with the Western Pacific in Stockton, Calif., within six months he became a carman. He will retire from the Roseville Service Unit within the next couple months. More...