July 2009 Archive

July 31, 2009

Environmental Study Reveals Artifacts

(11:00 a.m. CDT) Mission artifacts along with items linked with the building of the Union Pacific Railroad in the late 1800s were discovered during an archaeological survey near the San Gabriel Mission. More...

July 30, 2009

KCS 2Q Profit Drops

(02:40 p.m. CDT) Kansas City Southern reported a much smaller second-quarter profit as the economy and lower fuel prices slashed revenue by 30 percent. More...

AAR: Carloadings Continue Slight Improvement

(01:50 p.m. CDT) Rail carloadings for the week ended July 25, 2009, continue to show slight improvement, but rail traffic remains down compared with the same period last year. More...

July 29, 2009

Norfolk Southern 2Q Profits Decline

(08:10 a.m. CDT) For the second quarter of 2009, Norfolk Southern Corporation reported net income of $247 million, or $0.66 per diluted share, compared with $453 million, or $1.18 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2008. More...

July 27, 2009

Rail Traffic Reflects Sluggish Economy

(10:45 a.m. CDT) U.S railroads reported originating 268,553 cars, down 17.9 percent compared with the same week in 2008. Regionally, carloadings were down 17.3 percent in the West and 18.9 percent in the East. Rail carloadings were at their highest level in 15 weeks. More...

July 24, 2009

Young Discusses 2Q Earnings Live

(01:25 p.m. CDT) Chairman Jim Young appeared live on various media outlets July 23, discussing Union Pacific's second quarter earnings. More...

Employee Helps Transport Injured Children

(10:10 a.m. CDT) Involved with the Evangeline Shrine Club of Lafayette, La., as long as he can remember, Mike Guidry spends much of his free time raising money for its efforts toward transporting crippled and burned children to Lafayette's Shriner hospital. More...

Burlington Northern 2Q Profit Rises

(09:30 a.m. CDT) Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. said second-quarter earnings rose 15 percent as big savings from cheaper fuel and other cost cuts offset plunging demand. More...

July 23, 2009

STB: Class I Workforce Smaller in June

(03:00 p.m. CDT) As of mid-June, the Class I railroad workforce stood at 149,614, representing a 1.3 percent decrease from mid-May's level and 8.5 percent drop from June 2008's count. More...

July 22, 2009

Chairman to Discuss Second Quarter Earnings Live

(10:50 a.m. CDT) Chairman Jim Young will participate in several live television interviews to discuss the railroad's second quarter earnings Thursday, July, 23. More...

CN Profit Off 16 Percent

(09:30 a.m. CDT) Canadian National Railway reported a 16 percent drop in quarterly profit on July 20, but predicted the worst of the economic downturn was behind it. More...

July 17, 2009

Celebrating Six Injury-Free Years

(09:50 a.m. CDT) Signal maintenance employees working on the Jefferson City, Sedalia and River subdivisions recently reached a safety milestone, celebrating six injury-free years on July 14. More...

July 16, 2009

FRA: New Rules Support PTC Use

(03:25 p.m. CDT) Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo July 16 announced proposed rules designed to prevent train collisions through the use of Positive Train Control. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) prescribes how railroads must use Positive Train Control systems to prevent train-to-train collisions. More...

Rail Traffic Remains Down Year-Over-Year

(02:40 p.m. CDT) Regionally, carloadings were down 12.8 percent in the West and 25.6 percent in the East. Rail carloadings, however, were at their highest level in 14 weeks. More...

July 14, 2009

CSX Profits Fall on Lower Freight Volumes

(11:20 a.m. CDT) CSX Corporation announced second quarter earnings of $308 million, or 78 cents a share, versus $385 million, or 93 cents a share, last year. Excluding the impact of discontinued operations related to The Greenbrier resort, earnings per share from continuing operations declined 24 percent from 95 cents to 72 cents. More...

July 13, 2009

UTU Chief Declares SMWIA Merger 'Dead'

(12:15 p.m. CDT) A top UTU official said a plan to merge the United Transportation Union and other rail workers with the Sheet Metal Workers International Association is now "dead." More...

July 10, 2009

Army Partnership Provides Job Opportunities

(09:15 a.m. CDT) Union Pacific recently joined seven fellow Nebraska employers in the U.S. Army Reserve's Employer Partner Initiaitve. More...

Rail Traffic Down During Holiday Week

(09:05 a.m. CDT) U.S railroads reported originating 241,240 cars, down 15.6 percent compared with the same week in 2008. Total volume on U.S. railroads for the week ending July 4 was estimated at 25.7 billion ton-miles, off 14.3 percent from the same week last year. More...

Johnson Legacy Spans Nearly 100 Years

(08:30 a.m. CDT) It was 1910 when Roy Johnson began auditing freight accounts for Union Pacific; however, he didn't know that the start of his railroad career would begin a century of family service. More...

July 8, 2009

President Obama Tabs UTU's Elliott to Chair STB

(04:00 p.m. CDT) President Obama announced July 6 his intention to nominate Daniel Elliott III as Surface Transportation Board (STB) chairman. More...

July 3, 2009

June Rail Traffic Down

(10:40 a.m. CDT) U.S. railroads originated 1,039,889 carloads of freight in June 2009, down 19.7 percent with 255,668 fewer carloads compared to June 2008. More...

July 2, 2009

Celebrate Independence Day Safely

(10:05 a.m. CDT) With Fourth of July just days away, employees are reminded to celebrate safely, especially if fireworks are involved. More...

July 1, 2009

U.S. Rail Fatalities Continue to Decline

(05:00 p.m. CDT) According to statistics released July 1 by the Federal Railroad Administration's Office of Safety Analysis, fatalities reported by U.S. railroads continued to decline in this year's first four months. More...

Employee Resource Groups Celebrate Diversity

(11:35 a.m. CDT) UP's employee resource groups are joining forces with other Omaha-area companies in the city's first Diversity Week, celebrating diversity and inclusion. More...