I wish you and your families all the best over the holidays and am looking forward to a challenging and fulfilling 2025.
Others may measure success differently, but I measure success by looking at our results and asking myself: Did we deliver for our owners? Is the company in a great financial position? Is Union Pacific a company that is clear-eyed when it comes to success for our employees, our customers and the communities where we operate? And finally, are we living up to our slogan of “Building America”?
Safety on the railroad has improved by double digits, and we are seeing the results from our investments in training, safety programs, infrastructure and technology. We cannot and will not waiver on our goal to be the best in safety. We lost key members of our team this year, and we should all take a few moments to think about them and their families over the holidays and ensure we work even harder on safety in 2025.
Service is what we sold our customers. We have received many awards from our customers for our service, and our SPI measures clearly indicate our efforts should allow them to win in their markets. Of course, service was not perfect, and we need to work on getting better. Our resilience was clearly evident in how we recovered from events out of our control and pivoted our resources to handle a more than 30% increase in third quarter international intermodal which was never forecasted. We invested capital to grow our business, provide better service and embed new technologies into our processes. The list is long, but we will reap the rewards from the Phoenix Intermodal Terminal, hump yard improvements, siding extensions, APIs, gate technologies and the NX system to name only a few.
Our results are possible because of our focus on Operational Excellence, and they align perfectly with our vision and strategy. We have done a great job in Asset Utilization and Cost Control. While many may want to set Operating Ratio as a goal in reality, Operating Ratio or margin is a result of everything we do. I don’t think I’m being presumptuous after reviewing three quarters of this year saying we will be the most efficient railroad in 2024 – and in 2025 we will build on these results.
People made our results possible. We offer competitive – and in many cases the highest – wages of all Class 1s, free college tuition to any employee who seeks it, opportunities for all employees to own UP stock, and some of the best healthcare benefits in the country. Our employee engagement survey results show employee morale is higher, manager effectiveness is stronger, and our teams understand our strategy and how their contributions help us deliver strong results.
We are entering 2025 in a good place, and we need to celebrate our achievements. Our inaugural CEO Excellence Awards will acknowledge individuals and teams who exemplify excellence. You’ll learn more about these winners in the year ahead – they are a small example of the great work happening across the entire system by countless employees that we’ll continue to build on next year.
Our culture defines our success in pursuit of all that is possible. I am asking all of us to look at how we can succeed, exceed and deliver Safety, Service and Operational Excellence. Have fun, push hard, be strong and ready to win. We have a clear picture of where we are headed. Let’s keep the momentum going, building on the success of our past and establishing a stronger future for the generations ahead. We are in this together.
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