Union Pacific experienced an unexpected surge last year in West Coast cargo, with international intermodal volumes growing 19% compared to the previous year. The railroad’s ability to handle the surge while increasing overall freight car velocity by 2% highlights its ability to swiftly respond to operational challenges and deliver best-in-class service to its customers.
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Whether building a resource buffer of people, locomotives and rail cars to respond to peak season demands or severe weather, Union Pacific is consistently striving for operational excellence.
“Union Pacific’s success hinges on our ability to deliver the service we sold,” said Kenny Rocker, executive vice president of Marketing and Sales. “If we’re successful on that front, growth and new customers will follow, and we will grow together.”
ACCOUNTABILITY
Union Pacific implemented a new performance-related metric in 2024 that compares the railroad’s current level of service to its top monthly performance over the past three years.
Service has steadily improved since the new Service Performance Index (SPI) was implemented. Manifest SPI reached a record 98% in December, while intermodal ended the same month at 97%, the year’s second-highest level.
MARKET ACCESS
Union Pacific offers the most comprehensive market coverage in the industry, with unmatched franchise lanes that blanket two-thirds of the western U.S. and connect some of the nation’s biggest market hubs: Chicago, Kansas City, Houston, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Salt Lake City, and both Northern and Southern California.
PLAN, PREPARE AND PERFORM
Railroads must adapt quickly to meet evolving market demands, as well as prepare and plan for extreme weather.
Union Pacific engages frequently with its customers to help identify and quickly respond to market trends. For example, Union Pacific opened its new Phoenix Intermodal terminal last year 45 days after announcing a plan to meet demand.
In most cases, Union Pacific begins preparing for extreme weather long before it rains or a storm hits, surging equipment and personnel to the scene to ensure a lightning-fast storm response.
Last month, when historic snow fell in the Gulf Coast region, Union Pacific already had staged generators and other equipment in the area, as well as personnel to keep the network fluid.
FASTER, EASIER ACCESS
Union Pacific is always looking for ways to provide faster service, including a new three-day Z train service from Southern California to Chicago.
Compared to its competitors, Union Pacific has the shortest route between Mexico and Chicago and is the only railroad with access to all six gateways into the growing Mexico markets.
The railroad’s premium intermodal services, which operate daily, can move goods between the Canadian border to the Mexican border in 52 hours:
- Eagle Premium delivers seamless interchange between Mexico, Chicago, the West Coast and eastern U.S. points, including Detroit, Michigan, and Louisville, Kentucky.
- Falcon Premium, developed jointly with Canadian National and Grupo Mexico, serves all CN points within Canada and Detroit.
“We’re excited about the future and the strong investments we are making in our infrastructure and premium products to deliver a service product that is second to none,” Rocker said.
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