Status of the Railroad - A Message from Kenny Rocker, EVP, Marketing & Sales

Announcement Number: CN2020-13
Categories: General Announcements
Posted Date: April 23, 2020

To Our Customers,

Each day I’m reminded that we can’t control everything happening around us, but we can control how we support one another. The women and men of Union Pacific continue to work hard to keep our nation’s goods moving. Their dedication and discipline to stay safe and healthy during these times are evident in our ability to provide you with a solid transportation product.

Our key operating metrics (1Q average) remain strong:

  • Freight Car Velocity (daily miles per day) – Compared to a year ago, car velocity has improved 8%.
  • Freight Car Terminal Dwell (the amount of time a rail car spends in a Union Pacific rail terminal/yard) – We have seen an 11% improvement compared to this time last year.
  • Car Trip Plan Compliance (on-time shipment delivery) – Intermodal Trip Plan Compliance improved by 19 points and Manifest/Auto Trip Plan Compliance improved by one point as we are holding ourselves to a higher standard by tightening the schedules.

Although we are balancing our crews and locomotive resources to meet current volumes, we are ready to throttle them back up quickly when the demand returns. Likewise, our management team is taking a required leave of absence for one week each month until August as another cost control measure. But be assured that our teams are taking a thoughtful approach in scheduling their leaves, and we are making sure we have coverage across the board. We are confident as the nation re-opens for business, whenever that may be, we are ready to move your freight.

Communication is Key
I would like to thank you for staying engaged with our sales team and communicating potential impacts to your operations. Together, we are ensuring the supply chain keeps moving as we help to deliver products that consumers need at this time. I know we are making a big impact in supporting our communities.

Please continue to share your facility disruptions with us. It’s important to follow our COVID-19 Facility Closure Notification Process so that we are aware of your plant closures. 

Keeping Our Employees Safe
Union Pacific continues to take precautions to protect the health and safety of our employees as they work on the front lines keeping the nation’s goods moving. We remain in contact with the federal agencies as well as state and local officials on evolving public health developments and efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

Union Pacific is also acquiring and will distribute reusable face coverings to our work locations throughout the network. This is an added layer of protection as we follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendation to wear cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.

We continue to encourage our non-essential employees who have the ability to work from home, to do so. We recently extended this work from home guidance until May 18.

We Appreciate Your Business
I am thankful you trust us to keep your business moving forward. I'm certain we are ready to support you and come back together strong!

Sincerely,

Small | Kenny Rocker Signature

Kenny Rocker
Executive Vice President, Marketing & Sales