Service Update and Improvements to Your UP Experience

Announcement Number: CN2018-25
Categories: General Announcements
Posted Date: July 26, 2018

To Our Customers,

In January, I shared with you that my highest priority this year is to transform your experience as a Union Pacific customer. Although we have experienced service challenges, it’s important for us to continue working on improving your experience in the future. Today, I’d like to update you on both our current service status and a few of the latest initiatives our Customer Experience team is rolling out.

Service Update
Velocity has made a modest improvement since last month, as a bridge fire in New Mexico and a derailment near Tucson, Arizona, on the Gila subdivision earlier this month caused unexpected setbacks. Now that service has been restored on these main lines and we’ve recovered from the impacts of the Oregon tunnel collapse, we should see steadier service improvements moving forward.

Crew supply continues to be tight, but is expected to improve later this quarter as we realize the benefits of our recruiting and hiring initiatives. As previously reported, we will graduate ~200+ individuals each of the next five months.

As service improves, we will continue to optimize our network and adjust resources accordingly to improve fluidity.

Customer Experience Initiative Update
We are working on a number of initiatives to improve your experience as a Union Pacific customer. Today I’d like to feature two: SmartETA™ and Virtual Queue and Call Back.

SmartETA
We know visibility is an important part of your shipping experience. Thanks to our SmartETA technology, we are now able to give you more accurate and dependable shipment location data and estimated delivery times when using our Equipment Trace application (requires login).

SmartETA leverages multiple data points, including GPS signals on our newly equipped PTC locomotives, to locate shipments. Then, with the help of machine learning and predictive analytics, the velocity data and GPS coordinates are used to determine arrival times that are more accurate than ever before. Over time, the data will “get smarter” and predict even more precise ETAs based on the historical data gathered. During our pilot earlier this year across select bulk, manifest and intermodal trains, we created more than 4.5 million ETAs and saw a 15-20 percent improvement in ETA accuracy.

This week, SmartETA rolled out across all our long-haul train categories and is incorporated into our Equipment Trace application. By year end, we will roll out our new "Shipment Tracker" functionality, which will allow you to view key events for your shipments in a simplified timeline format.

Virtual Queue and Call Back
Making it easy to get the help you need is an important part of your experience, too. We’re currently piloting Virtual Queue and Call Back with our eBusiness team, which gives customers the option to provide their phone number and receive a call back from a Union Pacific representative rather than holding on the line. That means we’ll keep your place in the queue and call you back when it’s your turn, allowing you to spend your time on more important tasks than holding.

The Virtual Queue and Call Back pilot began on July 16 and will run for 90 days, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. In the first week of the pilot, 213 callers elected the option to receive a call back, saving a total of nearly 36 hours of hold time in all.

We Want to Hear from You
Do you have ideas for other ways we can improve your experience as a Union Pacific customer? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email our Customer Experience team to share your thoughts. The better we can understand your experience, the better we can help improve it.

If you have questions about service, Smart ETA or the Virtual Queue and Call Back pilot, please contact Customer Care and Support at 800-272-8777 or your Union Pacific representative.

Thank you for your business. I look forward to sharing additional improvements with you in the future!

Sincerely,
Original | Beth - White
Beth Whited
Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer