UP subsidiary Loup Logistics acquires Phoenix transload site

Aerial view of freight facility

OMAHA — Union Pacific on Tuesday announced its Loup Logistics subsidiary had acquired the Precision Components Inc. transload facility in Phoenix, a UP-served location that processes more than 8,000 railcars and 38,000 trucks annually. The facility in central Phoenix covers more than 100 acres, with 125,000 square feet of covered storage and 3 miles of […]

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LA district attorney responds to UP criticism on train thefts

People with plastic bags picking up trash along railroad tracks

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon has responded to Union Pacific criticism of his policies, which it says play a part in much-publicized thefts from intermodal containers, by suggesting the railroad doesn’t do enough to protect its trains. The South Bay Daily Breeze reports that Gascon, in a letter to UP […]

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Union Pacific CEO signals interest in autonomous intermodal cars

Genesee & Wyoming plans for first test of autonomous container equipment. Container moving independently on railroad track

CULVER CITY, Calif. — Union Pacific has expressed interest in a new autonomous battery-electric intermodal car concept developed by a group headed by three former Space X engineers. The concept under development by Parallel Systems would see intermodal containers carried by pairs of powered battery-electric wheelsets, moving in “platoons” of cars, but capable of splitting […]

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Union Pacific lands Schneider intermodal contract

Orange container on well car

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Transportation and logistics firm Schneider will shift its primary western U.S. rail service to Union Pacific from BNSF Railway in January 2023, the companies have announced. “Schneider’s intermodal business is a great fit for Union Pacific’s diverse network,” Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz said in a press release. “We look forward […]

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Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, CSX to use new freight scheduling platform

Logo of technology frim Blume Global

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Supply-chain technology firm Blume Global has announced a collaborative information platform to coordinate cross-country shipments. Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, and CSX will be partners in the end-to-end freight scheduler, intended to allow shippers and intermodal firms to synchronize shipments across railroads. “Coordination among railroads is essential, Seana Fairchild, assistant vice president of […]

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UP train derails in area struck by thefts

Union Pacific logo with Building America slogan

LOS ANGELES — Seventeen cars of a Union Pacific train derailed Saturday in LA’s Lincoln Heights neighborhood, an area in which trains have been struck by widespread cargo thefts. KABC-TV reports it was told by Union Pacific that no injuries were reported and the cause of the derailment was under investigation. No information was immediately […]

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Reciprocal switching poses risk to rail network, UP CEO says

Three men seated on stage, talking

PHOENIX — Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz isn’t sure what direction the Surface Transportation Board will take as it considers rules for reciprocal switching, but says the decision poses real risks for the rail industry. Speaking Thursday in a “Fireside Chat” at the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Conference, Fritz termed the proposed rule […]

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UP nearing purchase of battery-electrics for yard tests, CEO says

Man in sport coat gesturing while speaking

PHOENIX — Union Pacific is nearing agreements to purchase battery-electric locomotives for tests in yard use, CEO Lance Fritz says, with plans to try the locomotives in one cold-weather location and one warm-weather site. “We think you can get an 8-hour shift out of a properly designed [battery-electric],” Fritz said during a short conversation with […]

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BNSF Railway leads industry in traffic growth during 2021

orange locomotive and train comes around curve in Wyoming

BNSF Railway led the big six Class I railroads in growth in 2021, a year in which rail volume rebounded from the pandemic-related lows of 2020 yet struggled to overcome kinks in the global supply chain. BNSF’s traffic was up 7.4% for the year, with intermodal surging 8.3% and coal up nearly 11%. CSX Transportation […]

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UP’s Dry Canyon bridge project boosted by institutional memory

PHOENIX — Never underestimate the value of experience and institutional knowledge. That’s one of the many lessons from Union Pacific’s Dry Canyon Bridge reconstruction project in 2022. The project, which replaced a major fire-damaged trestle in Northern California in 2021 — about a month faster than was originally projected — has been much discussed and […]

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