OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific will cut as many as 475 positions from the railroad by the end of this year, the Omaha World-Herald reports.
The newspaper reports that a memorandum shared with employees shows the railroad will also cut about 200 contractual positions.
The newspaper cites UP CEO Lance Fritz saying the railroad had “extremely difficult decisions to make because we recognize the impact they have on families, friends and co-workers.”
Employee cuts are expected throughout the UP network, though specific positions have not been announced.
Is it possible for railroad management to see beyond the collective ends of their noses? It has been reported that trucking companies now have some 63,000 open positions for over-the-road drivers and it is expected to get worse in coming years, to the point where consumer goods will be in short supply as time goes by. Some trucking companies are even turning current business away as a result.
My question is, what are the railroads doing to try to capture some of that business? It doesn’t appear much. There is no reason why railroads couldn’t carry the bulk of non-perishable goods, if they would simply go after the business. Instead of laying people off, they need to find ways to utilize those people to grow the business. In the short run, they may save a little money, but in the long term, they won’t. No business ever became more profitable by cutting its services. Those employees deserve more stability than they are getting.
Unit UP get’s their service back up to snuff, I hope these reductions don’t come from the TY&E ranks, especially going into winter. Eliminating some management layers in Omaha might not be a bad thing.
I try to watch the national business report most nights on my PBS Station; but usually switch to another channel before the episode is half done.
I do have stocks at Edward Jones; and I am 74 years old and know that this religion of making or beating expectations always short term always leads to a crash or at best suffering of those lopped off to make Wall Street happy.
Kinda wonder if the steam team is holding their breath; concerning the big bucks being put into 4014 844 and the E’s.
As many are stating UP has put itself into meltdown mode on several occasions; and this will probably have the same eventual result.
Right now you guys are only seeing about three sentence of what we all saw on the employee site today.
As Mr. Turcotte posts below, UPRR is a very special kind of corporation. No other company in America is so quick to respond to changing events. Such as when UPRR took over SP and the entire network (not just the former SP lines) went to a frozen halt within days.
Every railroad that implemented Harrison’s PSR subsequently went in full meltdown mode. UP sure knows a thing or two about melting down, they’ve successfully done it three times since 1995.
When they’re done, they’ll get a railroad that is almost devoid of trains and customers.
And, most likely, strong calls for a potentially-harmful re-regulation.
And to think that just last year they were screaming unexpected traffic increases caught ’em off guard, and will be hiring like crazy….hmmm…someone open mouth and insert foot please….
KCS has already said they will follow UP’s lead in Precision Scheduled Railroading.. BNSF, being privately owned, is I guess, pretty much immune. That leaves NS as the last holdout. For how long, I wonder?
Cutting employees but no mention of cutting monetary bonuses to high-ranking UP officials. Hmm?
I wonder how many of these cuts – if any – will come from the ranks of newly hired and trained T&E service employees?
Behold, Hunter Harrison’s legacy of destruction continues. UP playing keep up with the Jonses, i.e., CSX.
Precision Scheduled Railroading in progress.
Always seems before Christmas, this happens in many fields.