People both outside and inside my company have asked why Union Pacific is involved in Second Chance Hiring— the practice of hiring individuals with a criminal record. The following story from one
Steel castings (side frames, bolsters, and couplers) are found everywhere on freight railcars and locomotives, and their supply is critical to the ongoing operations of the North American Rail industry. Combined, in a normal build year of 50,000 cars, they represent a $500 million market and constitute 13% of the cost of a new freight railcar. A failed casting, whether it’s a broken side frame or knuckle, wreaks havoc for rail operations. Train separations, and worse, derailments, can be catastrophic. Yet we often overlook the strategic importance of these products.
Throughout my career, I’ve worked closely with industry leaders to develop economical and sustainable supply chain solutions to get their products to market. And while I’ve seen numerous innovations impact our customers’ businesses, few have been as significant as the adoption of hydraulic fracking to extract petroleum, and with it, ethane gas.
According to Cowen and Company’s recently conducted second-quarter 2022 Rail Equipment and Rail Shipper Surveys, the outlook for railcar orders is positive, and rail shipping rates will continue to increase. Details follow, plus insights on the Class I railroads, ahead of earnings.
As the process of digitalization in North American rail freight gathers pace, we discover how connecting freight railcar air brake data to cloud analytics can change the industry. Here’s an example of how it will drive efficiency and deliver rail and cargo applications that industry participants need.
FINANCIAL EDGE, RAILWAY AGE JULY 2022 ISSUE: At Railway Age’s Rail Insights 2022 conference, there was a key set of industry stakeholders talking about the state of North American rail.
FROM THE EDITOR, RAILWAY AGE JULY 2022 ISSUE: If the headline above sounds familiar, you’ve been reading Railway Age for a very long time. “Lines on Labor” was the late Senior Editor Gus Welty’s column; we retired it in 1997 when Gus died.
In the past decade, most Class I railroads have adopted what has come to be called Precision Schedule Railroading. PSR entails railroads running longer trains on fixed schedules, thereby allowing them to potentially carry significantly more freight on a rail network more reliably and at lower cost.
Michael Soriano, Manager-Safety Field Operations, isn’t the first Union Pacific (UP) railroader in his family, and he likely won’t be the last—so day-in and day-out, he does his best to ensure every
Editor’s Comment: Here, courtesy of Bay Area Rapid Transit, is an inspiring story of a young Vietnamese immigrant who, seeking a better life, came to the United States. Thu Nguyen is just one example of how the rail industry is embracing ethnic, cultural, racial and gender diversity. She, and others like her, are the future, not only of rail, but of America. This story was written for the general public—hence, the simplified, “non-railroad-jargon” language, but it’s well worth reading for us “industry folk.” – William C. Vantuono