UP Archives

February 27, 2022
Regulatory

STB Clarifies Decision in Sanimax V. Union Pacific

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Feb. 24 clarified its previous decision regarding Sanimax USA LLC’s common carrier obligation and unreasonable practices complaint against Union Pacific (UP).

Pictured (left to right) at the Feb. 15 launch of Lone Star College's simulated railroad crossings: Jessica Devorsky, Executive Director-Texas Operation Lifesaver; Erik Lewis, Manager Industry and Public Projects, UP; Jill Metcalf, Director, Lone Star College; Buck Russel, Sr. Supervisor Public Safety, UP; and Richard Zientek, Sr. Director Public Affairs, UP.

February 22, 2022
Class I

UP, Lone Star College Training Truckers With Simulated Rail Crossings

The first time a truck-driving student at Lone Star College in Houston, Tex., encounters a railroad crossing will be on a training course—not a public highway.

Circular SynTech, LLC is expanding into New Madrid, Mo., with a new “waste-to-renewables” chemical plant.

February 22, 2022
Class I

Missouri Chemical Plant Sets 2022 Opening

Circular SynTech, LLC on Feb. 18 held a groundbreaking ceremony for its New Madrid, Mo., facility that will convert municipal solid waste and construction and demolition debris into what it calls “renewable chemicals”; Union Pacific (UP) will serve the 230-acre campus.

Steel Dynamics’ Southwest-Sinton Division (pictured) was designed with a 3 million-ton annual production capacity, which includes a galvanizing line and a paint line; an additional galvanizing line and paint line are slated to be up and running in mid-2023.

February 16, 2022
Class I

Steel Dynamics Mill Launches in Texas (Updated)

Steel Dynamics earlier this month held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new flat roll steel mill in Sinton, Tex., which is served by Union Pacific (UP) and BNSF.

UP’s female population decreased slightly from 5.5% in 2020 to 5.3% in December 2021, according to Debra Schrampfer, AVP and Chief Diversity Officer. The railroad “is not alone,” she said. “Across the country, female representation in America’s workforce is at its lowest since 1988.”

Commentary

February 16, 2022
Class I

UP Diversity Efforts: Progress and Challenges

As the nation hopes to recover after two years of battling COVID-19, its workforce continues to feel the pandemic’s impact. Part of that is a thin job market with a different gender makeup than we’ve experienced in recent history.

UP Chairman, President and CEO Lance Fritz

February 11, 2022
Podcasts

Rail Group On Air Sponsored by Trinity Rail: UP’s Top Exec Talks About the State of Class I Company

Railway Age Engineering Editor and Railway Track & Structures Editor-in-Chief Bill Wilson talks with Union Pacific Chairman, President and CEO Lance Fritz about current capital projects, the labor shortage, and more.

Teresa Finley, Board Member, Union Pacific

February 08, 2022
Class I

UP Elects Finley to Board

Teresa Finley, a former United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) executive, has been elected to the Union Pacific (UP) Board of Directors.

Beth Whited, Executive Vice President-Sustainability and Strategy, UP

February 03, 2022
Class I

Whited Named UP EVP-Sustainability, Strategy

Union Pacific’s Board of Directors has appointed Beth Whited to Executive Vice President-Sustainability and Strategy, effective immediately; she has served the company since 1987.

In December 2021, TuSimple said it became “the first company in the world to successfully operate a semi-truck on open public roads without a human in the vehicle and without remote human intervention.”

February 03, 2022
Class I

UP: Autonomous Trucks for First-Mile/Last-Mile Service

This spring, Union Pacific (UP) will start moving freight on an 80-mile, fully automated trucking route between a rail yard in Tucson and a high-volume distribution center outside of Phoenix.

UP said its order with Progress Rail and Wabtec represents “the largest investment in battery-electric technology by a U.S. Class I railroad.” (Photo Courtesy of UP)

January 28, 2022
Locomotives

UP Acquiring 20 Battery-Electrics for Yard Service

Union Pacific on Jan. 28 reported ordering 10 battery-electric locomotives apiece from Progress Rail, a Caterpillar Company, and Wabtec Corp. for yard testing; the “green” units plus yard infrastructure upgrades will exceed $100 million and support the Class I railroad’s efforts to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.