Union Pacific

Following a heavy amount of speculation that Omaha-based Union Pacific (UP) was taking steps to acquire Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern (NS), in first Class I railroad merger since the April 2023 deal, in which Canadian Pacific acquired Kansas City Southern for $31 billion, that was subsequently respectively confirmed by the companies in recent days, UP and NS announced today that they have come to terms on an agreement for a deal.

A Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the matter, noted an agreement could be reached as soon as this week, adding, if the deal came to fruition, it would represent the largest railroad deal on record.

A report stated that Omaha, Neb.-based Union Pacific (UP) “is working with investment bankers at Morgan Stanley to explore the acquisition of a rival.”

New route promises three-day delivery, enhancing supply chain efficiency

Following the issuing of a final rule by the United States Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) earlier this month, establishing minimum safety requirements for train crew sizes, with the new rule requiring a second crew member on all trains, four U.S.-based railroads are calling on federal appeals courts to toss out the rule, calling it “arbitrary, capricious, and an illegal abuse of discretion,” according to an Associated Press report.

At this point, anyone who has seen Martin J. Oberman, Chairman of the Surface Transportation Board (STB), a Washington, D.C.-based independent adjudicatory and economic-regulatory agency charged by Congress with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers, speak at a freight railroad conference, knows he is not holding anything back. That again was the case, when he gave a keynote speech at last week’s Southeastern Association of Rail Shippers (SEARS) 2024 Spring Meeting in Atlanta.

Company officials said that this new Phoenix Intermodal Terminal offers up what the company called a “first of its kind intermodal service” between the Los Angeles basin and Phoenix, sourcing international shipping containers from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and also Union Pacific’s ICTF Intermodal Terminal.

Omaha, Neb.-based Class I railroad carrier Union Pacific (UP) said this week that it will be rolling out a new Phoenix-based intermodal terminal, which will provide shippers with service between ocean ports in the Los Angeles basin and the Southwest.

The company said that intermodal containers will be loaded directly onto railcars out of the port on route to five key United States-based metropolitan areas. And it added that this new service will provide its intermodal shipper customers with direct rail access to intermodal markets in Denver, Salt Lake City, Oakland, Los Angeles, and El Paso, while also observing this service will help to reduce over-the-road traffic and greenhouse gas emissions.

A change is coming at the top for Omaha, Neb.-based Class I railroad carrier Union Pacific (UP), with the company today providing an update “on the status and timing of the Board of Directors’ active leadership succession planning process.

Tiger Cool Express said that the lease/purchase agreement with Union Pacific was signed in late December, noting it is a lease to buy, with Union Pacific owning it until Tiger Cool Express exercises the option. What’s more, the company said this had been in the works for two years, calling it a “transformational opportunity,” in which it will develop its Tri-Cities Logistics Center.

Leading up to this development, there had been a high level of uncertainty and anxiety among supply chain stakeholders through multiple modes of freight transportation, with a 12:01 A.M. September 16 deadline marking the end of a 30-day “cooling off” period between the 12 United States-based railroad labor unions and six largest freight railroad carriers (even though the majority of the 12 unions had reached tentative labor agreements prior to the tentative deal being struck).

The Washington, D.C.-based Surface Transportation Board (STB), an independent adjudicatory and economic-regulatory agency charged by Congress with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers, recently announced that it made its annual determination of revenue adequacy for United States-based Class I railroads for calendar year 2019.

There appears to be a collective sigh relief among freight railroad industry stakeholders, regardless of the agreement’s new name.

In a letter written this week to Lance Fritz, chairman, president, and CEO of Class I railroad Union Pacific (UP), top leadership from the Surface Transportation Board (STB) asked UP to provide the STB with updates regarding planned operating changes recently rolled out by UP.