Union Pacific Railroad

When the merger agreement was initially announced, the rail carriers said it would create the nation’s first transcontinental railroad—which will connect more than 50,000 route miles across 43 states from the East Coast to the West Coast and connect around 100 ports as well.

With a merger application for the proposed $85 billion historic merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern expected to be filed with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) this week, more than half of union employees at the railroads indicated they are not in favor of the merger. That is the word from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET) and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, whom collectively account for 53% of UP and NS union employees, with the two unions...

While a December 1 date for the merger application to be sent to the Surface Transportation Board (STB), regarding the historic proposed $85 billion merger between Class I railroads Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS), had been widely anticipated, UP CEO Jim Vena said at the UBS Global Industrials and Transportation Conference this week that the merger’s submission will be delayed for about two weeks.

2025 delivered a near repeat of 2024's volatility, with tariffs, uneven demand, political uncertainty, and shifting trade dynamics leaving logistics managers stuck in a constant state of reaction. Across every mode—trucking, intermodal, rail, ocean, parcel, and shipper operations—experts point to the same themes: excess capacity, fragile confidence, tariff-driven distortion, and a growing reliance on technology as the industry waits for clarity that never quite arrives.

In a speech at last week’s RailTrends conference in New York, Union Pacific Railroad CEO Jim Vena made the case for Union Pacific’s historic proposed $85 billion merger with Norfolk Southern, in advance of the company submitting its merger application to the Surface Transportation Board.

The 15th Annual Rail/Intermodal Roundtable examines the current state of the U.S. rail and intermodal markets, highlighting modest carload growth, improving service levels, and the ongoing impact of tariffs, truck competition, and emerging technology. Experts also weigh in on the potential Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger, forecasting that regulatory review and broader economic conditions will shape service, pricing, and growth opportunities over the next several years.

A letter sent this week by the Rail Customer Coalition (RCC), a concern comprised of trade associations representing the manufacturing, energy, and agricultural industries reliant on railroads, to the leadership at the 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, laid out various concerns and reservations that RCC has in regards to the proposed merger between Class I railroad carriers Union Pacific and...

Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman spoke with Chris Jahn, President & Chief Executive Officer, at the Washington, D.C.-based American Chemistry Council (ACC). Topics covered included: the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger; railroad service and pricing; and the regulatory environment, among others.

While leadership at Class I railroad carriers Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS) touted the benefits of this week’s announcement, coming to terms on an $85 billion deal in which UP will acquire NS—to create the nation’s  first transcontinental railroad that will connect more than 50,000 route miles across 43 states from the East Coast to the West Coast and connect around 100 ports as well—feedback from various shipper groups has been less than receptive to the deal.

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 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

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.