UNION PACIFIC (UP) ASKS CUSTOMERS TO METER TRAFFIC OR FACE EMBARGOES

Union Pacific (UP) is asking customers to meter traffic or face embargoes. Last April, UP made a similar move when it also was facing congestion due to the impact of crew shortages. As a railroad slows down, and shippers see transit times go up, they typically use more freight cars to ensure their supply chains are not interrupted. But that only exacerbates congestion. Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman today was critical of railroads’ increasing use of embargoes over the past five years, a period when they dramatically cut the number of train and engine employees. In 2017, the seven Class I railroads issued a combined total of 140 embargoes, a figure that jumped to 631 in 2019. Through Sept. 30 of this year, the total stands at 1,115. Oberman singled out UP for its use of embargoes, which leads the industry with 886 this year, or 79% of the total. BNSF is second, with 104 embargoes. In 2017, UP issued just five embargoes. UP is nearing its goal of hiring 1,400 train and engine employees this year, with two-thirds of the new hires in active service and one-third in training, executives said at an investor conference last week. But the railroad remains short of crews across its northern tier and is offering hiring bonuses of $10,000 to $25,000 to new conductors at some locations, including Cheyenne and Green River, Wyoming; Salt Lake City and Helper, Utah; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle.