2021 Archive
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Real Railroaders 12292021
Holiday Kindness Around the Railroad – Gretna and Omaha, Nebraska; Houston, Texas; North Platte
In railroading towns across Union Pacific’s 23-state network, our employees supported local families in need of cheer this holiday season. In the spotlight today are railroaders showing community pride in Gretna, Nebraska; Omaha, Nebraska; Houston, Texas; and North Platte, Nebraska.
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Innovation 12282021
Savage Gulf Rail Facility Grand Opening in San Patricio County, Texas
From conception to ribbon-cutting, Union Pacific, ExxonMobil, SABIC and Savage Gulf Rail have worked closely together to align infrastructure plans and optimize logistics potential for a new rail facility in San Patricio County, Texas.
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Real Railroaders 12222021
Holly, Jolly Railroaders Make a Holiday Community Impact
In railroading towns across Union Pacific’s 23-state network, our employees are dedicating their time, talents and resources to supporting local nonprofits and community groups this holiday season. In the spotlight today are railroaders showing community pride in De Soto, Missouri; Fort Worth, Texas; and Omaha, Nebraska.
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Real Railroaders 12212021
Help Wanted: Growth Means Union Pacific Is Hiring
Whether you are seeking a mid-career change or looking for your first full-time job out of high school, Union Pacific could be the right place for you to start a new journey.
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Real Railroaders 12172021
I Am UP: Taylor Morel, Brakeman and Total Safety Culture Facilitator
Taylor Morel's peers elected him as one of the Gulf Coast Service Unit’s Total Safety Culture facilitators. Morel provides safety insights to a portion of southern Louisiana's TE&Y employees.
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Community 12162021
North Platte, Bellevue and Lincoln: Union Pacific Employees Show They’re Nebraska Nice
Tis the season for Union Pacific’s employees to look outward into their local communities. In service units from Texas to Chicago and Portland to Los Angeles, the people of UP are dedicating their time, talents and resources to supporting organizations across UP’s 23-state network. In the spotlight today are railroaders showing community pride in North Platte, Nebraska; Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska; and the Nebraska Air National Guard Base in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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Community 12132021
Union Pacific Veterans Join Forces with U.S. Marines in Operation Toys for Tots
A train escorted by four Marines in dress uniform and a Railroad Santa in his finest overalls delivered more than 25,000 toys Saturday, Dec. 11, to the U.S. Marines’ Toys for Tots program in Houston.
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Insights 12102021
Union Pacific’s Environmental Transformation Began with Pride and Skepticism
Working for a company that was committed to protecting our environment was a source of pride for me and for most employees at the company, but there also were those who viewed our group as outsiders standing in the way of operations and progress.
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Innovation 12062021
Climate Action Plan Outlines Union Pacific's Efforts to Reduce Carbon Impact
Union Pacific published its first comprehensive Climate Action Plan Dec. 6, outlining the company’s steps to reduce its environmental impact, with an eye toward achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
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Innovation 12022021
Port of Montana Opens Door for UP Customers’ Regional Growth
Early this month, the Port of Montana’s newly installed rail infrastructure welcomed its first visitors in Butte’s Montana Connections Business Development Park.
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Community 11242021
A Ton of Holiday Cheer: Union Pacific Employees Help Feed and Clothe Those in Need
Two Union Pacific teams kicked off the holiday season with a combined 1-ton donation to the Omaha-metro nonprofit Open Door Mission. Open Door Mission seeks to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty by providing meals and temporary housing for community members in the Omaha metro area.
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Innovation 11182021
Union Pacific Launches ‘Planet Tracks’ – Newest Employee-Led Group Dedicated to Environment
Planet Tracks is on the move.
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Real Railroaders 11172021
Union Pacific Track Foreman Revives Family After Vehicle Crash
When an emergency strikes, it’s the Courage to Care that reminds Union Pacific employees to pause and do the right thing. If no one else stops to help, you’ll be fortunate to have people like Track Foreman Miguel Ochoa on your side.
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Innovation 11162021
Team Effort Leads to Successful Computer-Aided Dispatching Cutover
A multiyear effort by several UP departments, CADX was developed in-house and brings numerous operational and safety efficiencies. The technology allows dispatchers to line signals and switches while issuing restrictions and authorities through the system.
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Innovation 11152021
Union Pacific Plays Vital Role in E-Commerce Ground Deliveries
If you’re like most consumers, you probably don’t visualize that gaming console or gym equipment you purchased last night on your cell phone as traveling on a Union Pacific train en route to your porch.
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Insights 11122021
Rail Relief Gives Tech Expert a Different View of the Railroad
Rail Relief is a Union Pacific program where employees volunteer to help during times of severe weather or major business disruptions to provide support to front-line transportation supervisors. Volunteers gain a new understanding of railroad operations and bring the experience back to the office and their daily work.
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Real Railroaders 11112021
Union Pacific Launches Campaign to Honor Veterans Year-Round
Union Pacific honors our nation’s heroes this Veterans Day with a new UP Center tradition: military service flag raising. Beginning this Veterans Day, Union Pacific will display flags for each branch of the United States Armed Forces on its corresponding founding birthday.
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Real Railroaders 11092021
Union Pacific Welder Rescues Family Stranded on Crossing
Sixteen-year employee Rudy Maldonado’s Courage to Care prevented a critical incident by helping a family stranded on a railroad crossing in Fresno, California.
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Innovation 11082021
Meet the Women Using Science, Technology, Engineering and Math to Help Shape Union Pacific's Future
On National STEM Day, we’re celebrating employees who help make it all happen. Short for science, technology, engineering and math, STEM plays a major role in almost all aspects of transportation.
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Community 11052021
Union Pacific Employees Pay it Forward, Stepping Up to Settle Afghan Refugees
With nearly 800 Afghan refugees expected to relocate to Nebraska, including about 500 to Omaha, Union Pacific employees are stepping up to both welcome and settle them in their new homes.
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Insights 11042021
CIO 1-Year Reflections: Focus on Growth Requires Preparing for Change
As we look to the future of UP, which is transitioning from a primary focus on operational efficiency to growth, our Tech team and the products they drive will serve as a major differentiator. It is extremely energizing and gratifying to lead the Tech organization during this time. To focus on growth, we must prepare for constant change, and we have used the past 12 months to start taking steps in the Tech organization for this evolution and revolution.
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Real Railroaders 11032021
Celebrating 50 Year Employees Bill Gaston, Ralph Niau, Dan Knutsen and Nick Garcia
We're sharing highlights of their 50 year railroad journeys from Bill Gaston, Ralph Niau, Dan Knutsen and Nick Garcia.
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Innovation 11022021
DigiCrew Puts New Tech in Employees’ Hands
Handheld mobile devices equipped with DigiCrew are making their way into the hands of UP conductors and locomotive engineers, boosting efficiency. The DigiCrew app marks a fundamental shift in the way employees interact with their mobile device, combining work previously done in multiple applications – like Mobile Work Order and Mobile Terminal – into a single interface.
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Community 11012021
Go Baby Go! – Toddlers Take Victory Laps at UP Center
Toddlers in tricked out rides cruised the UP Center’s lobby Saturday in Omaha, Nebraska, flashing big smiles as they moved independently on their own free will, many for the first time in their lives.
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Community 10292021
Opportunities and Celebration for People of All Abilities
One of the ways UP works to empower people with disabilities is through its partnership with the Omaha Public Schools Transition Program. The program prepares secondary students with disabilities to move from high school into the adult community via work-based learning to develop occupational and related social skills.
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Insights 10292021
Low-Emissions Locomotive Technology Brings Unique Challenges
Union Pacific has always been a pioneer in low-emission switcher locomotive technology. The company is continuing that effort by making the technology more reliable, and hence, more useful.
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Safety 10282021
Close Call in Louisiana Leads to Expanded Safety Campaign with Locomotive Engineer's Help
In the wee hours of the morning, as his train rumbled through sugar cane fields in central Louisiana, Locomotive Engineer Cory Van Mol watched in disbelief as a farm tractor failed to yield at a private crossing.
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Real Railroaders 10262021
Celebrating 50 Year Employees George Sanders, Andy Mendoza and J.W. Nichols
Four employees with 50 years of service share highlights from their railroad journeys.
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Innovation 10262021
Union Pacific Launches New 'Learn My Name' Tool to Build Inclusiveness
If you are lucky enough to pronounce someone’s first name correctly, then good luck with their last name. In the U.S. alone, there are at least 151,000 different family names. Now, Union Pacific has a new tool allowing employees to audibly record and phonetically spell names within the company directory.
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Community 10222021
Union Pacific’s L.A. Service Unit Pink’d Out for October
Belin Hernandez, manager-Train Operations at Union Pacific’s Los Angeles Service Unit, was looking for a way to bring UP employees together and honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.
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Innovation 10202021
Union Pacific Executive Honored with Three Awards, Including 2021 ‘Railway Woman of the Year’
Union Pacific’s Beth Whited, executive vice president and Chief Human Resource Officer, was honored with three top industry and business awards in October, with one organization calling her a “decisive and thoughtful leader” whose commitment to diversity and inclusion has given the railroad industry “wider depth.”
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Real Railroaders 10192021
Living the Dream: Rock Star Turned Railroader
Prior to becoming a railroader in 1993, Jamie Cramer lived the life of a rock guitarist with his band Holy Soldier. But after returning home following the band’s 1992 world tour, Cramer re-evaluated his career path.
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Heritage 10152021
Big Boy Bucket List: Childhood Railroad Dreams Come True
When a legendary steam locomotive powers into town, railroaders from every service unit are able to cross a “must-see” item off their bucket list.
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Heritage 10142021
Union Pacific Hauls Historic Military Vehicle
Vehicle Helped Remove Saddam Hussein’s Statue during 2003 Iraq Invasion
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Real Railroaders 10082021
More Than a Belt Buckle: Heritage, Railroad Family History Worn Proudly
Some people wear their heart on their sleeve. Jesse De Anda wears his pride on his belt buckle, as he daily displays his family’s railroading history in a practical piece of apparel.
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Innovation 09302021
Union Pacific Testing Autonomous Cranes That Operate Like High-Tech Robots
You’ve heard of self-driving vehicles. How about self-operating cranes?
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Real Railroaders 09292021
I Am UP: William Jackson
A 17-year UP employee, William Jackson got his railroad start in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, where he hired on as a track laborer. He later transferred to a carman welder position while working in Shreveport, Louisiana, and remained there until his 2013 move to Denver, Colorado.
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Insights 09282021
Supply Chain Challenges: We’re All in This Together
To keep shelves stocked, delivery times low, and products readily available, every link in the integrated supply chain must work in a precisely coordinated sequence. This requires every player -- steamship lines, port terminals, trucks, rail, warehouses, freight asset owners, and the beneficial owners of the cargo – to keep the freight flowing at the same pace.
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Community 09222021
Welcoming to All: Inclusive Community Build Playground Opening Soon in North Platte
Union Pacific employees in North Platte, Nebraska, dug deep – literally – to prepare a site in Centennial Park for a new Community Build Playground, funded in part with a $10,000 grant from Union Pacific’s Community Ties Giving Program.
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Safety 09202021
Safe Crossings Start Here: Safe Kids Worldwide, 'Chuggington' Help Union Pacific Educate Families Nationwide
Safe Kids and "Chuggington," with support from Union Pacific, have developed resources and materials to educate parents, teens and children about the importance of rail safety.
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Insights 09162021
Mighty ‘Big Boy’ Locomotive Reflects Evolution of Rail Technology
“Thank You” were the two most frequently heard words from the millions who witnessed locomotive UP 4014 – the Big Boy – as it toured through the Midwest and South in August and September, 2021.
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Safety 09102021
National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month: 'I Was Almost a Statistic'
Signal Maintainer Scott Davis recently completed training as an Operation RedBlock and Peer Support volunteer to learn how to help others. But nine months ago, the Engineering employee from Wamsutter, Wyoming, needed someone to answer his own call.
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Insights 09102021
Conference Message: Humbly Work through Mistakes to Build Inclusion
Despite being a 159-year-old company, Union Pacific has shown it is actively working to become even better by serving as an example not only to the business community, but more importantly, to the community at-large.
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Real Railroaders 09092021
I Am UP: Nathan McKinney and Shaun Bateman
22-year railroader Nathan McKinney and 16-year railroader Shaun Bateman worked as a team to paint the complex UP No. 1979 We Are ONE Employee Resource Group (ERG) Locomotive, one of many collaborations they’ve mastered over the past 16 years.
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Real Railroaders 09032021
Air Force Veteran Lands at Union Pacific
Thomas 'Mo' Modica is not alone: approximately 19% of Union Pacific employees have military experience, with some still active in the National Guard or Reserves.
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Community 09032021
Grand Opening Set for New Visitors Center at Pullman National Monument
The newly restored Pullman National Monument, which honors a rich slice of railroad history with strong Union Pacific ties, will open Labor Day Weekend in Chicago.
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Insights 08312021
Like the Rest of America, Union Pacific Is Hiring
As America continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a prominent message coming from all corners of American industry: “We’re Hiring!”
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Community 08272021
UP Diversity Scholarships Developing Confident Leaders
Last fall, in a new partnership between Creighton University and Union Pacific Railroad, the first eight Union Pacific Scholars arrived on campus.
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Insights 08242021
Supplier Diversity Is a Smart Community Investment
Supplier diversity introduces new products, services and solutions that might otherwise be overlooked. It’s an effective way to promote innovation while driving price and service competition. It many cases it’s an investment in the very communities in which we operate, promoting job creation at a local level.
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Innovation 08192021
Big Boy Flexes Its Muscles with Positive Train Control
Big Boy No. 4014, Union Pacific’s 80-year-old legendary locomotive, is now equipped with one of the rail industry’s newest technologies – Positive Train Control (PTC), an advanced system designed to automatically stop a train before certain incidents occur.
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Insights 08172021
Paper Route Paved Passion for Supply Chains
Weather events, pandemics, geo-political relationships, and many other factors impact how we do business and how we ship. As companies manage their business with lean inventories and staff, they must have partners to help navigate the complexity.
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Real Railroaders 08162021
It Takes a Team: Systemwide Employees Support Wildfire Efforts
Wildfires continue to rage across the West Coast, endangering residents, communities and critical infrastructure, like Union Pacific bridges and rail lines. Every West Coast subdivision has been impacted, with train reroutes and crew diversions fluctuating to meet network needs.
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Innovation 08132021
Diamond in the Rough: How the UP Team Hustled to Earn New Coal Business
You often hear it in the news – decreasing coal demand as cleaner, renewable energy sources take over. But did you know steel-making coal is actually a booming market?
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Real Railroaders 08102021
Who Makes Up Union Pacific? Find Out in Latest Diversity Reports
Union Pacific’s EEO-1 data is now available.
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Real Railroaders 08062021
Carrying the Torch: UP’s Olympic Connections
Two Union Pacific family members recently had close brushes with Olympic wonder: Nicole Mendes, daughter of Paul Mendes, locomotive engineer, Houston Service Unit; and Jaylah Walker, daughter of Johnnie Walker, locomotive engineer, Los Angeles Service Unit.
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Real Railroaders 08052021
Rising from the Ashes: Dry Canyon Bridge Rebuilt in One Month
When the Lava Fire ravaged Northern California in late June, it decimated Union Pacific’s Dry Canyon Bridge, a structure spanning a remote valley on the railroad’s busy I-5 route. It’s natural to assume reconstruction could take months. After all, most bridges take years to design and build.
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Insights 07302021
Freight and Passenger Rail Work Better as Partners
We have a proven record of partnering with passenger agencies when the equation is balanced – when the public pays for public benefits and the freight railroads pay for private benefits – and where passenger rail compensates freight railroads fairly for access and use of network capacity.
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Insights 07202021
Technology Internship Goes Beyond Hands-On Experience
Coming to Union Pacific has been beneficial to all of us interns. We get a glimpse of what it means to be working professionally as well as the projects full-time employees work on.
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Insights 07152021
Privilege: You Spot It, You Got It.
The word “privilege” has always been in our society. While the formal definition is broad, we unofficially attributed it to generational wealth, the ability to opt out of the day-to-day grind, or connections that gave an easy path up the corporate ladder. Recently, in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) space the term took on the more literal meaning as a way to describe unearned advantages.
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Safety 07122021
Union Pacific’s Fire Car Fleet Provided Critical Assist in Lava Fire
The first time a Union Pacific fire-fighting crew tried to reach the Dry Canyon Bridge in Northern California, they had to turn back. The risk of being trapped by the Lava Fire sweeping across the Shasta-Trinity National Forest was too high.
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Insights 07012021
Environmental Compliance Demands Respect for Air
When it comes to air, Union Pacific delivers powerful numbers. We move one ton of freight 454 miles on a single gallon of diesel fuel, and our trains are three to four times more fuel efficient than trucks.
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Insights 06242021
Technology Has Changed Life on the Railroad
Technology has had a big impact on how train personnel approach their jobs in these modern times. Thanks to mobile reporting devices, we’ve virtually eliminated the need for work orders, and can now report our activities in near real time.
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Innovation 06222021
Plastics and Sustainability: How Dow and Braskem Are Working Toward a Greener Future
Plastics producers have meaningful sustainability goals. Here’s how they’re pushing the needle forward – and using transportation to make a difference.
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Insights 06152021
Coordination Drives Compassionate Response to Homelessness Issue
Each jurisdiction is different, and one size does not fit all, but if we can work within our existing infrastructure to broaden the conversation between all stakeholders, I believe we can reduce the number of homeless in our communities.
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Insights 06082021
Railroad to Expand Supply Chain Role by Focusing on Technology Investments
The next decade will be one of rapid acceleration and expansion of our role in our nation's supply chain. The transformation of the technologies necessary to support this will come from an increased capability to leverage what is available in the broader market, plus a laser-like focus on creating company differentiating solutions.
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Safety 06072021
Heartland Service Unit Making Safety Strides
Union Pacific's Heartland Service Unit is making strides – literally – in its strive for safety excellence.
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Insights 06012021
Employee Ownership Is 'Table Stakes' for Modern Companies
Employee ownership has been shown to improve engagement, because it requires workers to reframe their perception of the “why” behind the company’s actions. A higher level of engagement leads to motivated and happier employees, which leads to safer operations and better service.
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Heritage 05272021
"We Are ONE" Commemorative Locomotive Debuts
The "We Are ONE" ERG Commemorative Locomotive is ready to hit the tracks for some summer fun, celebrating inclusion along the way.
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Insights 05252021
Union Pacific’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Journey is Never Ending
Our duty, building off the 160 years of work done before us, is to create true equity and inclusion for all our employees and help do the same in the communities we serve.
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Insights 05142021
Best Leaders Act like Founders
I have been lucky in my career to work for two historic American companies. First Walmart, where I spent close to 23 years, and now Union Pacific, where I started a new journey just six months ago.
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Real Railroaders 05112021
Waves of Kindness
Two Union Pacific employees stationed out of North Little Rock, Arkansas, have gone above and beyond in their community to support a woman who brightens the days of local train crews.
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Safety 05062021
Union Pacific Dispatchers Answer the Calls to Safety
When there’s an emergency and you pick up the phone to report, you always hope there’s a hero on the other line who knows the next step. At Union Pacific, those heroes are the Response Management Communications Center's critical call dispatchers who are ready to respond to emergencies 24/7.
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Real Railroaders 04192021
UP Family Turns Tragedy Into Mission to Fight Childhood Cancer
When tragedy strikes, support is critical – from family, friends, co-workers and maybe even those we don’t know.
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Real Railroaders 04122021
Employee Comes to Aid of Co-worker Suffering Heart Attack
For Union Pacific, ensuring the safety of everyone around the railroad is of the utmost importance, but even off the railroad, life can take an unexpected turn.
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Safety 04072021
Third Generation Railroader Commits Career to Teamwork and Safety
As a third generation railroader, Brad Brown, welder, Engineering, has been around the tracks for most of his life, and he’s seen a lot of changes over those years — including in his own experience.
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Innovation 03312021
Wide Load: Clearance Team's Efforts Result in Safe Shipments
Every day Union Pacific transports high, wide and heavy loads for its customers. But do you know what goes into making those shipments happen?
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Community 03292021
UP Partners with Communities to Safeguard Schoolchildren
As America's Mask Challenge calls on companies and organizations to help get 200 million cloth facial coverings to 40 million students, teachers and staff at 56,000 of America’s most under-resourced schools, Union Pacific is stepping up to help.
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Insights 03232021
We Must Help Communities Gain Strength from Diversity
We can, we will, and we must help our communities gain strength from their diversity.
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Safety 03022021
UP Operating Teams Battle through Polar Vortex
As a polar vortex struck the country in late February, Union Pacific employees braved the elements to do what they always do: Keep America moving.
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Community 03012021
Partnership Enhances UP’s Hiring Reach
Union Pacific is partnering with The Manufacturing Institute (MI) -- the National Association of Manufacturers’ workforce development and education partner -- on a $3 million, three-year joint initiative called Careers on Track.
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Real Railroaders 02242021
Smith Carried On Family’s Railroad Heritage over Past 50 Years
Most 5-year-olds are lucky to hang out with toy trains. But at that age, Randy Smith was visiting real locomotives on a regular basis.
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Real Railroaders 02232021
Generous Spirit Is Hallmark of McMullen’s 50 Years on Railroad
Patrick McMullen’s generous spirit, caring nature and strong faith are traits he carried with him throughout his career in interactions with customers and co-workers.
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Insights 02162021
Union Pacific - Our Journey to Growth Transformation
Too many organizations are held back by an antiquated IT mindset that separates the precious Technology teams from the rest of the business. To stay ahead, Union Pacific is embracing enterprise-wide thinking that gets everyone from tech teams to senior leadership on the same page and speaking the outcome language.
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Innovation 02122021
New UP-Developed Technology Builds Better, Safer Trains
Precision Train Builder simulates trains and their operations over hundreds of miles of track compressed into minutes, accurately identifying not only where to place rail cars within a train, but how much “power” — i.e., locomotives — to use, and where to place that power within the train for the most efficient and safe operation.
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Innovation 02102021
Long Game Win Makes UP Big in South Korea
This past summer Union Pacific scored a big win in the international intermodal market when it inked a deal with Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), securing new business and capitalizing on an efficient service product.
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Insights 02092021
What’s It Take to Run a Railroad?
Our hard-working railroaders will share their passion for the work they do, the communities we serve, and the tracks we take to continue moving forward.
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Safety 02032021
Safety Program Virtually Puts Teens in Driver Seat
The virtual program is designed to educate young drivers on practicing safety behind the wheel and creating smart habits, such as putting down their devices and paying attention to the road, especially around railroad tracks.
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Innovation 02022021
Look Out Donner Pass: The Avalauncher Is Here
With a specialized piece of equipment, Engineering crews on Union Pacific’s Roseville Subdivision deploy the avalauncher, which launches two pounds of explosives at the mountain to create a controlled avalanche.
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Innovation 01062021
Teamwork Pulls Off Epic Union Pacific Englewood Yard Project
While much of the world was winding down for the year, a Union Pacific team in Houston was gearing up to end 2020 with a bang – installing a new master retarder in Englewood Yard on Dec. 29 in close to eight hours.
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Community 01052021
'Mother MABAS': Motherload in Emergency Relief
The statewide fire mutual aid network developed in Illinois is expanding into neighboring states including Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin and Indiana. While first responders give peace of mind to communities and individuals, they’ve endured uncertainties when it comes to their own peace of mind since the start of the pandemic.