Articles Tagged with ''Union Pacific''

The nation’s largest railroads, aided by low summer demand and intense recruiting initiatives, have made progress in shrinking the formidable freight backlogs that congested their lines this spring. But 62,000 engineers and conductors could once again throw the rail system into disarray if they go on strike Friday. 

Some ag shippers are still using the Port of Oakland to send wine, walnuts, fruits, vegetables, hay and rice to foreign buyers, but many other exporters are also looking for alternatives to the key — but troubled — West Coast shipping point.

The four largest U.S. railroads are optimistic about their plans to recruit more workers headed into the fall harvest, but Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin Oberman has expressed concern about how ready the railroads are.

The nation's four largest railroad companies have revealed their plans to address the persistent shipping delays plaguing their networks and all rely on one key ingredient: labor.

The Surface Transportation Board on Monday told four major railroads that their plans for improving shipping delays were inadequate and ordered the companies to provide key information the agency demanded in May.

The Surface Transportation Board, looking to end rail delays that have snarled agricultural shippers, ordered four major railroads on Friday to  submit service recovery plans and to temporarily report biweekly on their progress in making improvements.

The UK sent its top agriculture official to the U.S. this week in an effort to lay the groundwork for an eventual trade agreement with the U.S.

Agricultural shippers should not have to pay the price for increasingly unreliable railway service that is pushing American farmers and ranchers to the breaking point, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Jewel Bronaugh said Tuesday at an emergency hearing held by the Surface Transportation Board.

Major railroads are under attack by the ag industry, which says lack of personnel is hampering shipments and raising costs for companies forced to rely on secondary freight options.

The U.S. ag sector depends on the ability to ship products between Mexico and Texas, and Governor Greg Abbott’s increased border inspection demands are drawing sharp concerns from American farm groups.