Union Pacific's new CEO promises improved safety and service but big rail unions lukewarm on hire
Union Pacific’s new CEO Jim Vena started Monday by promising to improve safety and service to help the railroad grow, but he cautioned that “the road ahead won’t be an easy one.”
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific's new CEO Jim Vena started Monday by promising to improve safety and service to help the railroad grow, but he cautioned that “the road ahead won't be an easy one.”
Some of the Omaha, Nebraska, railroad's biggest unions are already lukewarm on Vena's hiring because he is a strong proponent of the lean operating model UP and the rest of the industry have been using in recent years that led to widespread job cuts. Vena helped oversee Union Pacific's initial implementation of that “precision scheduled railroading” model when he served as the railroad's chief operating officer for two years starting in 2019.
Vena suggested more changes are coming at the railroad in a note to all of UP's staff Monday where he emphasized his experience working his way up through the industry after starting as a brakeman, but he didn't offer any specifics. He was hired last month after a hedge fund pressured the railroad to oust Lance Fritz because it was disappointed with Union Pacific's performance during his tenure.
“I know you have many questions about what will happen and how it will impact you,” Vena said in his letter. “I share some of those questions, and I will learn a lot from you as I travel the system. What I can tell you is that we will become the safest railroad in the world. I can tell you we will improve our service product, and we will become more efficient and more reliable – for ourselves, our customers, our communities and our shareholders.”
The five general chairpersons who lead the Transportation Division of the
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