(The following story by Dan Piller appeared on the Des Moines Register website on April 24, 2009.)
DES MOINES, Iowa — The two largest railroads serving Iowa, Union Pacific Corp. and BNSF Corp., both reported first-quarter earnings below last year because of the economic slowdown and decreases in agricultural shipments.
Union Pacific also said it would cut up to 4,000 jobs.
The Omaha company saw its profit fall 18 percent to $362 million. The company said it would reduce its workforce by about 4,000 workers by the end of the year.
Union Pacific employs about 2,000 people in Iowa — concentrated in Boone, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Marshalltown and Mason City.
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Commodity groups reported lower volumes. Union Pacific said its agricultural shipments fell 13 percent from the same quarter in 2008.
“We experienced one of the most challenging business environments we have ever seen,” Union Pacific Chairman James Young said.
BNSF, formerly known as Burlington Northern Santa Fe and headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, said its first-quarter profit dropped 55 percent to $293 million in this year’s first quarter.
Chairman Matthew Rose called the economic climate “difficult.”
BNSF’s agricultural revenues dropped 22 percent in the first quarter to $187 million.
The railroad runs primarily across southern Iowa from Burlington and Fort Madison through Ottumwa and Creston to Council Bluffs.