(The following story by Stacie Hamel appeared on the Omaha World-Herald website on April 2.)
OMAHA — Union Pacific has asked one of its largest customers to move cargo onto trucks for four weeks to help reduce the railroad’s congestion and service delays.
United Parcel Service said the railroad will pay any added costs from suspending once-a-week expedited trains and sending guaranteed-delivery cargo by truck.
“U.P. has advised us that by taking those express trains off the network temporarily, that will help them get a handle on their congestion problems,” said UPS spokesman Norman Black. “We want to try to help them.”
Union Pacific spokeswoman Kathryn Blackwell said she could not comment on plans for UPS cargo or other individual customer shipments.
Union Pacific service suffered as shipping demand ratcheted up just after large numbers of engineers and conductors took advantage of an enhanced federal retirement program, creating train crew shortages.
The railroad expects to hire about 4,000 more workers this year as it deals with crew shortages.
UPS has guaranteed coast-to-coast delivery by Friday of packages picked up Monday since the Union Pacific offered express trains in 2003, in conjunction with eastern railroad CSX. Previously, ground service – each way between Los Angeles and New York City, Dallas and Memphis – took five days instead of four.
“For the better part of a year now, they’ve been running these expedited trains for us and have provided very good service,” Black said.
UPS customers and delivery times won’t be affected, he said, and only express cargo will move to trucks.
“The vast majority of our business is on regular trains, and that does not change,” he said.