Class I Briefs: UP, NS, CSX
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
“We are extremely excited about the growth opportunity we have unlocked with our partner, Union Pacific, in the north-south corridor between Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, utilizing the Falcon Premium service product,” said Phillip Yeager, Hub Group’s President and CEO, on July 27. “Hub Group continues to expand our capabilities and deliver service, integrity and innovation to our customers’ supply chains.” (Hub Group Photograph)
Union Pacific (UP) reports on LinkedIn and Twitter that partner Hub Group “will leverage their growing fleet with our improved premium service product to now serve all of North America’s automotive production facilities.” Also, Norfolk Southern (NS) surprises Atlanta (Ga.) Public Schools with two $50,000 donations; and CSX celebrates its “heritage of passion and dedication” with a railroader family that reaches back four generations.
UP
Hub Group on July 27 announced that it will expand its automotive industry capabilities to include intermodal services into all OEM manufacturing facilities. Through longstanding relationships with automotive manufacturers and UP, the company said its focus on transporting parts inbound for manufacturing will bolster its automotive offering and add service options in the marketplace.
Hub Group said it will use its fleet of nearly 50,000 GPS-enabled intermodal 53-foot containers, while leveraging northbound and southbound service including Falcon Premium and Eagle Premium through UP. The railroad’s new Falcon Premium “provides the fastest service from the U.S. and Mexico border to Chicago and Detroit—and most direct routing entirely by rail between Canada and Mexico,” according to Hub Group.
“We are extremely excited about the growth opportunity we have unlocked with our partner, Union Pacific, in the north-south corridor between Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, utilizing the Falcon Premium service product,” said Phillip Yeager, Hub Group’s President and CEO.
“We are excited that Hub Group, a long-standing Union Pacific partner, will leverage their growing fleet with our improved premium service product to now serve all of North America’s automotive production facilities,” UP Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales Kenny Rocker said.
Separately, Hub Group reported second-quarter 2023 results on July 27. “Challenging market conditions have persisted throughout 2023 that have impacted demand for our services,” Phillip Yeager said. “We are seeing the benefits of our strategy to diversify and expand into less cyclical and non-asset-based services, with our Logistics Segment contributing nearly half of our operating income in the quarter, which has helped offset softer profitability at our ITS Segment. We performed well during this year’s intermodal bid season and are providing excellent service which has positioned us to grow as inventory levels normalize and demand increases. We returned $100 million of capital to our shareholders through share repurchases in the second quarter. We remain focused on managing our costs and capital structure and supporting our customers with great service while investing in our core business and technology to drive success in a variety of market conditions.”
NS
The Dunbar and Humphries elementary schools in Atlanta, Ga., each received a $50,000 donation from NS’s J. Whitaker Group Employee Resource Group (ERG), the Class I railroad reported July 27. One of NS’s seven ERGs, the J. Whitaker Group was named after the first African American locomotive engineer for NS predecessor Central of Georgia Rail.
The two donations were delivered during the Atlanta Public Schools’ (APS) Second Annual VIP Breakfast, which is part of APS’s annual Back-to-School Bash, which NS said, “engages and recognizes businesses and organizations that have been instrumental in supporting APS’s efforts to educate and enrich the student experiences across Atlanta.”
According to NS, the J. Whitaker Group has an ongoing partnership with Dunbar and Humphries, empowering railroad employees for nearly three years to volunteer with the schools by hosting educational programing, reading to students, and supporting students with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) projects. Beyond volunteering, the railroad said, the J. Whitaker Group has facilitated in-kind gift giving through school-supply drives and monetary gifts coordinated through NS’s Corporate Giving and Good Government Fund matching programs.
The latest donations allow NS to formally “adopt” Dunbar and Humphries as part of the APS “Adopt-a-School” program, which the railroad said, “works directly with schools to identify their most pressing needs and pairs them with corporate donors to assist in meeting those needs in the form of in-kind support and monetary donations.”
JWG’s partnership with APS was facilitated through its #JWGive Campaign, NS said, in honor of the upcoming Black Philanthropy Month, during which the ERG has decided to support local schools in predominantly black neighborhoods.
CSX
On July 29, CSX shared a four-generation railroad family story via its social media accounts. Watch:
