 |
||
|
|
||
| |||||||||||
The first and the largest One of the founding operators of the nation's first transcontinental railroad, Union Pacific branched into the trucking business during the 1930s. It is currently organized into three different operating companies: Union Pacific Railroad, Union Pacific Technologies, and Overnite Transportation. In 1996 Union Pacific purchased Southern Pacific, a company that Union Pacific had been forced to sell as part of a 1912 antitrust ruling. Thanks to the acquisition, Union Pacific currently ranks as North America's largest railroad operator, with over 37,000 miles of tracks spread across 25 states as well as parts of Canada and Mexico. Bigger isn't better (necessarily) Union Pacific's purchase of Southern Pacific was supposed to make Union Pacific more competitive. Yet the railroad's inability to fully integrate Southern Pacific meant massive delays that ultimately cost the company $1 billion in lost business in 1997. Blaming computer glitches, equipment shortages, and labor problems, Union Pacific nevertheless created gridlock on the train's lines, especially in the Gulf Coast region. Government regulators found the backlog on the company's Houston line so severe that it ordered the company to open it to competition. In addition to the transportation problems that arose from the acquisition, Union Pacific had to pay $34 million in cash to shareholders who claimed the company failed to disclose material facts and made misleading statements about the merger. Splitting up is easy to do In response, the company split its rail management into three units, spent $600 million on new locomotives, and $366 million on new track in Nebraska, where much of its freight passes through. The railroad also hired 6,500 new employees and made plans to hire 60,000 more by 2010. The new workers are expected to replace retiring workers and to meet increased business demands.
Union Pacific has announced a 60,000-person, 12-year hiring campaign to replace its aging workforce. Each of Union Pacific's operating companies conducts its hiring and recruiting separately. For career information, including current job openings and the appropriate contact names and addresses, applicants can consult three different Web pages: www.uprr.com/uprr/business/hr for the Union Pacific Railroad, www.skyway.com/frames/employment/main.html for Skyway Freight, and www.up.com/upt/career.htm for Union Pacific Technologies. Applicants to Union Pacific Technologies should be careful to note the position for which they are applying, as the company does not accept unsolicited resumes.
The corporate culture of Union Pacific varies widely among the different operating companies. Throughout, however, Union Pacific strives to maintain an "aggressive" attitude as well as "progressive" policies that enable employees to balance work schedules with the demands of raising a family. The "challenging" training process at Union Pacific Railroad earns high marks, though "it proves too challenging for some." Several Union Pacific insiders also point out that the job opportunities are "geographically scattered" and that a promotion can require "relocating to the middle of nowhere."
Human Resources
Trucking;Railroad;Computer Services
American Freightways;FDX More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
