Railroads Can Do It Right – Editor’s Commentary

Photo by David C. Lester

ATLANTA –– Concerns and complaints about railroad customer service have circulated for years. Many times, those comments are just not right. This is one of them.

While not the usual topic for Railway Track and Structures, we have written about customer service and other non-engineering issues in the past. One of them is customer service.

While the debate around service quality continues, particularly in the situation the industry is in now, with support and criticism of the proposed UP+NS merger, there is one arena where no one is complaining –– peak season.

As most know, economic activity around the annual holiday season is very heavy throughout the supply chain. And, big shippers like UPS, FedEx and Amazon have become increasingly reliant on Class I railroads to handle significant long-haul movements of their trailers and containers. Two roads most heavily involved in this are BNSF and Union Pacific, due in part to their very long east-west U.S. routes.

Both railroads have recently announced that they had a “perfect peak season” in 2025. That’s no small feat. However, if the rails did not provide this level of service, they would quickly lose the business, as the operations of UPS, FedEx, Amazon, et. al., have virtually no wiggle room in their schedules that can accommodate train delays. The transportation hubs utilized by these companies, particularly UPS and FedEx, have crews standing ready just before a train’s arrival time to unload the train and get the trailers and the goods they contain to their customers.

BNSF’s first train of 2025 Peak Season out of its St. Paul, Minnesota, hub (Photo courtesy BNSF)

BNSF recently said “Collaboration is at the heart of this process. Over a six-week period, BNSF hosts over a dozen on-site field planning meetings, including our parcel customers, various BNSF departments and key BNSF partners. The meetings are designed to cover every detail, from train schedules to contingency strategies – ensuring that together, we’re ready to safely deliver exceptional service when demand peaks.”

“Every year at BNSF, we come together to deliver holiday parcels to loved ones all across the country,” said Jon Gabriel, group vice president of consumer products. “Our parcel customers put tremendous trust in us during this critical time of year because of the confidence we’ve built over the years.” 

Photo courtesy Union Pacific

Union Pacific said “Peak Season spans the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when holiday shipping surges and on-time performance is essential for premium customers. Union Pacific answered the call – moving time-sensitive freight safely and efficiently.

“Union Pacific delivered steady, reliable service and supported continued growth in intermodal traffic, handling more than 26,000 priority loads, surpassing last year’s total. Customer confidence reflects that performance.”

Todd Lenczowski, general director-Sales at Union Pacific, said “These results underscore the premium community’s confidence in Union Pacific’s ability to deliver sustained, best-in-class service.”

These achievements are ones that the entire industry should celebrate. They show that the railroads can, indeed, get it done.