Railroad Forums 

  • UP at capacity

  • Discussion about the Union Pacific operations past and present. Official site can be found here: UPRR.COM.
Discussion about the Union Pacific operations past and present. Official site can be found here: UPRR.COM.

Moderator: GOLDEN-ARM

 #28453  by jmp883
 
One thing I haven't seen on this thread yet in regard to UP operations gaffs is the priority that they seem to be paying in regard to catching trademark violators (aka model railroad suppliers). I understand that if you (or your company) have a logo you want it trademarked to protect you (or your company) but according to some of the model magazines I've been reading over the past few months UP is taking an almost witch-hunt drive to ensure that every model manufacturer is properly licensed by them. Is this expenditure really necessary? From a legal standpoint, yes I guess it is, but come on now........does enforcing that trademark take that much away from being able to run trains for your customers? Besides, the model railroad industry is one of the more honest industries in this country and I haven't heard of any other railroad on the trademark witch-hunt like UP seems to be. Hopefully they'll get their act together soon. Arrogant company or not, UP is a vital part of our national rail system as well as of our rail and national history. It would be a shame to lose UP the way we've lost some other major railroads in recent history.

Joe P :D
Long Live The EL!
www.geocities.com/jmpwpd29

 #28464  by Greg
 
How does UP's current operational woes have anything to do with trademark enforcement? The backups are not the result of train crews being occupied with carrying out UP's policy in regards to the TM enforcment, it is due to their not being enough train crews. Perhaps if they current overload at Union Pacific only involved the legal department I would better be able to see a correlation, but as it now is, I think the relationship is zero, hence the reaon only disgruntled toy train purchasers are the main objectors to this policy.
 #28593  by jmp883
 
It's not the enforcement itself that is causing the lack of train crews and bottlenecks, but all decisions, operational and administrative, that come from management which are causing the train slowdowns. It's already been documented that UP knew they were going to be short on crews and yet the hiring/training of new crews did not happen quite as expeditiously as it might have. Was that due to lack of foresight on the operating/personnel dept. managers, was it due to a lack of money in the operations/personnel depts. budgets, or a combination of several factors from both inside and outside of the company? Being outside the company we can only guess and make informed opinions based on what we read, see, and hear in the media. However, it is the responsibility of management to oversee the entire railroad, operationally and administratively, and to shift resources as they see fit in order to keep the railroad an effective transportation system. I only brought out the trademark issue since the model magazines have given it extensive coverage, it is using financial resources that might be better utilized on the operations/personnel side of the company to help restore service levels, and to illustrate that, maybe, UP's priorities need to be slightly readjusted. It does kind of surprise me that this is happening to UP again. I kind of figured that after the SP merger management had gotten a lesson in using foresight in help in planning the future for their railroad.

Unfortunately, the only vision that is 20/20 is hindsight. No one can see the future for sure, and many times we are blinded by the present. Let's hope UP gets out of this soon and gets back to being one of the premier railroads in the country.

Joe P :D
Long Live The EL
www.geocities.com/jmpwpd29

 #28722  by Greg
 
All the reports that I have read in regards to the crew shortages issued by the UP have attributed the aforementioned shortages to poor assesment of the economic recovery that was anticipated. The estimates were off substantially and the railroad is now suffering the consequences of this miscalculation. A reallocation, in my opinion, of resources that dealt with the trademark policy would not have remedied the situation. I would find it hard to fathom that the financial resources allocated to the Union Pacifics legal department have contributed to the train crew crisis that has affected the company. It might be easier to say that the legal department is trying to justify it's exisistence in some way (another topic in itself) then infering-as the model RR mags are-that the trademark policy somehow is the cause or a major contributing factor to the situation.
 #28745  by LCJ
 
jmp883 wrote:It's not the enforcement itself that is causing the lack of train crews and bottlenecks, but all decisions, operational and administrative, that come from management which are causing the train slowdowns.
Which is another way of saying that the shortage of crews is a systemic one, and not the simple result of a single factor such as missing the signs of impending economic upturn (which was, indeed, one of the factors -- and the one ususally cited by management as being "beyond its control").

There were people in the management structure of UP who knew that there would be a shortage. The fact is that they could not make that known to those who make the overall financial decisions. If one delivers such bad news to that level, one is labeled "negative" because of not being in synch with the established executive perceptions.

The crew shortage and the trademark action are, I believe, both symptoms of the underlying systemic dysfunction.

 #33789  by Xplorer2000
 
Greg wrote:How does UP's current operational woes have anything to do with trademark enforcement? The backups are not the result of train crews being occupied with carrying out UP's policy in regards to the TM enforcment, it is due to their not being enough train crews. Perhaps if they current overload at Union Pacific only involved the legal department I would better be able to see a correlation, but as it now is, I think the relationship is zero, hence the reaon only disgruntled toy train purchasers are the main objectors to this policy.
Bad Karma??? :) :wink: :D
I don't think that UP's little "witch-hunt" is contributing to their ills,per se , but that they would devote time, energy, and resources, i.e pulling cars into the paintshop just to do them up in "fallen flag" colors to set a legal precedent contributes to making trains move or adds to the bottom line how???? Guess what: IT DOESN'T!!!! And now there's the little news report over the weekend that cites UP in covering up and evidence tampering in reference to grade crossing accidents.....seems to me UP's management has been quite busy....but not doing what they're supposed to...like running a railroad!!!...LOL!!! :wink:

 #33911  by Greg
 
pulling cars into the paintshop just to do them up in "fallen flag" colors to set a legal precedent contributes to making trains move or adds to the bottom line how????

Are they 'pulling' cars in to paint them or are the cars already 'in' for scheduled service? I would think it would be the latter.

As for Karma, I don't think UP causing the price of toys-among other nonessential goods-to rise can somehow be equalled karma-wise by grade crossing deaths. Seems a tad too high a price, not to mention the triviality it places on human life, to charge for inflated model train costs if the Karma Gods really are watching. Hopefully UP can remedy the problems it is facing operations-wise in th shortest amount of time and get back to doing what it does well, moving goods across the country.

 #34019  by Xplorer2000
 
[quote="Greg]

As for Karma, I don't think UP causing the price of toys-among other nonessential goods-to rise can somehow be equalled karma-wise by grade crossing deaths. Seems a tad too high a price, not to mention the triviality it places on human life, to charge for inflated model train costs if the Karma Gods really are watching. Hopefully UP can remedy the problems it is facing operations-wise in th shortest amount of time and get back to doing what it does well, moving goods across the country.
Point taken on that round ,and I stand properly chastised, as no loss of life is, or should ever be considered, trivial. However, UP does have an apparently well documented rep for ..well ...arrogance, not to put to fine a point on it. A "We'll do whatever we want because WE know whats best and WE don't have to answer to anybody" mentality. And its blown up in their faces, In Chicago with the absorption of CNW, in Texas, during the last service meltdown, and apparently, now during their shortages of crews, and the (apparent) problems with safety. Its actually possible, quite probable even, that the Union Pacific has grown so large , its become too big to effectively manage , operate or control operations on. At least for the people calling the shots right now, anyways. Just an opinion on my part.

 #34191  by Greg
 
I concur with you in regards to the perceived or actuall arrogance at Union Pacific. This is a well testified sentiment from many employees throughout the companies storied history, in away I feel it must be self-perpetuating for it to have continued over the course of the past century and a half. Some if it is understandable, when you are the biggest you like to make everyone aware of it, but it can equally come across as being somewhat obnoxious.