Well UP may have finally gave Katie the boot in the tail pipe she needed. Katie has been so focused on trying to get another 27 million as a golden parachute before she is fired under the umbrella of corporate restructuring this next year or when uncle warren kicks the bucket or before her gross mismanagement of BNSF takes even more of a bite out of corporate profits resulting in her “retirement” on the BNSF propaganda homepage, whichever comes first. The lawsuit just filed between UP and BNSF to cut BNSF out of California unless BNSF pays UP more for tracking rights on UP line will be the final nail in Katie’s figurative coffin as her illustrious career as BNSF ceo comes to an end. With UP having goaded BNSF into a box that has resulted in reduced freight, inconsistent delivery times to customers, and a work force that has been depleted beyond the ability to keep up with attrition, UP may have inadvertently put Katie into a corner that results in her termination, and from coast to coast employees across all unions and spectrums can’t wait to say BNSF had enough and finally got rid of the Fort Worth railroad albatross that lined her own pockets while destroying families, careers, and the image of BNSF as the leader in the rail industry. While you can’t spell stupid with out the UP, Katie’s all to eager to follow their lead until they led her off a cliff, and then without an ability to recover, then charge BNSF 3 times the amount above inflation to operate on UP track in California, filling the coffers of BNSFs number 1 competitor in the rail industry, while having allowed Katie to follow in UP LS footsteps in reducing BNSF’s own foot print in the region, while operating on a competitors rail. Essentially she got rid of employees and locations that could have built more rail and operated independently of UP, but Jim Vena boxes her in with no option to recover then, said pay or get out, as the work force Katie cu,t who are now refusing to return to BNSF or relocate when recalled from furloughs, are going to leave Katie in a no win situation.
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@ds facts man this job just aint worth the trouble anymore I'm thinking im out for good after my contract alliance Nebraska is the worst of the worst now 1 man yard crews boards shot to sh-t all the time days on days of waiting for work im over this bullsh-t
Katie Farmer has completely gutted the shops in our (BNSF) system. She, all most of the other suits in Ft. Worth think they can run a railroad without the shops. She, and they, are about to find out it’s not so. She believes she can squeeze the unions out and contract rat shops. As injuries and failures go up.
It was bad enough when it was just incompetent shop supervisors that were being hired and promoted but when the CEO is grossly incompetent the company is doomed. Uncle Warren is already liquidating all his assets. He’s got one foot out the door.
If you think Katie runs the Railroad you’re naive she takes orders from Buffet
Matt Rose was also on the board at AA for several years.
I bet none of you know Katie is probably on the way out… here’s a clue. (Spoiler… Katie is on the board of directors for American Airlines)
https://news.aa.com/news/news-details/2025/american-airlines-kathryn-farmer-board-directors-CORP-EXEC-04/default.aspx
Knock off Katie Farmer…I’m appalled by the disrespect shown to the 2023 Railroader of the year.
I am one of those workers that was furloughed several times because of BNSF upper management constantly cutting and rehiring. I had enough of it and closed that book for good. I jumped over to UP and super glad I did- much better job and the company structure is more stable. Used to be told how horrible it was on the UP- I have found that not to be true at all! They dont mess around here and care more about their customers and employees than BNSF does is what i am finding out. For example, dispatch is way quicker to answer calls when toned up than BNSF was. Its like BN dispatch could care less about "time" when a crew is calling. I never understood it. Its been a noticeable difference. Another thing is all the meetings BNSF would have- what a waste. Get to the point and get working. I remember her saying " we must remain competitive!" Well, its starts with what you are already have in house and not getting rid of talent that was already dedicated to your company. Unfortunately for you, i have taken my dedication, talents, and ideas over to the UP because you couldn't see my worth. Your loss.
K.F. really did a number on BNSF- used to be a great co. to work for. Not anymore unfortunately.
Word to the wise- Id come over to the UP while you get the chance- BNSF is going down the drain fast. Best to get out while you can.
Katie’s thinking I force the idea of working safely as a company motto so I can fire people for safety violations when that’s not enough close facilities and furlough workers, while hiring RJ Corman to work for less, and operate in a manner that doesn’t even come close to being called safe, but it lets me have my annual bonus balloon, then UP says hold my beer, we will charge BNSF 3 times the inflationary rates for trackage rights. Katie says I’ll just have my company build more rail and I’ll bring back workers from furlough to move more freight. UP says you mean the workers you furloughed who are working for RJ Corman now in the facilities you closed, or were hired by UP after you furloughed them to boost your shareholder profit margins, those workers. Katie says you’ll see, my workers love me. 1000 calls later and no workers return, Katie tells UP we will see you in court. UP leadership laughs and says you’ll need a deeper azz.
Tariffs don’t mess up supply chains unless you over invest in foreign markets to subsidize corporate bonuses, last time I checked trains don’t run on water, while imports at intermodal facilities account for freight, grain, cars, coal, and manufacturing in the United States should be your primary focus. If customers in the United States are coming second to foreign markets investment revenue, the railroad takes a hit. Hence why BNSF is steadily losing ground in coal, LNG, Fuel and goods. BNSF won’t even pay their own blue collar workers, they wouldn’t pay the native Americans in Washington, what makes anyone think outside of court they are going to pay UP.
The tariffs are messing up supply chains currently. Containers are going down and they want to ki-l coal? Trump wants coal back yet UP is hauling the crud out of it,
You have to pay to play. Why doesn’t BNSF just do it right back on the trackage rights that UP runs over? Probably cause they know UP will tell BNSF to kick rocks. And UP will just take one of their different routes on their much larger system.
Especially if recession fears grow and UP continues to take business from BNSF, while trying to juggle contract negotiations, it’s no wonder the comp Was trying to get contracts signed so quick, unions better hold out or vote down anything the company offers, arbitrary policy changes and side bar agreements will rue the day in attempt to realign company interest to either give Katie a big bonus on the way out or result in more jobs being scabbed out to RJ Corman after the fact to offset what she’s about to cost the company in litigation and further lost revenue.