UP has been through term oil for over a decade. When Jim Young stepped down outside interest were brought in to eliminate waste (jobs). In 2008 the group (mck…) was paid in the millions by UP to cut jobs. Then the dust settled until multiple stock splits. In comes lance fritz, he never lead the company he was only a face. If you watched the town halls this was clear. They bring in jimmy V and the cuts all crafts, especially train crews to the point it deviates our pools and forces hiring bonuses up to 25k just to repair the damage jimmy did. Lance was removed via a treat of a hostile takeover by multiple firms and he was ousted quickly after. Now the egomaniac jimmy steps in but the company is so concerned with him that they sp-t his power over three positions. Making him only loyal to the stock price. Beth is “for the employees and quality of life”. We all know her past. Prove me wrong.
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Turmoil
Soroban Capital wanted to get rid of Fritz. Im sure they were in cahoots with the other large investors like Vanguard and BR. They were not pleased in how Fritz started to retract from PSR after Vena left. They pressured the board to remove Fritz so Vena could come back in and push the PSR agenda again. There are room for cuts and the UP can contract out certain things if they choose to do so. Have you heard of Watco? To think Vena can't make big cuts again would be a huge misconception.
He already made his decision on the cuts, so why the deception? Vena can't make cuts like he and Fritz did before. Getting folks to come back was quite the challenge that was even admitted to by the executives. Vena keeps leaning on that OR like it's everything to him. He can't repeat what he did during the first round. There isn't enough people to do that, and it's what started the ousting of Fritz. I'm absolutely praying he makes the wrong decision. He'll be gone just that much quicker. Now I'm waiting for someone to jump in here and say they'll never get rid of him. Some people said that about Fritz as well, and he's already gone because of the bad decisions. The funny part is that the bad decisions made came from Vena himself. So now all we can do is wait for it to happen
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we have to make some cuts. We’ll make a decision very soon.”
The results of the bad report and the OR at 63% is because of the Unions.
He is on the hunt for red october on OCT 31 and Nov 7....
Yellow Vena Express is coming with UP 1979 on the point
I'm not arguing here but calling Fritz the face of the company for eight years is quite a stretch. It would be like calling him the company mascot. Mascots don't really do anything, but they're faces too! Fritz did lead the company, but he lead it down. Fritz was a Wall Street puppet. When Mr. Young stepped down, the company took a bad turn. In came Koraleski, and some people knew then about what was on the horizon. A couple of years later, Fritz steps in. Fritz took over, and many people knew he was full of sh1t. I knew he was full of it in 2000 when he showed up. I also knew about Vena and Harrison at the CN. Venas ego was the result of working with Harrison. Vena was someone that could never be trusted, EVER! Harrison was paid 200 million dollars to "turn around" four class 1's using PSR. One of the railroads no longer exists, thanks to Harrison and his cost cutting tactics of PSR. After being put into the CEO position at the CSX, he goes out on medical leave, and dies shortly after. That man's legacy is greatly hated by many in the industry and a quite a few folks on capital hill. The commonality with all of the RR's issues isn't Vena or PSR. The center of the priblems lies with the investors. The problems all started with them and the CEO's that catered to them. Slamming Vena isn't really necessary, but it is fun! Vena is nothing more than a catalyst for Wall Streets endeavors to inflate their wealth. Young believed in the employees and the company. Vena cares only about his wealth and the wealth of the investors. Vena doesn't give dam about the company, or the people that actually run it. I did find it interesting though about why they split up the position for Vena. If the investors or the board were that concerned about him, then why elect him to the CEO spot? Vena doesn't have the power that Fritz had. Why limit his authorities after praising his return to the company? It seems a bit counter-productive to me. I know if Vena doesn't get his sh1t together and get that stock price up like Wall Street wants, then he won't be around for very long.
Logic is sound. This looks more like the usual deception and misdirection to me. The Yardmasters signed a lucrative ASR agreement and then saw their craft decimated. TE&Y received pay raises, and the company immediately announced crew size reduction. The carrier claims the capability to be totally autonomous by 2025.
Not one senior vice President will still be here when that happens. They will be retired. Look at the caliber of leadership we now possess.
It is not about leadership or even people anymore.