Union Pacific Railroad achieved a record year of 1.25 million domestic intermodal shipments in 2009, the company announced this week. In addition, the railroad said it joined with UPS to achieve a "Perfect Peak Season" for the second consecutive year by delivering 100 percent of the logistic giant's peak season freight without a sort failure.
Prior to 2009, Union Pacific's highest domestic intermodal volume was 1.19 million shipments in 2007. The railroad said introduction of 43 new service products allowed it to capture freight that previously moved over the highway, as well as earn additional business from Hub Group, Pacer International and other large intermodal customers.
The UPS peak season begins the Tuesday following Thanksgiving and concludes Christmas Eve. During the 2009 peak season, Union Pacific delivered thousands of UPS containers and trailers conveying hundreds of packages each; many specifically for the holidays.
"It takes coordination, communication and commitment from the UPS and Union Pacific teams to achieve the level of performance we attained during the 2009 UPS peak season," Kaiser said. "The combination of providing fast and reliable rail service with UPS's industry leading package delivery network allowed both consumers and businesses to enjoy a worry-free holiday season. Allowing UPS to achieve 100 percent sort performance is always our goal and we are proud to have attained that level of service during their peak season."