Hurricane Katrina Response

Relief Efforts

• An additional forty-nine trailers loaded with bottled water has arrived in the Memphis area from Los Angeles. The water is being distributed by truck to Katrina victims and response workers. A total of 135 trailers of water have been moved by rail from Los Angeles so far.

• Union Pacific is providing financial support to its employees and to Gulf Coast area victims, plus critically needed transportation for supplies.
• The Employee Clubs' Friend to Friend Network is leading an employee effort to provide assistance. Employees donating financial support are assured that 100 percent of their contributions go directly to their co-workers displaced from their residences. The donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Union Pacific. So far, the network has recommended assistance for 69 UP families, and that number is expected to increase.
• In addition, Union Pacific’s Claims Department has assisted about 130 employees by helping find temporary residences, setting up direct deposit or mail addresses so employees will receive their checks, and providing referrals for additional support from relief agencies.
• To assist Gulf Area victims, Union Pacific also is matching employee financial donations made through its Disaster Relief Matching Program to the American Red Cross, America’s Second Harvest, Baton Rouge Area Foundation and the Salvation Army.
• In the hours immediately following the hurricane, Union Pacific established a Response Command Center at its Harriman Dispatching Center to coordinate activities and communications with governmental agencies, connecting railroads, supply trains and labor organizations. Union Pacific is handling all relief material movements through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), including the movement and staging of 20 refrigerated box cars Union Pacific is donating, to support the relief effort.

• Union Pacific has handled the shipment of nearly 300 trailer loads of water to Memphis, Tenn., where the supplies will be trucked to hurricane victims. Shipments will continue for an estimated three months, sending 40 containers per day to the area.  Special trains loaded with fuel have been delivered to eastern railroads. Union Pacific is reviewing requests to move grain trains that would have been destined to New Orleans for export, to other export locations or facilities as our limited capacity allows.

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Employee Information

• Employees who have been directly affected by Hurricane Katrina are encouraged to call the toll-free Employee Hurricane Assistance hot line to contact the railroad and obtain referrals for assistance. The hot line number is 1-877-877-2567, Option 1. Employee Assistance Program and Peer Support counselors are available to help employees. TE&Y employees may also contact CMS to report their status.
• Employees who have exhausted their paid leave and are unable to work due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina will continue to receive pay for up to one month. UP will continue to reevaluate this policy as the full effects of this tragedy unfold.
• To show the company’s support for their efforts, Union Pacific is providing differential pay and/or benefits to employees called to active service in the Army/Air National Guard or as reservists in the U.S. Armed Services for the relief effort. Contact information is available on the Employees site.
• TE&Y employees affected by the hurricane who have Internet access should contact Crew Management. (From the Employees site homepage, click on Departments >Operating >Crew Management.) Then, click on the Online Service Request. Under the General tab, click on General Feedback and put in your information. This will create a trouble ticket, and a CMS representative will respond. Employees then can check the status of the request online.

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How UP Employees Can Help

Union Pacific will match employee financial donations made through Union Pacific’s Disaster Relief Matching Gift Program and the Employees Clubs Friend to Friend Network to aid Hurricane Katrina victims.

Employees can help by making a financial contribution that will go directly to fellow employees affected by the disaster. About 100 UP employees live in areas most severely hit by the hurricane, and early reports are that 30 have lost their homes. Union Pacific will match, dollar-for-dollar, financial contributions made to the Employee Clubs' Friend to Friend Network.

Or, employees can help by making a financial donation through Union Pacific's Disaster Relief Matching Gift Program. The company will match active employees' financial donations to the American Red Cross, America's Second Harvest, Baton Rouge Area Foundation and the Salvation Army. (Additional information available on the UP Employees site.)

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Service Updates

September 13, 2005

• The Norfolk Southern Railway this morning operated their first westbound train from New Orleans and gave it to Union Pacific at Avondale. Union Pacific interchanges four trains a day with the NS, two west and two east. Because of the damage to NS’s buildings in New Orleans, Union Pacific is providing temporary office space, communication equipment and crew lodging in Avondale.
• We continue to work with the NS and CSX on re-routing trains that  normally would interchange through the New Orleans gateway. These detours are allowing customers to continue to waybill traffic through the New Orleans interchange. The opening of the NS operations through New Orleans will assist with the flows of detour traffic going through the Memphis and St. Louis gateways.

September 8, 2005

• Local train service has been restored and is running into our Avondale Yard. We are  able to operate only during daylight hours, due to police-enforced curfews in the New Orleans area.

  We continue to work with eastern carriers to keep commerce flowing as effectively as possible. Working with the NS and CSX, we are re-routing the 14 trains that would normally interchange through the New Orleans gateway daily. These plans are allowing customers to continue to waybill traffic through the New Orleans interchange.

• Union Pacific will review requests to move grain trains that would have been destined to New Orleans for export, to other export locations or facilities as our limited capacity allows.
• Historically, Union Pacific's predominant grain export gateways to Mexico and other foreign countries have included ports in the Pacific Northwest, Corpus Christi, Houston, Beaumont and Galveston. On occasion, UP has handled export shipments to the following Louisiana locations just south of New Orleans: Westwego, Ama and Myrtle Grove.
• Most unit grain trains continue to experience normal cycle times. However, we are seeing some delays to our grain moves in manifest or regular train service.
• Normal grain volumes are being shipped according to demand.
• Union Pacific Railroad has assigned 22,500 covered hopper cars to grain service, the same as 2004.
• Producers in the Union Pacific service territory are predicting another good harvest.

September 7, 2005

• Eighty-six trailers loaded with bottled water departed Los Angeles September 4 and arrived in the Memphis area on September 6. The water is being distributed by truck to Katrina victims and response workers.
• Several special trains with fuel have been delivered to eastern railroads.
• Local service to our customers on the line between Livonia and Avondale has been restored.
• Detours of the 14 interchange trains with eastern railroads are going well.
  
  • Ten with CSX.
  • Four with Norfolk Southern.
• We are using primarily Memphis for our detours to eastern carriers, with St. Louis as our secondary gateway.
• Customers can expect an additional 18 - 48 hours transit time on shipments being detoured through the Memphis and St. Louis gateways. This additional transit time depends on origin or destination in the East.

Sept. 2, 2005

• Trains can operate on the Livonia Subdivision toward Avondale, La. Power lines and downed trees have been removed from the tracks just north of Avondale. In addition, bridge engineers inspected the Huey P. Long Bridge and found no structural damage. Normal New Orleans train flows will operate into Livonia, with alternate gateways established at Memphis, Tenn., and Monroe, La. These will be revised as CSX and Norfolk Southern continue to update New Orleans' availability.
• Detours have been effective, with Memphis as our primary interchange point with eastern carriers.
• Employees from across the system are being dispatched to help with operations.
• Additional Service information and Embargo updates can be found in the Customers section of our site.