View 2008 Fact Book - Union Pacific

The Year in Review - OperationsThe Company modifi es its transportation plans to refl ect traffi cpatterns, customer demand and to take advantage of newopportunities to improve effi ciency. For example, manifest businesscarloads declined 7 percent over the past couple of years. Leftunchanged, this decrease would have meant running shorter trainswith little to no savings on crew expenses, fuel, or equipmentrents. Through the Unifi ed Plan’s evergreen process, averagemanifest train length increased by three cars in 2007 and by twocars in 2008 to leverage lower volumes into fewer train starts.Similarly, coal carloadings increased 2 percent over the past twoyears. Increasing the average coal train size by two cars in 2007and one car in 2008 resulted in train starts essentially remainingfl at.Technology enables the Company to continually focus oninventory management, using tools such as the CustomerInventory Management System (CIMS). CIMS is a car demandmanagement process that matches the fl ow of rail cars to andfrom customer locations with the track capacity at those locations.This proactive approach to inventory control means fewer cars inrail yards, which in turn decreases terminal dwell time, reducesswitching and congestion, and improves throughput. Technologyis also employed in the increased usage of distributed powerlocomotives, adding to the effi ciency of locomotive and crewresources and saving fuel.6