Did Norfolk Southern ever implement PSR? If they haven’t, then it’s a clean slate for Vena to gut everything they had like he has at UP. Things like cutting about 25% of the workforce, closing shops and yards, increasing work loads on those remaining, not repairing equipment as needed, etc. Get ready for another wild ride.
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I work for ns .Yes we are psr on steroids forced ot everyday.The hump yard i work at micro managed to every last detail our supervisor have No experience working as carman .They are just bean counters. And we want UP to take over even if they shut our yard down we don't care it is that miserable.
NS is currently doing PSR 2.0
Vena is such a failure they just signed him on for another 5 years.
@tg It’ll be the best worst company ever! Still! Just bigger. Customers will be disappointed and dissatisfied.
I just can't wait until the merger happens!
I'll retire quietly and let all the 75% sc--w things up . Yugee
@nf Its actually hilarious, the two WORST Class One railroads possibly might join forces lol. Then it will be NSUP the worst Class One Railroad lol. Sit back, enjoy the ride and watch the $hitShow
I'm waiting for Vena to open his mouth again and tell the world how good the UP is. Him and his executive team like to paint a rosy little picture of how the UP is running, and present that to the investors. Vena is probably the most hated man in the industry. He's definitely not liked at all by the men and women of the UP. The stock price has been dropping continuously, the company is hot mess, the employees don't give a dam anymore, management is a f---ing joke, equipment is falling apart, shops can't fix anything without prior approval, and they want to buy another RR? The UP needs to focus on the massive problems they already have, instead of trying to buy into someone else's problems. Vena's idea of buying another class 1 is nothing more than him trying to pad his ego and give himself a pat on the back. If the merger does happen, Vena will be gone at the first sign of trouble during the merger process. Then whoever takes over his spot when he pulls his "I F-ed up" disappearing act, will have to deal with the fallout. Anyone that wants to disagree with that statement, then please list an idea or business change that he implemented at the UP that actually worked. I can't think of one at all. If the UP was such a great company, then these conversations on this site wouldn't be happening! It's only a matter of time now before he's booted out the door. The company is losing value and the investors are losing a lot of money in the company stocks. Oh wait, the investors are the one who wanted Vena in the CEO spot. I sure hope the shareholders and Soroban are enjoying this. They deserve it 100%!
Vena has an issue with his response to the ports opening back up in 2020... he was more worried about his OR than he was about getting the ports unblocked and getting America back on it's feet... Basically told the USA to pound sand due to DH expenses...
""Stephens says UP did not move as fast: “UP took a much more measured approach, even as volume in June jumped 40% in Southern California from one week to the next. UP recalled crews and pulled locomotives and cars from storage, too. But UP did so at its own pace because railroads simply can’t handle such sudden swings in volume, UP Chief Operating Officer Jim Vena explained on the company’s earnings call in July.”
“ There was no way I was going to flow trains one way and have all the deadheads and extra costs. We took it on a systematic basis, and we’re fluid now,” Vena said …""
@bv+1 well said
PSR Karma. Railroads eating their own.
Yeah their version of it was called TOP21. One of the UP's executives went to the NS to help them implement their version of it. I could be wrong here, but every class 1 got a front row seat in front of the government to answer for their PSR failures. Vena's name was even mentioned at one of those hearings as well. Fortunately for Vena, Ol' Fritz took the bullet for Vena and shielded him, when in reality he should've been there answering questions along with the rest of the executives. This was all Vena's doing! Every problem at the UP is because of him, past and current! The merger may or not happen, so your free to believe whatever you want. Vena doesn't have the Fritz armor anymore, and the government is going to be looking at everything! They're going to be looking at past issues and corrections. They'll also be looking at past performance within the executive chain, which includes Vena. The past PSR issues is what's going to haunt him now. The next hearings are going to absolutely involve Vena, since he's the CEO. There's no getting out of it. Vena has never been good at answering questions without losing his cool a little bit. So his performance during the merger questioning should highly entertaining to watch. Unless he does what he did when everything started going to sh1t during his first visit. He tucked tail and left when the hearings started. I can honestly see the merger not happening, just because of the past issues at the UP. Some of the issues are still happening to this day.
NS has been skeletonized like every other Class One, they all jumped on board and gained huge profits when it first started. Now your seeing the damage it's caused cause all Class Ones are ill equiped and maintained.