Industrials · Rail freight
UNP Union Pacific
Operates one of the largest freight railroads in the United States, moving grain, chemicals, cars, coal and shipping containers across the western two-thirds of the country.
- The rail yard in the row above.
- Education only · not a recommendation
Price · as of previous close
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How it makes money
- Charging shippers to move freight by the carload or container
- Fuel surcharges that move with diesel prices
- Long-term contracts with large industrial and agricultural customers
What an owner watches
- Volumes: how many carloads move each quarter
- Pricing power versus trucking
- Operating ratio — how much of each dollar of revenue is spent running the railroad
- Safety, weather and labour agreements
Questions we ask in class
- Why is it hard for a competitor to build a second railroad next to this one?
- What does a railroad's profit depend on that a software company's does not?
- If the economy slows, which freight disappears first?
What this page is
An educational profile: what the business does and the questions an owner asks. It is not investment advice, not a recommendation to buy or sell Union Pacific, and not a forecast. Every company page on this site follows the same structure so you can compare businesses, not prices. Disclosures →