NYSE:UNP Union Pacific Q1 2023 Earnings Report $14.84 +0.41 (+2.84%) As of 04/16/2025 03:58 PM Eastern Earnings HistoryForecast PBF Energy EPS ResultsActual EPS$2.67Consensus EPS $2.57Beat/MissBeat by +$0.10One Year Ago EPS$2.57PBF Energy Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$6.06 billionExpected Revenue$6.03 billionBeat/MissBeat by +$23.16 millionYoY Revenue Growth+3.30%PBF Energy Announcement DetailsQuarterQ1 2023Date4/20/2023TimeBefore Market OpensConference Call DateThursday, April 20, 2023Conference Call Time8:45AM ETUpcoming EarningsPBF Energy's Q1 2025 earnings is scheduled for Thursday, May 1, 2025, with a conference call scheduled at 8:30 AM ET. Check back for transcripts, audio, and key financial metrics as they become available.Q1 2025 Earnings ReportConference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptSlide DeckPress Release (8-K)Quarterly Report (10-Q)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfileSlide DeckFull Screen Slide DeckPowered by PBF Energy Q1 2023 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrApril 20, 2023 ShareLink copied to clipboard.There are 18 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Greetings, and welcome to the Union Pacific First Quarter 2023 Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded and the slides for today's presentation are available on Union Pacific's website. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Mr. Operator00:00:26Lance Fritz, Chairman, President and CEO for Union Pacific. Thank you, Mr. Fritz. You may begin. Speaker 100:00:32Thank you, Rob, and good morning, everyone, and welcome to Union Pacific's First Quarter Earnings Conference Call. With me today in Omaha are Kenny Rocker, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales Eric Derringer, Executive Vice President of Operations and Jennifer Hayman, our Chief Financial Officer. The story of the past Quarter for Union Pacific is one of resiliency. Battling heavy snow, arctic temperatures, flooding and tornadoes, The team maintained service levels and exited the quarter on a positive trajectory. Persevering through those harsh conditions, our employees delivered for our customers, which demonstrates again that our people are the foundation for the great things that lie ahead. Speaker 100:01:11Turning to the Q1 results. This morning, Union Pacific is reporting 2023 1st quarter net income of $1,600,000,000 or $2.67 per share. This compares to Q1 2022 results of $1,600,000,000 or $2.57 per share. Our first quarter operating ratio of 62.1% deteriorated 2 70 basis points versus 2022 driven by excess costs, inflation and lower volumes. A series of weather events throughout the quarter Had a real impact on our ability to capture demand, especially within our coal business as well as added cost to the network. Speaker 100:01:53Through those events, our service products showed greater and greater resiliency, quickly rebounding each time as we were better positioned with crew resources to Our customers and with April month to date freight car velocity at about 200 miles per day, we are operating a network that is positioned for Consistent and reliable service. While a more difficult start to the year than expected, it doesn't reduce our expectations for 2023. As you will hear from the team, all of our goals are still in front of us. Let me turn it over to Kenny for an update on the business environment. Speaker 200:02:29Thank you, Lance, and good morning. Freight revenue for the Q1 increased 4% driven by higher fuel surcharges and solid pricing gains, partially offset by a 1% decline And volume, bulk volumes were muted in the quarter as weather and service related challenges impacted shipments. Additionally, Weaker market conditions for premium also drove lower volumes for the Q1. However, our strong focus on business development and new business wins partially offset by some of that decline. Let's take a closer look at each of these business groups. Speaker 200:03:05Starting with bulk, revenue for the quarter was up 4% compared to last year, driven by a 7% increase in Average revenue per car reflecting higher fuel surcharges and solid core pricing gains. Volume was down 3% year over year. Grain and grain products volume was down 1%, driven by weaker export Grain shipments as world demand for U. S. Grain has softened, coupled with drought impacts affecting supply in UP3rd region. Speaker 200:03:35Fertilizer carloads were flat in the quarter. Strong export potash was offset by a decline in phosphate volume from weather conditions Delay in shipments. Food and refrigerated volume was down 6% due to reduced beer imports And weather conditions negatively impacting both fresh and canned shipments. And lastly, coal and renewable volumes Was down 4% compared to last year, driven by weather interruptions and associated service challenges that impacted our Moving on to Industrial. Industrial revenue was up 5% for the quarter, driven by a 5 It was flat. Speaker 200:04:28Industrial Chemicals and Plastics volume was down 2% year over year driven by lower industrial chemical shipments Due to challenged industrial production and reduced housing demand, metals and minerals volumes continued to deliver year over year growth. Volume was up 3% compared to last year, primarily driven by growth in construction materials and increased frac sand shipments along with New business development wins. Forest product volume declined 19% year over year driven by soft housing starts Shipments were up 6% versus last year driven by strength in demand for LPG and petroleum products. These gains were Partially offset by fewer soda ash shipments due to weather and service related challenges. Turning to premium, Revenue for the quarter was up 3% on a 1% decrease in volume compared to last year. Speaker 200:05:34Average revenue per car increased by 5%, Reflecting higher fuel surcharge revenue and core pricing gains. Automotive volumes were positively driven by strengthening OEM production and dealer inventory replenishment for finished vehicles. Domestic intermodal business wins were offset By a weak freight and parcel market driven by high inventories, increased truck capacity and inflationary pressures. On the international side, Despite weakened import, more containers shipped inland versus the Q1 of last year, resulting in year over year growth. So now moving on to Slide 7, here is our outlook for the rest of 2023 as we see it today. Speaker 200:06:22Starting with our bulk commodities, we expect rain to be challenged near term as export demand softens and supply tightens throughout this crop year. However, as we look ahead towards the next crop season in late fall, we're encouraged by the initial forecast. For coal, Low natural gas prices in a milder winter allow utilities to build more inventory. We are experiencing normal softening through the shoulder Looking further out in the year, demand will largely be dependent on natural gas prices and summer weather. Lastly, we expect biofuels shipments of renewable diesel and their associated feedstocks to grow due to solid market And new production coming online and business development wins. Speaker 200:07:09Moving on to industrial, the Forecast for industrial production is to shrink in 2023 and the demand is getting weaker in forest products. However, We expect to see continued strength in construction and metals with new business wins. And finally, for premium, we expect near term challenges in the intermodal market from high inventory levels, inflationary pressures And weak consumer spending as people shift back to spend more towards services than good, we will be closely watching for a potential Market uptick in the latter part of the year. In addition, we expect automotive growth to continue driven by strong OEM production And dealer inventory replenishment. So to wrap up, we are facing economic uncertainty and a tough price environment in a few of our markets, but we expect to see strength in some other commodity areas. Speaker 200:08:10Our diverse portfolio allows us to maintain our pricing guidance. To capture more demand, we are working closely with Eric and his team to be agile and have resources available in locations where we need them. I am confident that the team's relentless focus Our business development will drive volumes to exceed industrial production this year. With that, I'll turn it over to Eric to review our operational performance. Speaker 300:08:38Thank you, Kenny and good morning. Starting on slide We continue to make great strides on safety as evidenced by our 10% improvement in derailment performance for the Q1. While encouraging progress on safety, our goal remains a future with 0 incidents and 0 injuries. We've made progress on derailments By implementing state of the art technology like Precision Train Builder and our geometry inspection fleet, this is on top of our network of more than 7,000 wayside And our 20 fourseven operating practices command center. Further supporting our efforts, in March, the industry announced a set of Key safety actions. Speaker 300:09:17These include the installation of additional wayside detectors and enhanced standards for how we proactively use and share critical data. In addition, the industry is expanding efforts in first responder training and deploying technology to provide real time railcar The railroad industry remains one of the safest transportation modes in the nation. And through our capital renewal program, Union Pacific invests almost $2,000,000,000 annually back into its network to further improve safety. Now moving to Slide 10 for a look at our current operational performance. As Lance mentioned, Mother Nature made her presence felt across the Union Pacific network this season, bringing extreme weather in many forms. Speaker 300:10:02UP crews in California battled flash flooding, persistent mudslides and heavy snow. The Central Sierras for example recorded over 700 inches of snow That's 2 22 percent above historical averages. Employees across our central corridor and upper Midwest portions Our system also worked through prolonged blizzards, ice and arctic temperatures. These events challenged our ability to maintain a fluid operating state on Specific portions of the system. However, thanks to the dedication and proactive efforts of our employees, the network quickly recovered after each event. Speaker 300:10:39As the chart on slide 10 demonstrates, we're exiting the quarter on a positive trajectory versus the congested state we were entering this time last year. Our April month to date metrics show a network in a healthier state with freight car velocity at 200 miles per day, intermodal TPC in the high 70s and manifest TPC on the rise as well. That result also reflects our hiring efforts As we focus on backfilling attrition and targeting locations where crew challenges persist, we currently have around 1,000 employees in training, which is an increase Approximately 500 versus last year. In addition, we have utilized borrowed out employees to address hard to hire locations and get crews where needed. Now let's review our key performance metrics for the quarter starting on Slide 11. Speaker 300:11:28Sequentially, we held our ground through the obstacles of the quarter. Both FreightCar Velocity and manifest in auto trip plan compliance Made slight improvements from last quarter's results. Intermodal trip plan compliance remained effectively flat as we battled resource imbalances driven by weather interruptions. With our current traffic mix, freight car velocity consistently running around 200 to 2 0 5 miles per day will Locomotive productivity dropped 5% versus Q1 2022. However, it remained flat sequentially from last quarter's results as we continue to a larger locomotive fleet in an effort to support the recovery of the network. Speaker 300:12:18In the Q2, the team is focused on moving more freight And rightsizing the fleet. To that point, we are in the process of storing over 100 units to at the ready status. 1st quarter workforce productivity declined 6% to 9.91 daily miles per FTE driven by an increased number of trainees and lower volumes. Our strong training pipeline supports our ability to capture available demand and future growth, while managing attrition and reducing borrowed out employees. As employees graduate from training, we expect productivity to improve. Speaker 300:12:53Train length is effectively flat compared to last quarter's results. Lower intermodal traffic coupled with extreme cold temperatures across the northern tier of our network presented a headwind to our train length initiatives for the quarter. The team remains committed to strengthening the network while recovering lost productivity. Wrapping up on Slide 13, the success drivers for 2023 remain unchanged and the entire team is dedicated to building on the momentum gained as we exited the quarter. We remain committed to addressing employees quality of life feedback and are pleased with the recent agreements regarding paid sick leave. Speaker 300:13:30We will continue to work diligently in finding Win win solutions that enable a strong service product and provide our employees with more consistent work schedules. In addition, as you heard from Kenny, we continue to aggressively look for opportunities to strengthen volumes. With the service product demonstrating resiliency, We have added back train sets and targeted freight cars to the network to capture available demand. I am confident that the foundation we're laying will provide a safer, More consistent and reliable service product to meet the growth needs of our customers. With that, I will turn it over to Jennifer to review our financial performance. Speaker 400:14:07Thanks, Eric, and good morning. We'll start on slide 15 with a look at our Q1 income statement. Operating revenue totaled 6 $100,000,000 up 3% versus 2022 despite a 1% year over year volume decline. Other revenue Decreased 5%, driven by $30,000,000 of increased subsidiary revenue, which was more than offset by a $50,000,000 reduction in accessorials, Lower intermodal volume and greater supply chain fluidity drove the accessorial decline. Operating expense increased 8% to 3.8 dollars resulting in 1st quarter operating income of $2,300,000,000 down 3% versus last year. Speaker 400:14:48Below the line, other income increased $137,000,000 year over year, largely driven by a $107,000,000 one time real estate transaction They contributed $0.14 to earnings per share. Interest expense increased 9%, reflecting higher debt levels. Net income of $1,600,000,000 was flat versus 2022, but when combined with share repurchases resulted in a 4% increase in earnings per share to $2.67 Our first quarter operating ratio increased 2.7 points to 62.1 percent. Following fuel prices during the quarter and the lag on our fuel surcharge programs positively impacted our operating ratio by 190 basis Core results offset the fuel benefit and were a 4 60 basis point drag to operating ratio. Included in that is the impact of weather, which is difficult to quantify, but between both lost revenue and additional expense, we estimate to be in excess $50,000,000 Now looking more closely at Q1 revenue, Slide 16 provides a breakdown of our freight revenue, which totaled $5,700,000,000 up 4% versus last year. Speaker 400:15:58Lower year over year volume reduced revenue 150 basis Total fuel surcharge revenue of $883,000,000 added 4.75 basis points to freight revenue, reflecting the lag in our program. The combination of price and mix increased rate revenue 75 basis points as ongoing pricing actions were mostly offset by our business mix. Fewer lumber shipments and more short haul rock shipments were the primary drivers of the negative mix. Turning now to Slide 17 And a summary of our Q1 operating expenses, which totaled $3,800,000,000 Compensation and benefits expense increased 7% versus Over the last 12 to 15 months, cost per employee only increased 3% in the quarter as wage inflation was partially offset by a larger training pipeline. During the Q1, we signed agreements with the majority of our labor unions to provide paid sick leave to our employees. Speaker 400:17:06These agreements became effective April 1 and represent just under half of our craft professionals. Assuming we are able to reach agreements Across the board, we would expect cost per employee to be up mid single digits for the year, consistent with what we discussed in January. Fuel expense grew 7% on a 9% increase in fuel prices as we move less freight. Our fuel consumption rate deteriorated 1% as the impact of our fuel conservation efforts was more than offset by reduced network fluidity. Purchased services and materials expense increased 16%, driven by maintenance of a 3% larger active locomotive fleet and inflation. Speaker 400:17:46Equipment and other rents was up 9% as a result of increased car hire expense related to elevated cycle times and the other expense line grew 6% related primarily to higher environmental Remediation costs. Turning to slide 18 and our cash flows. Cash from operations in the Q1 decreased to $1,800,000,000 from $2,200,000,000 in 22. The primary driver was Presidential Emergency Board back pay settlements paid in January, which totaled $383,000,000 That payment also impacted our quarterly cash flow conversion rate and free cash flow, with both roughly in line with last year's performance when you In the quarter, we returned $1,400,000,000 to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases And we finished the Q1 with an adjusted debt to EBITDA ratio of 2.9 times as we continue to be A rated by our 3 credit agencies. Wrapping up on slide 19, we are maintaining our 2023 full year guidance to Also are unchanged. Speaker 400:19:00As with every year, there are puts and takes to how the year plays out. While 2023 started a bit slower than expected, I need to remind everyone it is only April 20th. We have 8.5 months in front of us and many opportunities with volume, service and productivity. Before I turn it back to Lance, I'd like to express my thanks to the UP team. We are skilled in running the outdoor factory that is our railroad, But mother nature seemed very focused on testing those skills this year given the extremes we face. Speaker 400:19:30And yet the team forged ahead, keeping the network fluid and our customers served. Fantastic work by everyone. With that, I'll turn it back to Lance. Speaker 100:19:38And thank you, Jennifer. As Eric discussed, we continue to make great strides on safety. Derailments have been in the spotlight recently. The entire industry understands the critical role we play in support of the communities we serve. In fact, Since 2000, Union Pacific's mainline derailments are down almost 30%, helping make this past decade the safest Working collaboratively and proactively, the industry can further improve on that safety record. Speaker 100:20:10Looking forward, as you heard from Kenny, Consumer facing markets are in rough shape right now. Importantly, though, there remain opportunities to capture additional demand in a number of markets. The entire team is executing a plan to capture those additional carloads supported by an improved service product. Finally, with Earth Day approaching, I'd like to highlight the actions Union Pacific is taking to protect our planet. At the end of 2022, we released our 2nd annual climate action plan highlighting updates to achieve our greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. Speaker 100:20:42This includes our goal of net By 2,050, over the past year, we've turbocharged our locomotive modernization program. We've committed to both battery And hybrid electric locomotive and we've increased our biodiesel blend to over 5%, and We're being recognized for that work. This past year, Union Pacific was selected as a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the first And we were the highest ranked railroad in the transportation category on Fortune's most admired companies. Union Pacific is committed to being a sustainability leader, driving long term value for all of our stakeholders. Before turning to Q and A, as it relates to the CEO search process, the Board is fully engaged and executing its duty to identify the next leader. Speaker 100:21:34And I can say from personal experience what a wonderful job it is to be at the helm of a company like Union Pacific. I'll continue to lead the team until the new CEO is identified and I'm energized by what we can accomplish in the coming months as well as the great Operator00:21:56Thank Speaker 400:22:00you. Operator00:22:13Participants have been using speaker equipment. It may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. In the interest of time and so that we can accommodate as many analysts as possible, We would ask everyone to please limit themselves to one question. Thank you. And our first question today comes from the line of Scott Group with Wolfe Research. Operator00:22:30Please proceed with your question. Speaker 500:22:33Hey, thanks. Good morning. Lance, any timing on CEO search and any thoughts on what you and the Board are looking for? And then Jennifer, Margins down 270 basis points. Obviously, we need some nice improvement the rest of the year to get to full year improvement. Speaker 500:22:50Can you help us Bridge us to that full year improvement. Any thoughts on Q2? It's an easier comp. Do you think margins inflect positive in Q2? Just any thoughts. Speaker 500:23:00Thank you, guys. Speaker 100:23:01Yes. Thank you, Scott. So I'll just circle back to the press release that the Board sent when they announced earlier in the year We were in the process of identifying a new CEO. They were clear on what they were looking for then, right, a track record and experience in safety and Service, business development, clear vision on culture and a good operating experience. So they are crystal clear on what they're searching for. Speaker 100:23:31And the only update I have for you is we're using an excellent third party external consultant And they're being very thorough in their search, which is underway. Speaker 400:23:42So then Scott, to your OR question, I mean, you're exactly right. We need to make Sequential improvement through the year, and then that needs to become year over year improvement at some point for us to be able to meet that guidance. The factors that are going to help drive that, certainly fuel is something that is looking different to us this year than it did last Particularly right now, you saw the 1.9 points that it benefited our OR in the 1st quarter. That will comparison will get a little tougher in the back half, so it may look different than 'twenty two did. But certainly fuel, I It's something, but then it's the main levers that you know that we have available to us. Speaker 400:24:23It's volume, price and productivity. And of course volume, it depends a little bit what that is, but we also have pure cost control. So if volumes are something that are not our friend and we're not able to get that leverage. We also have the ability to control costs through being very careful and diligent in our management. Speaker 100:24:42And Jennifer, one last thing, what gives us a ton of confidence as we look into the year is how the network is operating right now. It's in a place where We can get the volume and we can squeeze out the excess cost. Operator00:25:00Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Tom Wadewitz with UBS. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 600:25:08Yes, good morning. I wanted to ask you about the headcount level. I think the Training pipeline for T and E looks like it's larger, but I think that the level of people that you've had that are trained on the Seems like it's been static for a while. And so I'm just wondering what do you think about in terms of where you need to get for T and Y that are trained in on the system. And I guess in terms of attrition, has Attrition, Ben, an ongoing problem has that stabilized. Speaker 600:25:45Just thinking about that headcount dynamic and then I guess how that fits How you would expect network performance to go from where we are? Thank you. Speaker 100:25:56Yes. So Tom, We entered the year saying total headcount hires addition to the TENY would look kind of like What it did in 2022 predicated on our plan for volume. Volume is looking a little cloudy right now to us, Certainly in the Q1, in the back half. And so, of course, that hiring plan is being looked at and adjusted. Net net in the Q2, you're going to see us add to the active T and Y headcount coming out of the training pipeline. Speaker 100:26:31The question really is what's The training pipeline look like for the rest of the year. Having over 1,000 in the pipeline is a very strong pipeline for us. In terms of attrition, we tend to have about a 10% turnover in our T and Y workforce. That really hasn't changed over the course of the last 5 years. We don't necessarily see it changing right now. Speaker 100:26:54So one of the adjustment factors is if we find ourselves getting out over our skis a Factors is if we find ourselves getting out over our skis a little too far, attrition can help us adjust pretty quickly. Speaker 600:27:06So it sounds like the, I guess, trained level goes up, but overall headcount kind of static as the training pipeline comes down is maybe the best way to look at it. Speaker 400:27:16I think it really does depend on the volumes to a degree, Scott. And so Certainly, as Lance said, Q2, I think you certainly see our total headcounts going up. It's going to be probably different than last year. First half, we've got the The pipe loaded in the first half. And I think the question is going to be what does the second half look like? Speaker 600:27:37Yes. Okay. Thank you. Operator00:27:41Our next question is from the line of Ken Hoexter with Bank of America. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 500:27:47Hey, great. Good morning. So just it looked like the operating service levels were flat. You mentioned that a couple of times, I guess Eric did, but velocity was Really came down the past few weeks, I guess, during the quarter and then more recently showed a pretty solid rebound, I guess, maybe the last week or 2. Is there anything changing with the operating plan? Speaker 500:28:07Was this I don't know if Eric or Lance you want to throw in some thoughts or was this just kind of the end of some of the weather stretches that you were talking about? You just talk about how operations are doing now and what's changing? Thanks. Speaker 300:28:19Yes, Ken, thanks for the question. Your summary is It was towards the tail end of winter is really where we were about 3 weeks ago. Having come out of that and with all the work that we've done on the hiring side as amongst other You're seeing the output of having 2 to 3 weeks without weather being that headwind. With weather largely if not entirely behind us for winter, Operator00:28:59The next question is from the line of Chris Wetherbee with Citigroup. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 500:29:04Hey, thanks. Good morning, guys. Maybe one quick follow-up on the headcount I guess I'm just curious, given what you guys have been able to do with some degree of service recovery, Would you think about pausing sort of the hiring as you sort of reassess volumes depending on sort of how that plays out In the second half of the year, curious about that. And then maybe on that point for Kenny, just in terms of like what you're seeing in the month of April, it seems like we've seen March April will be a little bit softer across the board of transports, not necessarily Union Pacific specifically, a little bit softness there. Kind of curious what you're hearing from the customers. Speaker 500:29:40Has there been a bit of a Spring low here or maybe that picks up in the near term. Just kind of some thoughts there would be helpful. Speaker 100:29:47Good morning, Chris. This is Lance. I will start and then turn it over to Kenny on Your second question. So let's unpack the headcount question a little bit. We are in much better shape This time this year versus same time last year. Speaker 100:30:03The hiring pipeline is full, but more importantly, we have been filling our classes Everywhere we've been looking for people across the railroad for about the last 3 or 4 months. That is very different than our experience Last year where we found it very difficult in about 6 crew hubs all in the northern region to be able to find candidly the workforce to be able to hire. So we've been much more aggressive in the back half of last year, amping up things like hiring bonuses, finding Creative unique ways to create a workforce, a pool to hire from and that's paying dividends right now. So You're exactly right in terms of as we look into the year, right now we're starting to evaluate our original plan for hiring Versus what volumes are doing and what the back half of the year balance is going to look like. Our longer term guidance remains in place and that is We fully expect to be volume variable and have ultimately our headcount grow at less than our volume numbers are growing. Speaker 100:31:11But clearly coming out of last year, we had to fix the ship and get our crew boards healthy, add a little excess not excess, add a little factor of safety To the crew board so that we could take events and recover quickly so that our service product was consistent. We are in that place right now. We are essentially there. We are solving some of the problem with borrow outs. So hiring is going to have to replace them because they are expensive And it's a burden on our employees to be borrowed out. Speaker 100:31:41But we are in much better shape looking into the rest of the year. Ken? Speaker 200:31:46Yes. Hey, Chris. So let's just start off. You look at our coal, we're expecting it to have a seasonal low this time, the Shoulder mines that I mentioned, if you look at it last year, natural gas prices were much higher. So this is more of a normal look for us. Speaker 200:32:04Domestic intermodal, we will keep an eye on it. It's a very loose Market right now, there is quite a bit of truck capacity that's out there. So we'll be watching that. And then Last year, if you look at it, our grain business was still pretty strong this time of year. Now we're seeing more Global grain going to places where we exported last year. Speaker 200:32:29Now having said all that, looking forward to the rest of the year, Hey, we're still bullish about some of these markets that I mentioned, whether it's finished vehicles, the metals, rock that's in our construction area, It's 1 and then biofuels. Speaker 500:32:47Okay. That's helpful color. I appreciate the time guys. Yes. Operator00:32:52The next question is from the line of Ben Nolan with Stifel. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 700:32:59Yes. Thank you. I appreciate it. Maybe Kenny, if I could just follow-up with that. We've been hearing a whole lot of noise about near shoring, reshoring, Specifically around Mexico, I was curious if you can maybe put a little color around if that's something you're seeing, if there's any Notable business wins or anything specific to the moving of manufacturing back to North America that you are hearing from your customers? Speaker 200:33:29We are seeing a little bit of that. We have seen Production related to the autos OEMs, there was one pretty large Highly public announcement that came out. And with that, you got to remember there is a lot of other inputs that move by rail, whether it's So we'd ask for the glass, the metals that comes in for the car, that's great for us. Also in our bulk commodities on the Ag side, we're expecting some new production and receivers out there. So yes, it is looking pretty encouraging and this is The first time that we are seeing tangible things that we can point towards. Speaker 200:34:09So that's a positive for us. I won't go on and on. We enjoy a fabulous network there. I will leave it Speaker 700:34:16Okay. And just to clarify, how should we think about the timing of an impact on that? I mean, is this something that Could happen near term or is this a big picture longer term kind of a dynamic? Speaker 200:34:29This is big picture longer term. I mean, you've got to get time for these Locations actually build out the physical infrastructure there in the plant. Speaker 100:34:40Okay. And Not but. Ben, it's wonderful to have new production facilities spot in the North American market. We will get our fair share. We have a wonderful franchise to and from Mexico. Speaker 100:34:55And any time industry shows up in the North American continent, It's good for us. It's good for railroads. Speaker 700:35:03All right. I appreciate it. Thank you. Operator00:35:07The next question is from the line of Justin Long with Stephens. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 800:35:12Thanks and good morning. I wanted to circle back to the Full year guidance. Obviously, the start of the year has been more challenging than you anticipated. So in order to Hit your outlook. Do we need to see a meaningful positive inflection in the freight market? Speaker 800:35:29And if so, When does that need to occur? And then Kenny, maybe just a clarification on intermodal. I think you said international volumes were up, I was wondering if you could share the percent change you saw in both international and domestic intermodal. Thanks. Speaker 400:35:47So I'll take the first part of that question. Again, our guidance relative to volumes is exceeding industrial production. We came into the year, industrial production was forecast to be down about 0.5%. It's actually gotten a tad bit worse. It's now down about 0.7 So that's not a huge bar, I guess, to exceed. Speaker 400:36:07And yes, we started a little weaker down a 0.5 here In the Q1, but you just heard Kenny talk about kind of the different markets that are available to us and the fact that as our service product is improving, We're putting more assets into play to move more carloads and that's giving us greater flexibility to move those assets around To hit the markets that are available to us. And so we feel quite confident that we will be able to reach that goal as it relates to volumes and the rest of our full year Obviously, Richard, you reiterated. Speaker 200:36:39Yes. I don't think I'm going to break out domestic and international here. What we saw and I mentioned that is just because you do have a more fluid intermodal network on the international side, we don't have a lot of The stack boxes on either end, more of those ocean carriers are moving inland and we're seeing that. We put in products up against that that's helping that with our grain facility down there. On the Dallas side with KPN, They've hit their largest volume record in the Q1. Speaker 200:37:14They just announced they're going to expand. And so we feel good about that We can move more of that inland. Speaker 800:37:22Okay. Thanks. Operator00:37:26Our next question is from the line of Jordan Allinger with Goldman Sachs. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 500:37:32Yes. Hi. Good morning. Just sort of curious, I think you'd other than volume, you talked about other productivity or cost. Other than fuel expense maybe going down, what are some of the other Transport, just trying to get a sense. Speaker 500:37:54Thanks. Speaker 300:37:56That's a great question, Jordan. So as you think about that and the progress we're seeing right now, it's Impacting nearly every one of our cost lines in a positive way. The big ones that we talk about is certainly starting with fleet size. In our prepared comments, I mentioned the fact that we're taking 100 locomotives and then putting them in storage, but they're in a storage state in which they can still be there Quickly to gain volume. Next after that, it's all about crew utilization, right, which stretches everything from re crew rates The deadhead held the ways to how do we think about overtime and making sure that we're being judicious with the use of overtime. Speaker 300:38:31From there, We certainly do, even though you mentioned that we do focus on our fuel consumption. And I'm really encouraged actually by the Q1 because if you look January, we came out very strong. February was kind of okay and March was certainly weak, which means with weather behind us, there's no reason that we shouldn't snap Right back to that great progress that we saw in January. So it's those others, but I've listed the biggest ones. Operator00:38:57Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Jason Seidl with TD Cowen. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 500:39:06Hey, thanks, operator. Good morning, everybody. Appreciate you taking time. Two quick things. Kenny, I think you said there were some pricing pressures In a few of your industries, I mean, I understand our model would love to hear what else is being pressured out there. Speaker 500:39:18And also in terms of the West Coast port Labor situation, how much freight do you think got diverted? And if we get a resolution here, hopefully, in the near term, Do you think it would come back quickly or it would take some time? Speaker 200:39:34Yes. So before I talk about domestic intermodal, which I think is your I just want to reiterate that we've got a broad diverse set of customers and markets that we get the price and we've said this publicly, Call it approximately roughly half of that business. We get to touch every year outside of just one Now there is a lag impact to that, but the sales leaders, the commercial teams have done Really fabulous job going out articulating, hey, we're spending quite a bit in CapEx. We're putting quite a few resources out there. They understand what's taking place in the industry with our business on the labor side and the labor negotiations. Speaker 200:40:18And candidly, They are experiencing the same inflationary pressure. So you've got that piece. Now talking about domestic intermodal, Yes. Domestic intermodal has been a pretty loose market, quite a bit of truck capacity that's there. We're seeing it in our bids and RFPs. Speaker 200:40:40We've got mechanisms that are in place for our suite of intermodal customers To go out there and compete and win business based on their own strength and capabilities, which give us confidence. And the other part of that is the fact that as the market tightens up, we can quickly capture Speaker 100:41:03And Kenny, Jason's last question about West Coast ports and ILW. Speaker 200:41:07Yes. We have been in close contact With the West Coast ports and they believe that there should be an agreement here near term. I'd tell you, it's hard to quantify What's been diverted away because of some of these labor challenges, I'll tell you when we look at the order book going out So I will call it the West Coast ports. It looks like the negative delta that we saw year over year is becoming less and less. Speaker 500:41:37And you think if there was an agreement, again, not going to work because everyone wants that, that you would receive it back quickly or would come back over time? Speaker 200:41:45I think that's just I can't be that precise, Jason. We could be positive about it, but to be precise probably just wouldn't be a Operator00:42:02Our next question is from the line of Brian Ossenbeck with JPMorgan. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 900:42:09Good morning. Thanks for taking the question. Kenny, just to follow-up on the pricing reset. Is that kind of going As expected, do you still have a little bit more of a lag impact because volumes may be a little bit weaker than you had thought? So I guess is that going to accelerate here? Speaker 900:42:26And same sort of question with price mix. Is that probably the worst you'd expect in the near term here As you look at the different end markets, is there developing? Speaker 200:42:38Yes. Certainly, the way we calculate price, volume Increasing and improving helps us, so I'll say that. Also because it is April and not December, we have Time to get more of that volume into play as we move throughout the year. I would not say that there are some markets that are harder to Capture pricing other than those areas where we have mechanisms in place aligned with domestic We've been very disciplined in our approach to take price and in some cases we've also taken Some risk there to make sure that we are pricing towards the market. Speaker 100:43:24And Kenny, the same. What you said about domestic intermodal To a lesser degree is true in coal where you've got natural gas can be a driver Speaker 200:43:33of some pricing. Absolutely. We'll be watching natural Speaker 400:43:37Yes. And to the mix part of your question, Brian, coming into the year, our view is that mix would likely be negative throughout the year, primarily around The fact that we were expecting to see more growth on the intermodal side. Obviously, that's changed a bit. And so looking The Q2 at least we're probably expecting a bit of a positive mix. Beyond that, I think it's too soon to say. Speaker 400:43:59But I do think that's something that is different As we sit here today than when we came and talked to you in January. Speaker 900:44:08Thank you. Just a quick follow-up for Lance on the regulatory and Legislative side, a lot of noise coming out of DC, some of the safety things you mentioned earlier and some of the stats on UP specifically. But what are you most focused on When it comes to the different topics that are being discussed down there, we tend to focus on train lengths. So I was in the FRA Safety Advisory recently, but I just wanted to hear What was important and what you thought we should focus on when it comes to the various topics being discussed after the safety issues that we've seen in the industry over the last few months? Thank you. Speaker 100:44:41Yes. Brian, that's a great question. So in engaging the legislators In D. C, we help them understand what would actually move the ball in terms of safety, where Regulatory effort would make a difference and where it wouldn't. To your point, train length wouldn't. Speaker 100:45:01Statistically, on UP since 2019, Train length is up something like 20% and our mainline and siding derailments are down 26%. So There is 0 corollary between train length and derailments. But there are other things that they can help with. We're taking action right now on wayside detection. That's a place where the FRA can step in. Speaker 100:45:27Things that we emphasize that really don't have a corollary impact, another one is Crew size and whether conductors are redeployed to the ground, that has no impact on safety around the world empirically. So we just broadly try to help them understand that and stay deeply engaged, Brian. This is A deep engagement all the time right now. Speaker 900:45:55Thank you very much for the color. Appreciate it. Operator00:46:00Our next question is from the line of Allison Poliniak with Wells Fargo. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 1000:46:05Hi, good morning. I just want to ask on the new business. I guess, first, is there any way, I know there's a lot of moving parts with volumes, to maybe quantify or Help us understand the contribution of the new business wins in volumes. And then second, as part of that, just in terms of the new business Hi, line. Any notable trends in sort of the conversion that you are seeing in terms of bringing on new business onto the rail? Speaker 1000:46:30Thanks. Speaker 200:46:33Yes. Hey, Allison. It's pretty broad because obviously it's in all three of our business teams. I mean, if you look at it, Biofuels, renewable diesel for us is an emerging market. I've been very encouraged by our ability to land new customers, New production sites to move out of the Midwest going into the West, and those are attractive margins to us. Speaker 200:47:00On the Industrial side, the same thing is true as we look at our metals business and some of the minerals business tied to that. Name is Whitrock. Those are areas that are positive and they have structural increases related to population growth down in Texas, Louisiana and the Gulf, and so those are great. And then you all are aware, you're aware, Allison, of some of the new recent wins in our Go out and grow business over the road and it complements very nicely our UMP, our UMAX and EMP Speaker 1000:47:47And just any color on the conversion trends of the new business opportunities out there? Speaker 200:47:53We see the pipeline is still there. Well, the thing that we're keeping an eye on is, are they actually Moving the forecasted amount that they initially told us. So, with no concerns with the pipeline, just a little bit of concern with The volume that they committed to is still there. Speaker 1000:48:13Understood. Thank you. Operator00:48:17Our next question is from the line of Amit Malhotra with Deutsche Bank. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 1100:48:22Thanks, operator. Hi, everyone. Jennifer, are earnings going to be up as you move from 1Q to 2Q because there's a big fuel benefit in In the EPS line in 1Q and we calculated, it's like $0.25 or something like that. And a lot of that's going away Because of the lag on fuel, and so you're starting kind of from on hold to build back on as you move from 1Q to 2Q. I know there's weather, but I'm just trying to And if the cadence of earnings growth from 1Q can actually grow in 2Q because of that operating income impact from fuel. Speaker 1100:48:58And then Just related to that because volume seems to be the fulcrum for all of this. The average weekly volume in the quarter was 152,000 7 day car loadings and I think last week you did under that and the weather is Speaker 500:49:15a lot better. And so I Speaker 1100:49:16guess the question really is that like When are we going to see if weather was a big problem in the quarter, you exited lower than you average for the quarter, when are we actually going to see some of the volume show up in the Thank you. Speaker 400:49:30Well, so, let's start off on the fuel piece and we agree with your math on the $0.25 for the Q1. That's exactly right. You have to think about fuel in 2 pieces, Amit. You have to think about the fuel surcharge piece and then the expense piece. And while in the Q1, the fuel surcharge piece was a positive. Speaker 400:49:49As we look at what our current prices are for fuel right now, call it $3 a gallon, when we paid $4 a gallon a year ago, that's going to flip on us. And so that is going to But our fuel expense is going to be less as well. And so you really have to think about it in those two parts and separate that out, I would say, in the analysis. The other thing I want to remind everybody about 2Q of last year was we did have an $0.18 benefit from a Land sale, Illinois Tollway, and that was in our results. And then we also had $35,000,000 some casualty expenses. Speaker 400:50:26So that goes away. So you've got some puts and takes there. But I just want to make sure everybody's thinking of as you're putting that together. Our goal is going to be to continue to drive as much volume as we can across the network, Do it as efficiently as we can and improve the service product and the output of that will be the output of that. I'm not going to give you specific earnings guidance on that. Speaker 400:50:50And then to your other question about volumes, I think you need to factor in the Easter holiday. That does have an impact on our volumes. And so while yes, weather was clearing, We did have a holiday impact there. And I think again, we're putting the assets into place and we're going to be moving the volumes that are available to us. Yes, I'm Got it. Speaker 1100:51:08And And Speaker 100:51:09talking about in reported numbers this week and beyond. Okay. Speaker 500:51:15That's great. And just related to that, Kenny, I Speaker 1100:51:17don't know if you have a view on intermodal yields. I know fuel, there's a lot of noise in intermodal yields in fuel, but are we holding line on Intermodal yields ex fuel and is that the expectation kind of over the next few quarters? Speaker 200:51:31Yes. And I have said this, Amit, We feel really good about the mechanisms we have in place for our customers to go out there and compete and Win and retain business based on their capabilities and their strength. And I also feel good about, again, As the market moves, we will be able to move more real time with it. And so that's a positive for us. Speaker 1100:52:01Okay. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Operator00:52:06Our next question is from the line of Jon Chappell with Evercore ISI. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 500:52:11Thank you. Good morning. Eric, I want to go back to the productivity, which I seem to go back to every quarter. But just as it relates to getting to these full year targets, one of your peers has kind of laid out what a fluid network Could mean from a cost perspective. So is there any way for you to quantify what you think the productivity improvements can contribute in the final three quarters of 'twenty three? Speaker 500:52:34And also any way for us to kind of understand the timing. You're still digging out of the weather mostly, they're still taking people out of training. Is this like 90% a second half productivity improvement touch story or can you start to get some significant improvement in 2Q? Speaker 300:52:50John, thank you for the question. Obviously, we won't guide you to the specifics on the timing of the productivity. What I would is that based on Speaker 100:52:58the performance that we see Speaker 300:52:59on the railroad right now, it's bringing me and others greater and greater confidence that we'll see that productivity Continue to grow throughout the rest of the year. To say as you look into the Q2, the headwind of winter behind us and the forecast of being And beyond that, I'm not going to guide to it. We're just all focused on making sure that we drive that productivity safely. Speaker 500:53:25Any just broad range of numbers? I mean, if we go back to the Investor Day, any starting point there, any way to kind of parse that out even in a broad range? Speaker 400:53:35No. John, I think that would be unwise for us to do that. We are not going to try to pace our productivity improvement And so we want to do that as fast as we can and safely as we can, while providing a really good service product so that we can ultimately Drive greater volumes across the network. That's the real leverage and it fuels the productivity quite frankly. Speaker 100:53:58Yes. Hey, John, this is Lance. So just putting a Beau on that. Our expectation is in Q2 with the fluid network, we really squeeze out a bunch of the excess costs created by Kind of weather and variability from those events and then we start stretching our legs Beyond Q2 to continue to recover some of the productivity and ultimately all of the productivity that we forewent In 2022 and then start growing from there. We have got a fair amount of inflation that's in front of us that we got to offset this year and going into next year. Speaker 100:54:36So we're going to be fighting that battle through the whole year as well. Speaker 500:54:42Got it. Thanks, Lance, Jennifer and Eric. Operator00:54:47Thank you. Thank you. And the next question comes from the line of Ravi Shankar with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 1200:55:00Thanks. Good morning, everyone. So two very quick follow ups here. One is, I know mix was a headwind in the Q1, but can you confirm that dollar price was above dollar inflation In the Q1 and kind of if not, kind of how does that trajectory change for the rest of the year? And second, kind of if you're going to have a pretty Kind of significant inflection in volumes, currently you're running down 2.5% year to date and you could get to better than down 0 point 7% for your full year guide. Speaker 1200:55:29What macro assumption does that involve for the second half of the year? Are you counting on an improvement In macro conditions and or restock to get you there? Thank you. Speaker 400:55:40I'll hit the first part of your question. And yes, our pricing gains in the Q1 did exceed our inflation. Kenny? Speaker 100:55:46I'll hit a second in terms of macro assumptions. We do not have planned in a recession, right? So a recession would be a problem for us. Absent that, What we need is markets to continue to just behave reasonably, I. E, we need Consumers to continue to be healthy, spend some, they don't have to go crazy, they just need to Not pulling their horns and we need the industrial economy to continue to do what it's doing and we need inventory and This whole destocking to calm down after the Q1, first half. Speaker 100:56:29All of those I think are pretty reasonable expectations. The wild card would be a recession. Speaker 1200:56:36Thank you. Operator00:56:40Our next question is from the line of Brandon Oglenski with Barclays. Please Speaker 1300:56:46My one question for Lance or Eric, your trip plan compliance on manifest Remains in like the low 60% level. And I know there's definitional issues, but there are carriers out there delivering much higher than that. So I wonder, we've talked a lot about service product on this call today. What's the right target for Trip Plan compliance? And what are the steps to get there? Speaker 300:57:10Yes. So as we're focusing on the manifest and autos, when that starts with a 7, So right 70%, 75%. That's in a place where our customers are giving us feedback that says that we are meeting their Now as far as steps to get there, you're going to always have manifest and auto lag the intermodal TPC and it's simply because the cycle time Those cars is longer. It's a conversation we were just having the last 2 weeks to make sure that we are doing those actions. So when you look at the velocity picking up, That's a tailwind to it. Speaker 300:57:45When you look at our uses counts, which means that we're making connections in the terminals to the right trains, that's up. Just those two things alone drive TPC in the right direction. And we're driving that as fast as we possibly can because we want to send the message to our We understand Q1 was difficult, but we're in a better place now and it's for their benefit and ours. Speaker 1100:58:07Thank Operator00:58:11you. The next question is from the line of Walter Spracklin with RBC. Please proceed with Speaker 1400:58:16Yes, thanks very much. I just want to come back to service levels and the regulatory spotlight. Clearly, the whole industry, Union Pacific included, is under a bit of a spotlight from the regulator for the service issues. And when I look back historically, Whenever railroad is needed to promptly address a service issue, operating metrics almost always deteriorate rather than improve. So I don't know if this is best for Jennifer, but I want to come back to that question about, are you expecting an OR improvement as early as Q2 Based on what you're seeing now, I know you said you saw some pretty good exit trends in Q1, weather is behind you, Easter was more of a It was more of a numbers event or a year over year numbers event as opposed to anything fundamental. Speaker 1400:59:03So would you see yourself as on track to achieve Q2 improvement despite your efforts to address Service and that that Q2 improvement should continue through the rest of the year? Speaker 400:59:14Yes, Walter, I'm going to resist the temptation to give you 2Q guidance and stick with the full year guidance. You all can do the math. I mean, we have to make improvement quickly. And it's got to be sequential. And at some point, obviously, that It should be year over year and that is our focus and that is our intent and we're very confident that we will do that. Speaker 1400:59:35Okay. And barring that, then perhaps Your full year is at risk if you can't see that quickly, the quick turnaround that you're mentioning, Jennifer, is that fair? Speaker 400:59:45The longer you go into the year without improvement, it gets more difficult. Yes, I will agree with that. Speaker 1100:59:50Okay. All right. Okay. Thank you very much for the time. Speaker 900:59:52Appreciate it. Speaker 100:59:52Thank you, Walter. Operator00:59:55Our next question is from the line of Bascome Majors with Susquehanna. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 1501:00:01Thanks for taking my questions. Can you talk a little bit about how your relationships and engagement with the STB has evolved over the last few months? And Any expectations of how they'll extend the service period sorry, the service oversight period when it expires in a few weeks here? And Maybe walking that forward next 12 to 18 months, where do you think their eyes will be most focused and how do you engage with them as the CPKC See deals stop sucking up oxygen in that room. Thank you. Speaker 101:00:30Thank you for the question, Bascome. So we are deeply engaged at the STB. There is an executive level interaction with an STB either staff or member Virtually every day, certainly several a week. What is helping in those conversations right now is The service product is better and customers' temperatures are down. The other thing, if you recall late last There was a hearing at the STB that focused on Union Pacific and our use of embargoes and we To the STB and to our customers more importantly, made the commitment that we're going to both look at how we use embargoes and have an eye towards essentially Getting back to a place where they're rare. Speaker 101:01:24Year to date this year, 65% reduction in the use. In the last 2 months, 75% reduction as the railroad is getting better. And I have all the confidence in the world that kind of progress is going to continue. So what I At this point, the STB is a bit of a wildcard. I won't predict what they do in May as regards to the service Reporting period. Speaker 101:01:47But I know the overall industry and certainly Union Pacific is in a place where our service product is not prompting More scrutiny and significant temperature coming into the STB from customers. And That's their purview. That's what they're built for is to react to customer feedback and that's what they've done in 2022. So The fact that if we can get customers to a place where they are satisfied with the service product and in good dialogue with us on it, That takes a lot of the pressure off the STB. Speaker 1501:02:26Thank you for that. And maybe The longer term part of that question over the next 12 to 18 months, where do you think they will focus most and how do you make sure that your Shareholders and customers' interest are protected there? Thank you. Speaker 101:02:40Yes, Bascome. So what we keep an eye on are is the fulsome docket That they've got in front of them things like final offer rate review versus this alternative dispute resolution mechanism, Forced open access, the use of revenue adequacy as a rate setting mechanism, Those are things that we're working hard with the STB for them to understand what the ramifications of some of those decision What is and is not justifiable by data in fact and then of course we engage fulsomely with them To help make sure the regulation coming out of the STB makes sense and accomplishes what they're trying to accomplish, which is Very good service product and growth in the rail industry. Speaker 1501:03:34Thank you. Operator01:03:37Our next question is from the line of Ari Rosa with Credit Suisse. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 1601:03:45Great. Thank you. Good morning. So really quickly, I was wondering what was the real estate transaction? Maybe you could give a bit of color on that. Speaker 1601:03:52I Don't think we saw it. And then Lance, as you approach perhaps the final months, perhaps quarters of your time as CEO at UP, I was hoping you could just kind of take a bigger picture, step back and reflect on what are the accomplishments you're most proud of and how you think about where you'd like to see The future of the railroad go from here. And in particular, I was hoping you could touch on your thoughts on the ability of UP to grow volume and take Share over the next 5 or 10 years. Thanks. Speaker 401:04:23Yes. In terms of the real estate transaction, Ari, it was a fiber optics deal. Speaker 101:04:29And Ari, thank you very much for the question and the opportunity to reflect just a moment. If I look back Over the last 8 years now working on year 9, the things I am most proud of is what we as a team have accomplished in terms of moving our transportation plan to a PSR model, Doing that over the course of the last 4 years and doing it in a way where our customers weren't damaged by the transition, they were benefited I think we've done stupendous work on sustainability as I mentioned in my opening comments. We've done terrific work on diversity, To be able to grow, we've got a wonderful stable of partners, IMCs that are world class in Hub, And Schneider and Knight Swift and XPO and its current form. So I'm really, really pleased with As I look into the future, we are poised to be able to grow. We have to be consistent Reliable in our service product. Speaker 101:05:49That means we have to get our 5 critical resources right all the time. We got one of them wrong last year, part our issue and part the fact that the world blew up to a degree. But we have to Be stable and consistent for our customers. They tell us they want that and they will grow with us as we deliver that. So I know the growth potential is there. Speaker 101:06:13Their supply chains want to use rail more and the concept is really simple and straightforward. It's in our strategy, serve with consistent reliable service, grow with service product and products that meet our customers' needs, Do that in a way where we are the provider of choice, the partner of choice that allows us to win in the marketplace and do it together With all 4 of our stakeholders being benefited from it, we think the strategy is sound and we're ready and executing on it. Speaker 1601:06:48Great. Thank you and congratulations. Speaker 101:06:51Thanks, Ari. Operator01:06:53The next question is from the line of David Vernon with Bernstein. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 501:06:59Hey, good morning. Jennifer, a couple of questions for you. Within the guidance You're giving for a full year OR improvement. Is that all just the mechanics of fuel or is there some improvement in the underlying business? And then as you think about costs from 2022 to 2023 on a full year basis, can you give us some sort of absolute numbers around Inflation and what added cost is being put in there for PTO and additional enhancements to the competition package? Speaker 401:07:29So in terms of our inflation guide, we said 4% was our inflation guide for 2023 and we said on the employee The comp for employee would be up mid single digits and those things still hold and that takes into account what we have negotiated for and plan to negotiate In terms of how we're going to get there and how we're going to improve, It really is the basis for the service product, the pricing, fuel will be a component. I mean, it obviously is But we have the other levers and that's where we're very much focused. Fuel is going to be what it's going to be. We're going to go after those items that we have the greater control over. That's winning new business, pricing it appropriately and moving it efficiently. Speaker 501:08:22And then maybe, Eric, just as a quick follow-up, as you think about the FTE count for the full year, where are you sort of targeting the business to be At year end 2023? Speaker 401:08:34I think Lance already answered that question. Our hiring levels for this We came into the year assuming that they were going to be roughly similar to last year. Attrition is roughly similar in terms of what happens in the back half. Operator01:08:55Thank you. Our final question today is from the line of Hiram Nathan with Sidotiwala. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 1701:09:02Hi, thanks for squeezing me in. I just Had a question on the EV penetration. And as do you need to does UP need to make investments given the fire risk Of batteries within EVs? Speaker 201:09:19I will say that we have not seen that risk right now. We have very close relationship with the EV leaders. We have enjoyed growth there. Our ramps We are prepared to handle those EVs and then we're looking at the forecast and the size and what we need to do, if anything, from an investment perspective, Make sure that we can efficiently move those off and on the ramp and do it safely. Speaker 101:09:45Yes, this is Jerome. I think fundamentally the answer is We have not seen a shift in risk based on our shipments of EVs. Speaker 1701:09:56Okay, great. Thank you. Speaker 101:09:57Thank you. Operator01:09:59Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. And I'd like to turn the floor back over to Mr. Lance Fritz Speaker 101:10:07And thank you, Rob, and thank you all for joining us today and for your questions. We're looking forward to talking with our owners again in May at our annual Until then, take care. Operator01:10:18This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.Read moreRemove AdsPowered by Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallPBF Energy Q1 202300:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2xRemove Ads Earnings DocumentsSlide DeckPress Release(8-K)Quarterly report(10-Q) PBF Energy Earnings HeadlinesUnion Pacific (UNP) Upgraded to Buy as Stock Shows Growth Potential | UNP Stock NewsApril 16 at 5:56 AM | gurufocus.comIs Union Pacific Corporation (UNP) the Best Bargain Stock to Buy in May?April 16 at 12:26 AM | msn.comIs it CRAZY to still want reliable profits, despite this market?Larry Benedict, the acclaimed "Market Wizard," is calling an emergency briefing now... The same Larry who – while everyone else watched their retirement get cut in half in 2008... Performed 103% better than the market. And the one who crushed the market by 4X during the COVID meltdown.April 17, 2025 | Brownstone Research (Ad)Is Union Pacific Corporation (UNP) the Best Bargain Stock to Buy in May?April 15 at 11:08 AM | insidermonkey.comIs Union Pacific Corporation (UNP) the Best Bargain Stock to Buy in May?April 15 at 10:42 AM | finance.yahoo.comStifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) Stock PriceApril 15 at 2:54 AM | americanbankingnews.comSee More Union Pacific Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like PBF Energy? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on PBF Energy and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About PBF EnergyPBF Energy (NYSE:PBF), through its subsidiaries, engages in refining and supplying petroleum products. The company operates in two segments, Refining and Logistics. It produces gasoline, ultra-low-sulfur diesel, heating oil, diesel fuel, jet fuel, lubricants, petrochemicals, and asphalt, as well as unbranded transportation fuels, petrochemical feedstocks, blending components, and other petroleum products from crude oil. The company sells its products in Northeast, Midwest, Gulf Coast, and West Coast of the United States, as well as in other regions of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and internationally. It is also involved in the provision of various rail, truck, and marine terminaling services, as well as pipeline transportation and storage services. 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There are 18 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Greetings, and welcome to the Union Pacific First Quarter 2023 Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded and the slides for today's presentation are available on Union Pacific's website. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Mr. Operator00:00:26Lance Fritz, Chairman, President and CEO for Union Pacific. Thank you, Mr. Fritz. You may begin. Speaker 100:00:32Thank you, Rob, and good morning, everyone, and welcome to Union Pacific's First Quarter Earnings Conference Call. With me today in Omaha are Kenny Rocker, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales Eric Derringer, Executive Vice President of Operations and Jennifer Hayman, our Chief Financial Officer. The story of the past Quarter for Union Pacific is one of resiliency. Battling heavy snow, arctic temperatures, flooding and tornadoes, The team maintained service levels and exited the quarter on a positive trajectory. Persevering through those harsh conditions, our employees delivered for our customers, which demonstrates again that our people are the foundation for the great things that lie ahead. Speaker 100:01:11Turning to the Q1 results. This morning, Union Pacific is reporting 2023 1st quarter net income of $1,600,000,000 or $2.67 per share. This compares to Q1 2022 results of $1,600,000,000 or $2.57 per share. Our first quarter operating ratio of 62.1% deteriorated 2 70 basis points versus 2022 driven by excess costs, inflation and lower volumes. A series of weather events throughout the quarter Had a real impact on our ability to capture demand, especially within our coal business as well as added cost to the network. Speaker 100:01:53Through those events, our service products showed greater and greater resiliency, quickly rebounding each time as we were better positioned with crew resources to Our customers and with April month to date freight car velocity at about 200 miles per day, we are operating a network that is positioned for Consistent and reliable service. While a more difficult start to the year than expected, it doesn't reduce our expectations for 2023. As you will hear from the team, all of our goals are still in front of us. Let me turn it over to Kenny for an update on the business environment. Speaker 200:02:29Thank you, Lance, and good morning. Freight revenue for the Q1 increased 4% driven by higher fuel surcharges and solid pricing gains, partially offset by a 1% decline And volume, bulk volumes were muted in the quarter as weather and service related challenges impacted shipments. Additionally, Weaker market conditions for premium also drove lower volumes for the Q1. However, our strong focus on business development and new business wins partially offset by some of that decline. Let's take a closer look at each of these business groups. Speaker 200:03:05Starting with bulk, revenue for the quarter was up 4% compared to last year, driven by a 7% increase in Average revenue per car reflecting higher fuel surcharges and solid core pricing gains. Volume was down 3% year over year. Grain and grain products volume was down 1%, driven by weaker export Grain shipments as world demand for U. S. Grain has softened, coupled with drought impacts affecting supply in UP3rd region. Speaker 200:03:35Fertilizer carloads were flat in the quarter. Strong export potash was offset by a decline in phosphate volume from weather conditions Delay in shipments. Food and refrigerated volume was down 6% due to reduced beer imports And weather conditions negatively impacting both fresh and canned shipments. And lastly, coal and renewable volumes Was down 4% compared to last year, driven by weather interruptions and associated service challenges that impacted our Moving on to Industrial. Industrial revenue was up 5% for the quarter, driven by a 5 It was flat. Speaker 200:04:28Industrial Chemicals and Plastics volume was down 2% year over year driven by lower industrial chemical shipments Due to challenged industrial production and reduced housing demand, metals and minerals volumes continued to deliver year over year growth. Volume was up 3% compared to last year, primarily driven by growth in construction materials and increased frac sand shipments along with New business development wins. Forest product volume declined 19% year over year driven by soft housing starts Shipments were up 6% versus last year driven by strength in demand for LPG and petroleum products. These gains were Partially offset by fewer soda ash shipments due to weather and service related challenges. Turning to premium, Revenue for the quarter was up 3% on a 1% decrease in volume compared to last year. Speaker 200:05:34Average revenue per car increased by 5%, Reflecting higher fuel surcharge revenue and core pricing gains. Automotive volumes were positively driven by strengthening OEM production and dealer inventory replenishment for finished vehicles. Domestic intermodal business wins were offset By a weak freight and parcel market driven by high inventories, increased truck capacity and inflationary pressures. On the international side, Despite weakened import, more containers shipped inland versus the Q1 of last year, resulting in year over year growth. So now moving on to Slide 7, here is our outlook for the rest of 2023 as we see it today. Speaker 200:06:22Starting with our bulk commodities, we expect rain to be challenged near term as export demand softens and supply tightens throughout this crop year. However, as we look ahead towards the next crop season in late fall, we're encouraged by the initial forecast. For coal, Low natural gas prices in a milder winter allow utilities to build more inventory. We are experiencing normal softening through the shoulder Looking further out in the year, demand will largely be dependent on natural gas prices and summer weather. Lastly, we expect biofuels shipments of renewable diesel and their associated feedstocks to grow due to solid market And new production coming online and business development wins. Speaker 200:07:09Moving on to industrial, the Forecast for industrial production is to shrink in 2023 and the demand is getting weaker in forest products. However, We expect to see continued strength in construction and metals with new business wins. And finally, for premium, we expect near term challenges in the intermodal market from high inventory levels, inflationary pressures And weak consumer spending as people shift back to spend more towards services than good, we will be closely watching for a potential Market uptick in the latter part of the year. In addition, we expect automotive growth to continue driven by strong OEM production And dealer inventory replenishment. So to wrap up, we are facing economic uncertainty and a tough price environment in a few of our markets, but we expect to see strength in some other commodity areas. Speaker 200:08:10Our diverse portfolio allows us to maintain our pricing guidance. To capture more demand, we are working closely with Eric and his team to be agile and have resources available in locations where we need them. I am confident that the team's relentless focus Our business development will drive volumes to exceed industrial production this year. With that, I'll turn it over to Eric to review our operational performance. Speaker 300:08:38Thank you, Kenny and good morning. Starting on slide We continue to make great strides on safety as evidenced by our 10% improvement in derailment performance for the Q1. While encouraging progress on safety, our goal remains a future with 0 incidents and 0 injuries. We've made progress on derailments By implementing state of the art technology like Precision Train Builder and our geometry inspection fleet, this is on top of our network of more than 7,000 wayside And our 20 fourseven operating practices command center. Further supporting our efforts, in March, the industry announced a set of Key safety actions. Speaker 300:09:17These include the installation of additional wayside detectors and enhanced standards for how we proactively use and share critical data. In addition, the industry is expanding efforts in first responder training and deploying technology to provide real time railcar The railroad industry remains one of the safest transportation modes in the nation. And through our capital renewal program, Union Pacific invests almost $2,000,000,000 annually back into its network to further improve safety. Now moving to Slide 10 for a look at our current operational performance. As Lance mentioned, Mother Nature made her presence felt across the Union Pacific network this season, bringing extreme weather in many forms. Speaker 300:10:02UP crews in California battled flash flooding, persistent mudslides and heavy snow. The Central Sierras for example recorded over 700 inches of snow That's 2 22 percent above historical averages. Employees across our central corridor and upper Midwest portions Our system also worked through prolonged blizzards, ice and arctic temperatures. These events challenged our ability to maintain a fluid operating state on Specific portions of the system. However, thanks to the dedication and proactive efforts of our employees, the network quickly recovered after each event. Speaker 300:10:39As the chart on slide 10 demonstrates, we're exiting the quarter on a positive trajectory versus the congested state we were entering this time last year. Our April month to date metrics show a network in a healthier state with freight car velocity at 200 miles per day, intermodal TPC in the high 70s and manifest TPC on the rise as well. That result also reflects our hiring efforts As we focus on backfilling attrition and targeting locations where crew challenges persist, we currently have around 1,000 employees in training, which is an increase Approximately 500 versus last year. In addition, we have utilized borrowed out employees to address hard to hire locations and get crews where needed. Now let's review our key performance metrics for the quarter starting on Slide 11. Speaker 300:11:28Sequentially, we held our ground through the obstacles of the quarter. Both FreightCar Velocity and manifest in auto trip plan compliance Made slight improvements from last quarter's results. Intermodal trip plan compliance remained effectively flat as we battled resource imbalances driven by weather interruptions. With our current traffic mix, freight car velocity consistently running around 200 to 2 0 5 miles per day will Locomotive productivity dropped 5% versus Q1 2022. However, it remained flat sequentially from last quarter's results as we continue to a larger locomotive fleet in an effort to support the recovery of the network. Speaker 300:12:18In the Q2, the team is focused on moving more freight And rightsizing the fleet. To that point, we are in the process of storing over 100 units to at the ready status. 1st quarter workforce productivity declined 6% to 9.91 daily miles per FTE driven by an increased number of trainees and lower volumes. Our strong training pipeline supports our ability to capture available demand and future growth, while managing attrition and reducing borrowed out employees. As employees graduate from training, we expect productivity to improve. Speaker 300:12:53Train length is effectively flat compared to last quarter's results. Lower intermodal traffic coupled with extreme cold temperatures across the northern tier of our network presented a headwind to our train length initiatives for the quarter. The team remains committed to strengthening the network while recovering lost productivity. Wrapping up on Slide 13, the success drivers for 2023 remain unchanged and the entire team is dedicated to building on the momentum gained as we exited the quarter. We remain committed to addressing employees quality of life feedback and are pleased with the recent agreements regarding paid sick leave. Speaker 300:13:30We will continue to work diligently in finding Win win solutions that enable a strong service product and provide our employees with more consistent work schedules. In addition, as you heard from Kenny, we continue to aggressively look for opportunities to strengthen volumes. With the service product demonstrating resiliency, We have added back train sets and targeted freight cars to the network to capture available demand. I am confident that the foundation we're laying will provide a safer, More consistent and reliable service product to meet the growth needs of our customers. With that, I will turn it over to Jennifer to review our financial performance. Speaker 400:14:07Thanks, Eric, and good morning. We'll start on slide 15 with a look at our Q1 income statement. Operating revenue totaled 6 $100,000,000 up 3% versus 2022 despite a 1% year over year volume decline. Other revenue Decreased 5%, driven by $30,000,000 of increased subsidiary revenue, which was more than offset by a $50,000,000 reduction in accessorials, Lower intermodal volume and greater supply chain fluidity drove the accessorial decline. Operating expense increased 8% to 3.8 dollars resulting in 1st quarter operating income of $2,300,000,000 down 3% versus last year. Speaker 400:14:48Below the line, other income increased $137,000,000 year over year, largely driven by a $107,000,000 one time real estate transaction They contributed $0.14 to earnings per share. Interest expense increased 9%, reflecting higher debt levels. Net income of $1,600,000,000 was flat versus 2022, but when combined with share repurchases resulted in a 4% increase in earnings per share to $2.67 Our first quarter operating ratio increased 2.7 points to 62.1 percent. Following fuel prices during the quarter and the lag on our fuel surcharge programs positively impacted our operating ratio by 190 basis Core results offset the fuel benefit and were a 4 60 basis point drag to operating ratio. Included in that is the impact of weather, which is difficult to quantify, but between both lost revenue and additional expense, we estimate to be in excess $50,000,000 Now looking more closely at Q1 revenue, Slide 16 provides a breakdown of our freight revenue, which totaled $5,700,000,000 up 4% versus last year. Speaker 400:15:58Lower year over year volume reduced revenue 150 basis Total fuel surcharge revenue of $883,000,000 added 4.75 basis points to freight revenue, reflecting the lag in our program. The combination of price and mix increased rate revenue 75 basis points as ongoing pricing actions were mostly offset by our business mix. Fewer lumber shipments and more short haul rock shipments were the primary drivers of the negative mix. Turning now to Slide 17 And a summary of our Q1 operating expenses, which totaled $3,800,000,000 Compensation and benefits expense increased 7% versus Over the last 12 to 15 months, cost per employee only increased 3% in the quarter as wage inflation was partially offset by a larger training pipeline. During the Q1, we signed agreements with the majority of our labor unions to provide paid sick leave to our employees. Speaker 400:17:06These agreements became effective April 1 and represent just under half of our craft professionals. Assuming we are able to reach agreements Across the board, we would expect cost per employee to be up mid single digits for the year, consistent with what we discussed in January. Fuel expense grew 7% on a 9% increase in fuel prices as we move less freight. Our fuel consumption rate deteriorated 1% as the impact of our fuel conservation efforts was more than offset by reduced network fluidity. Purchased services and materials expense increased 16%, driven by maintenance of a 3% larger active locomotive fleet and inflation. Speaker 400:17:46Equipment and other rents was up 9% as a result of increased car hire expense related to elevated cycle times and the other expense line grew 6% related primarily to higher environmental Remediation costs. Turning to slide 18 and our cash flows. Cash from operations in the Q1 decreased to $1,800,000,000 from $2,200,000,000 in 22. The primary driver was Presidential Emergency Board back pay settlements paid in January, which totaled $383,000,000 That payment also impacted our quarterly cash flow conversion rate and free cash flow, with both roughly in line with last year's performance when you In the quarter, we returned $1,400,000,000 to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases And we finished the Q1 with an adjusted debt to EBITDA ratio of 2.9 times as we continue to be A rated by our 3 credit agencies. Wrapping up on slide 19, we are maintaining our 2023 full year guidance to Also are unchanged. Speaker 400:19:00As with every year, there are puts and takes to how the year plays out. While 2023 started a bit slower than expected, I need to remind everyone it is only April 20th. We have 8.5 months in front of us and many opportunities with volume, service and productivity. Before I turn it back to Lance, I'd like to express my thanks to the UP team. We are skilled in running the outdoor factory that is our railroad, But mother nature seemed very focused on testing those skills this year given the extremes we face. Speaker 400:19:30And yet the team forged ahead, keeping the network fluid and our customers served. Fantastic work by everyone. With that, I'll turn it back to Lance. Speaker 100:19:38And thank you, Jennifer. As Eric discussed, we continue to make great strides on safety. Derailments have been in the spotlight recently. The entire industry understands the critical role we play in support of the communities we serve. In fact, Since 2000, Union Pacific's mainline derailments are down almost 30%, helping make this past decade the safest Working collaboratively and proactively, the industry can further improve on that safety record. Speaker 100:20:10Looking forward, as you heard from Kenny, Consumer facing markets are in rough shape right now. Importantly, though, there remain opportunities to capture additional demand in a number of markets. The entire team is executing a plan to capture those additional carloads supported by an improved service product. Finally, with Earth Day approaching, I'd like to highlight the actions Union Pacific is taking to protect our planet. At the end of 2022, we released our 2nd annual climate action plan highlighting updates to achieve our greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. Speaker 100:20:42This includes our goal of net By 2,050, over the past year, we've turbocharged our locomotive modernization program. We've committed to both battery And hybrid electric locomotive and we've increased our biodiesel blend to over 5%, and We're being recognized for that work. This past year, Union Pacific was selected as a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the first And we were the highest ranked railroad in the transportation category on Fortune's most admired companies. Union Pacific is committed to being a sustainability leader, driving long term value for all of our stakeholders. Before turning to Q and A, as it relates to the CEO search process, the Board is fully engaged and executing its duty to identify the next leader. Speaker 100:21:34And I can say from personal experience what a wonderful job it is to be at the helm of a company like Union Pacific. I'll continue to lead the team until the new CEO is identified and I'm energized by what we can accomplish in the coming months as well as the great Operator00:21:56Thank Speaker 400:22:00you. Operator00:22:13Participants have been using speaker equipment. It may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. In the interest of time and so that we can accommodate as many analysts as possible, We would ask everyone to please limit themselves to one question. Thank you. And our first question today comes from the line of Scott Group with Wolfe Research. Operator00:22:30Please proceed with your question. Speaker 500:22:33Hey, thanks. Good morning. Lance, any timing on CEO search and any thoughts on what you and the Board are looking for? And then Jennifer, Margins down 270 basis points. Obviously, we need some nice improvement the rest of the year to get to full year improvement. Speaker 500:22:50Can you help us Bridge us to that full year improvement. Any thoughts on Q2? It's an easier comp. Do you think margins inflect positive in Q2? Just any thoughts. Speaker 500:23:00Thank you, guys. Speaker 100:23:01Yes. Thank you, Scott. So I'll just circle back to the press release that the Board sent when they announced earlier in the year We were in the process of identifying a new CEO. They were clear on what they were looking for then, right, a track record and experience in safety and Service, business development, clear vision on culture and a good operating experience. So they are crystal clear on what they're searching for. Speaker 100:23:31And the only update I have for you is we're using an excellent third party external consultant And they're being very thorough in their search, which is underway. Speaker 400:23:42So then Scott, to your OR question, I mean, you're exactly right. We need to make Sequential improvement through the year, and then that needs to become year over year improvement at some point for us to be able to meet that guidance. The factors that are going to help drive that, certainly fuel is something that is looking different to us this year than it did last Particularly right now, you saw the 1.9 points that it benefited our OR in the 1st quarter. That will comparison will get a little tougher in the back half, so it may look different than 'twenty two did. But certainly fuel, I It's something, but then it's the main levers that you know that we have available to us. Speaker 400:24:23It's volume, price and productivity. And of course volume, it depends a little bit what that is, but we also have pure cost control. So if volumes are something that are not our friend and we're not able to get that leverage. We also have the ability to control costs through being very careful and diligent in our management. Speaker 100:24:42And Jennifer, one last thing, what gives us a ton of confidence as we look into the year is how the network is operating right now. It's in a place where We can get the volume and we can squeeze out the excess cost. Operator00:25:00Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Tom Wadewitz with UBS. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 600:25:08Yes, good morning. I wanted to ask you about the headcount level. I think the Training pipeline for T and E looks like it's larger, but I think that the level of people that you've had that are trained on the Seems like it's been static for a while. And so I'm just wondering what do you think about in terms of where you need to get for T and Y that are trained in on the system. And I guess in terms of attrition, has Attrition, Ben, an ongoing problem has that stabilized. Speaker 600:25:45Just thinking about that headcount dynamic and then I guess how that fits How you would expect network performance to go from where we are? Thank you. Speaker 100:25:56Yes. So Tom, We entered the year saying total headcount hires addition to the TENY would look kind of like What it did in 2022 predicated on our plan for volume. Volume is looking a little cloudy right now to us, Certainly in the Q1, in the back half. And so, of course, that hiring plan is being looked at and adjusted. Net net in the Q2, you're going to see us add to the active T and Y headcount coming out of the training pipeline. Speaker 100:26:31The question really is what's The training pipeline look like for the rest of the year. Having over 1,000 in the pipeline is a very strong pipeline for us. In terms of attrition, we tend to have about a 10% turnover in our T and Y workforce. That really hasn't changed over the course of the last 5 years. We don't necessarily see it changing right now. Speaker 100:26:54So one of the adjustment factors is if we find ourselves getting out over our skis a Factors is if we find ourselves getting out over our skis a little too far, attrition can help us adjust pretty quickly. Speaker 600:27:06So it sounds like the, I guess, trained level goes up, but overall headcount kind of static as the training pipeline comes down is maybe the best way to look at it. Speaker 400:27:16I think it really does depend on the volumes to a degree, Scott. And so Certainly, as Lance said, Q2, I think you certainly see our total headcounts going up. It's going to be probably different than last year. First half, we've got the The pipe loaded in the first half. And I think the question is going to be what does the second half look like? Speaker 600:27:37Yes. Okay. Thank you. Operator00:27:41Our next question is from the line of Ken Hoexter with Bank of America. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 500:27:47Hey, great. Good morning. So just it looked like the operating service levels were flat. You mentioned that a couple of times, I guess Eric did, but velocity was Really came down the past few weeks, I guess, during the quarter and then more recently showed a pretty solid rebound, I guess, maybe the last week or 2. Is there anything changing with the operating plan? Speaker 500:28:07Was this I don't know if Eric or Lance you want to throw in some thoughts or was this just kind of the end of some of the weather stretches that you were talking about? You just talk about how operations are doing now and what's changing? Thanks. Speaker 300:28:19Yes, Ken, thanks for the question. Your summary is It was towards the tail end of winter is really where we were about 3 weeks ago. Having come out of that and with all the work that we've done on the hiring side as amongst other You're seeing the output of having 2 to 3 weeks without weather being that headwind. With weather largely if not entirely behind us for winter, Operator00:28:59The next question is from the line of Chris Wetherbee with Citigroup. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 500:29:04Hey, thanks. Good morning, guys. Maybe one quick follow-up on the headcount I guess I'm just curious, given what you guys have been able to do with some degree of service recovery, Would you think about pausing sort of the hiring as you sort of reassess volumes depending on sort of how that plays out In the second half of the year, curious about that. And then maybe on that point for Kenny, just in terms of like what you're seeing in the month of April, it seems like we've seen March April will be a little bit softer across the board of transports, not necessarily Union Pacific specifically, a little bit softness there. Kind of curious what you're hearing from the customers. Speaker 500:29:40Has there been a bit of a Spring low here or maybe that picks up in the near term. Just kind of some thoughts there would be helpful. Speaker 100:29:47Good morning, Chris. This is Lance. I will start and then turn it over to Kenny on Your second question. So let's unpack the headcount question a little bit. We are in much better shape This time this year versus same time last year. Speaker 100:30:03The hiring pipeline is full, but more importantly, we have been filling our classes Everywhere we've been looking for people across the railroad for about the last 3 or 4 months. That is very different than our experience Last year where we found it very difficult in about 6 crew hubs all in the northern region to be able to find candidly the workforce to be able to hire. So we've been much more aggressive in the back half of last year, amping up things like hiring bonuses, finding Creative unique ways to create a workforce, a pool to hire from and that's paying dividends right now. So You're exactly right in terms of as we look into the year, right now we're starting to evaluate our original plan for hiring Versus what volumes are doing and what the back half of the year balance is going to look like. Our longer term guidance remains in place and that is We fully expect to be volume variable and have ultimately our headcount grow at less than our volume numbers are growing. Speaker 100:31:11But clearly coming out of last year, we had to fix the ship and get our crew boards healthy, add a little excess not excess, add a little factor of safety To the crew board so that we could take events and recover quickly so that our service product was consistent. We are in that place right now. We are essentially there. We are solving some of the problem with borrow outs. So hiring is going to have to replace them because they are expensive And it's a burden on our employees to be borrowed out. Speaker 100:31:41But we are in much better shape looking into the rest of the year. Ken? Speaker 200:31:46Yes. Hey, Chris. So let's just start off. You look at our coal, we're expecting it to have a seasonal low this time, the Shoulder mines that I mentioned, if you look at it last year, natural gas prices were much higher. So this is more of a normal look for us. Speaker 200:32:04Domestic intermodal, we will keep an eye on it. It's a very loose Market right now, there is quite a bit of truck capacity that's out there. So we'll be watching that. And then Last year, if you look at it, our grain business was still pretty strong this time of year. Now we're seeing more Global grain going to places where we exported last year. Speaker 200:32:29Now having said all that, looking forward to the rest of the year, Hey, we're still bullish about some of these markets that I mentioned, whether it's finished vehicles, the metals, rock that's in our construction area, It's 1 and then biofuels. Speaker 500:32:47Okay. That's helpful color. I appreciate the time guys. Yes. Operator00:32:52The next question is from the line of Ben Nolan with Stifel. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 700:32:59Yes. Thank you. I appreciate it. Maybe Kenny, if I could just follow-up with that. We've been hearing a whole lot of noise about near shoring, reshoring, Specifically around Mexico, I was curious if you can maybe put a little color around if that's something you're seeing, if there's any Notable business wins or anything specific to the moving of manufacturing back to North America that you are hearing from your customers? Speaker 200:33:29We are seeing a little bit of that. We have seen Production related to the autos OEMs, there was one pretty large Highly public announcement that came out. And with that, you got to remember there is a lot of other inputs that move by rail, whether it's So we'd ask for the glass, the metals that comes in for the car, that's great for us. Also in our bulk commodities on the Ag side, we're expecting some new production and receivers out there. So yes, it is looking pretty encouraging and this is The first time that we are seeing tangible things that we can point towards. Speaker 200:34:09So that's a positive for us. I won't go on and on. We enjoy a fabulous network there. I will leave it Speaker 700:34:16Okay. And just to clarify, how should we think about the timing of an impact on that? I mean, is this something that Could happen near term or is this a big picture longer term kind of a dynamic? Speaker 200:34:29This is big picture longer term. I mean, you've got to get time for these Locations actually build out the physical infrastructure there in the plant. Speaker 100:34:40Okay. And Not but. Ben, it's wonderful to have new production facilities spot in the North American market. We will get our fair share. We have a wonderful franchise to and from Mexico. Speaker 100:34:55And any time industry shows up in the North American continent, It's good for us. It's good for railroads. Speaker 700:35:03All right. I appreciate it. Thank you. Operator00:35:07The next question is from the line of Justin Long with Stephens. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 800:35:12Thanks and good morning. I wanted to circle back to the Full year guidance. Obviously, the start of the year has been more challenging than you anticipated. So in order to Hit your outlook. Do we need to see a meaningful positive inflection in the freight market? Speaker 800:35:29And if so, When does that need to occur? And then Kenny, maybe just a clarification on intermodal. I think you said international volumes were up, I was wondering if you could share the percent change you saw in both international and domestic intermodal. Thanks. Speaker 400:35:47So I'll take the first part of that question. Again, our guidance relative to volumes is exceeding industrial production. We came into the year, industrial production was forecast to be down about 0.5%. It's actually gotten a tad bit worse. It's now down about 0.7 So that's not a huge bar, I guess, to exceed. Speaker 400:36:07And yes, we started a little weaker down a 0.5 here In the Q1, but you just heard Kenny talk about kind of the different markets that are available to us and the fact that as our service product is improving, We're putting more assets into play to move more carloads and that's giving us greater flexibility to move those assets around To hit the markets that are available to us. And so we feel quite confident that we will be able to reach that goal as it relates to volumes and the rest of our full year Obviously, Richard, you reiterated. Speaker 200:36:39Yes. I don't think I'm going to break out domestic and international here. What we saw and I mentioned that is just because you do have a more fluid intermodal network on the international side, we don't have a lot of The stack boxes on either end, more of those ocean carriers are moving inland and we're seeing that. We put in products up against that that's helping that with our grain facility down there. On the Dallas side with KPN, They've hit their largest volume record in the Q1. Speaker 200:37:14They just announced they're going to expand. And so we feel good about that We can move more of that inland. Speaker 800:37:22Okay. Thanks. Operator00:37:26Our next question is from the line of Jordan Allinger with Goldman Sachs. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 500:37:32Yes. Hi. Good morning. Just sort of curious, I think you'd other than volume, you talked about other productivity or cost. Other than fuel expense maybe going down, what are some of the other Transport, just trying to get a sense. Speaker 500:37:54Thanks. Speaker 300:37:56That's a great question, Jordan. So as you think about that and the progress we're seeing right now, it's Impacting nearly every one of our cost lines in a positive way. The big ones that we talk about is certainly starting with fleet size. In our prepared comments, I mentioned the fact that we're taking 100 locomotives and then putting them in storage, but they're in a storage state in which they can still be there Quickly to gain volume. Next after that, it's all about crew utilization, right, which stretches everything from re crew rates The deadhead held the ways to how do we think about overtime and making sure that we're being judicious with the use of overtime. Speaker 300:38:31From there, We certainly do, even though you mentioned that we do focus on our fuel consumption. And I'm really encouraged actually by the Q1 because if you look January, we came out very strong. February was kind of okay and March was certainly weak, which means with weather behind us, there's no reason that we shouldn't snap Right back to that great progress that we saw in January. So it's those others, but I've listed the biggest ones. Operator00:38:57Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Jason Seidl with TD Cowen. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 500:39:06Hey, thanks, operator. Good morning, everybody. Appreciate you taking time. Two quick things. Kenny, I think you said there were some pricing pressures In a few of your industries, I mean, I understand our model would love to hear what else is being pressured out there. Speaker 500:39:18And also in terms of the West Coast port Labor situation, how much freight do you think got diverted? And if we get a resolution here, hopefully, in the near term, Do you think it would come back quickly or it would take some time? Speaker 200:39:34Yes. So before I talk about domestic intermodal, which I think is your I just want to reiterate that we've got a broad diverse set of customers and markets that we get the price and we've said this publicly, Call it approximately roughly half of that business. We get to touch every year outside of just one Now there is a lag impact to that, but the sales leaders, the commercial teams have done Really fabulous job going out articulating, hey, we're spending quite a bit in CapEx. We're putting quite a few resources out there. They understand what's taking place in the industry with our business on the labor side and the labor negotiations. Speaker 200:40:18And candidly, They are experiencing the same inflationary pressure. So you've got that piece. Now talking about domestic intermodal, Yes. Domestic intermodal has been a pretty loose market, quite a bit of truck capacity that's there. We're seeing it in our bids and RFPs. Speaker 200:40:40We've got mechanisms that are in place for our suite of intermodal customers To go out there and compete and win business based on their own strength and capabilities, which give us confidence. And the other part of that is the fact that as the market tightens up, we can quickly capture Speaker 100:41:03And Kenny, Jason's last question about West Coast ports and ILW. Speaker 200:41:07Yes. We have been in close contact With the West Coast ports and they believe that there should be an agreement here near term. I'd tell you, it's hard to quantify What's been diverted away because of some of these labor challenges, I'll tell you when we look at the order book going out So I will call it the West Coast ports. It looks like the negative delta that we saw year over year is becoming less and less. Speaker 500:41:37And you think if there was an agreement, again, not going to work because everyone wants that, that you would receive it back quickly or would come back over time? Speaker 200:41:45I think that's just I can't be that precise, Jason. We could be positive about it, but to be precise probably just wouldn't be a Operator00:42:02Our next question is from the line of Brian Ossenbeck with JPMorgan. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 900:42:09Good morning. Thanks for taking the question. Kenny, just to follow-up on the pricing reset. Is that kind of going As expected, do you still have a little bit more of a lag impact because volumes may be a little bit weaker than you had thought? So I guess is that going to accelerate here? Speaker 900:42:26And same sort of question with price mix. Is that probably the worst you'd expect in the near term here As you look at the different end markets, is there developing? Speaker 200:42:38Yes. Certainly, the way we calculate price, volume Increasing and improving helps us, so I'll say that. Also because it is April and not December, we have Time to get more of that volume into play as we move throughout the year. I would not say that there are some markets that are harder to Capture pricing other than those areas where we have mechanisms in place aligned with domestic We've been very disciplined in our approach to take price and in some cases we've also taken Some risk there to make sure that we are pricing towards the market. Speaker 100:43:24And Kenny, the same. What you said about domestic intermodal To a lesser degree is true in coal where you've got natural gas can be a driver Speaker 200:43:33of some pricing. Absolutely. We'll be watching natural Speaker 400:43:37Yes. And to the mix part of your question, Brian, coming into the year, our view is that mix would likely be negative throughout the year, primarily around The fact that we were expecting to see more growth on the intermodal side. Obviously, that's changed a bit. And so looking The Q2 at least we're probably expecting a bit of a positive mix. Beyond that, I think it's too soon to say. Speaker 400:43:59But I do think that's something that is different As we sit here today than when we came and talked to you in January. Speaker 900:44:08Thank you. Just a quick follow-up for Lance on the regulatory and Legislative side, a lot of noise coming out of DC, some of the safety things you mentioned earlier and some of the stats on UP specifically. But what are you most focused on When it comes to the different topics that are being discussed down there, we tend to focus on train lengths. So I was in the FRA Safety Advisory recently, but I just wanted to hear What was important and what you thought we should focus on when it comes to the various topics being discussed after the safety issues that we've seen in the industry over the last few months? Thank you. Speaker 100:44:41Yes. Brian, that's a great question. So in engaging the legislators In D. C, we help them understand what would actually move the ball in terms of safety, where Regulatory effort would make a difference and where it wouldn't. To your point, train length wouldn't. Speaker 100:45:01Statistically, on UP since 2019, Train length is up something like 20% and our mainline and siding derailments are down 26%. So There is 0 corollary between train length and derailments. But there are other things that they can help with. We're taking action right now on wayside detection. That's a place where the FRA can step in. Speaker 100:45:27Things that we emphasize that really don't have a corollary impact, another one is Crew size and whether conductors are redeployed to the ground, that has no impact on safety around the world empirically. So we just broadly try to help them understand that and stay deeply engaged, Brian. This is A deep engagement all the time right now. Speaker 900:45:55Thank you very much for the color. Appreciate it. Operator00:46:00Our next question is from the line of Allison Poliniak with Wells Fargo. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 1000:46:05Hi, good morning. I just want to ask on the new business. I guess, first, is there any way, I know there's a lot of moving parts with volumes, to maybe quantify or Help us understand the contribution of the new business wins in volumes. And then second, as part of that, just in terms of the new business Hi, line. Any notable trends in sort of the conversion that you are seeing in terms of bringing on new business onto the rail? Speaker 1000:46:30Thanks. Speaker 200:46:33Yes. Hey, Allison. It's pretty broad because obviously it's in all three of our business teams. I mean, if you look at it, Biofuels, renewable diesel for us is an emerging market. I've been very encouraged by our ability to land new customers, New production sites to move out of the Midwest going into the West, and those are attractive margins to us. Speaker 200:47:00On the Industrial side, the same thing is true as we look at our metals business and some of the minerals business tied to that. Name is Whitrock. Those are areas that are positive and they have structural increases related to population growth down in Texas, Louisiana and the Gulf, and so those are great. And then you all are aware, you're aware, Allison, of some of the new recent wins in our Go out and grow business over the road and it complements very nicely our UMP, our UMAX and EMP Speaker 1000:47:47And just any color on the conversion trends of the new business opportunities out there? Speaker 200:47:53We see the pipeline is still there. Well, the thing that we're keeping an eye on is, are they actually Moving the forecasted amount that they initially told us. So, with no concerns with the pipeline, just a little bit of concern with The volume that they committed to is still there. Speaker 1000:48:13Understood. Thank you. Operator00:48:17Our next question is from the line of Amit Malhotra with Deutsche Bank. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 1100:48:22Thanks, operator. Hi, everyone. Jennifer, are earnings going to be up as you move from 1Q to 2Q because there's a big fuel benefit in In the EPS line in 1Q and we calculated, it's like $0.25 or something like that. And a lot of that's going away Because of the lag on fuel, and so you're starting kind of from on hold to build back on as you move from 1Q to 2Q. I know there's weather, but I'm just trying to And if the cadence of earnings growth from 1Q can actually grow in 2Q because of that operating income impact from fuel. Speaker 1100:48:58And then Just related to that because volume seems to be the fulcrum for all of this. The average weekly volume in the quarter was 152,000 7 day car loadings and I think last week you did under that and the weather is Speaker 500:49:15a lot better. And so I Speaker 1100:49:16guess the question really is that like When are we going to see if weather was a big problem in the quarter, you exited lower than you average for the quarter, when are we actually going to see some of the volume show up in the Thank you. Speaker 400:49:30Well, so, let's start off on the fuel piece and we agree with your math on the $0.25 for the Q1. That's exactly right. You have to think about fuel in 2 pieces, Amit. You have to think about the fuel surcharge piece and then the expense piece. And while in the Q1, the fuel surcharge piece was a positive. Speaker 400:49:49As we look at what our current prices are for fuel right now, call it $3 a gallon, when we paid $4 a gallon a year ago, that's going to flip on us. And so that is going to But our fuel expense is going to be less as well. And so you really have to think about it in those two parts and separate that out, I would say, in the analysis. The other thing I want to remind everybody about 2Q of last year was we did have an $0.18 benefit from a Land sale, Illinois Tollway, and that was in our results. And then we also had $35,000,000 some casualty expenses. Speaker 400:50:26So that goes away. So you've got some puts and takes there. But I just want to make sure everybody's thinking of as you're putting that together. Our goal is going to be to continue to drive as much volume as we can across the network, Do it as efficiently as we can and improve the service product and the output of that will be the output of that. I'm not going to give you specific earnings guidance on that. Speaker 400:50:50And then to your other question about volumes, I think you need to factor in the Easter holiday. That does have an impact on our volumes. And so while yes, weather was clearing, We did have a holiday impact there. And I think again, we're putting the assets into place and we're going to be moving the volumes that are available to us. Yes, I'm Got it. Speaker 1100:51:08And And Speaker 100:51:09talking about in reported numbers this week and beyond. Okay. Speaker 500:51:15That's great. And just related to that, Kenny, I Speaker 1100:51:17don't know if you have a view on intermodal yields. I know fuel, there's a lot of noise in intermodal yields in fuel, but are we holding line on Intermodal yields ex fuel and is that the expectation kind of over the next few quarters? Speaker 200:51:31Yes. And I have said this, Amit, We feel really good about the mechanisms we have in place for our customers to go out there and compete and Win and retain business based on their capabilities and their strength. And I also feel good about, again, As the market moves, we will be able to move more real time with it. And so that's a positive for us. Speaker 1100:52:01Okay. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Operator00:52:06Our next question is from the line of Jon Chappell with Evercore ISI. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 500:52:11Thank you. Good morning. Eric, I want to go back to the productivity, which I seem to go back to every quarter. But just as it relates to getting to these full year targets, one of your peers has kind of laid out what a fluid network Could mean from a cost perspective. So is there any way for you to quantify what you think the productivity improvements can contribute in the final three quarters of 'twenty three? Speaker 500:52:34And also any way for us to kind of understand the timing. You're still digging out of the weather mostly, they're still taking people out of training. Is this like 90% a second half productivity improvement touch story or can you start to get some significant improvement in 2Q? Speaker 300:52:50John, thank you for the question. Obviously, we won't guide you to the specifics on the timing of the productivity. What I would is that based on Speaker 100:52:58the performance that we see Speaker 300:52:59on the railroad right now, it's bringing me and others greater and greater confidence that we'll see that productivity Continue to grow throughout the rest of the year. To say as you look into the Q2, the headwind of winter behind us and the forecast of being And beyond that, I'm not going to guide to it. We're just all focused on making sure that we drive that productivity safely. Speaker 500:53:25Any just broad range of numbers? I mean, if we go back to the Investor Day, any starting point there, any way to kind of parse that out even in a broad range? Speaker 400:53:35No. John, I think that would be unwise for us to do that. We are not going to try to pace our productivity improvement And so we want to do that as fast as we can and safely as we can, while providing a really good service product so that we can ultimately Drive greater volumes across the network. That's the real leverage and it fuels the productivity quite frankly. Speaker 100:53:58Yes. Hey, John, this is Lance. So just putting a Beau on that. Our expectation is in Q2 with the fluid network, we really squeeze out a bunch of the excess costs created by Kind of weather and variability from those events and then we start stretching our legs Beyond Q2 to continue to recover some of the productivity and ultimately all of the productivity that we forewent In 2022 and then start growing from there. We have got a fair amount of inflation that's in front of us that we got to offset this year and going into next year. Speaker 100:54:36So we're going to be fighting that battle through the whole year as well. Speaker 500:54:42Got it. Thanks, Lance, Jennifer and Eric. Operator00:54:47Thank you. Thank you. And the next question comes from the line of Ravi Shankar with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 1200:55:00Thanks. Good morning, everyone. So two very quick follow ups here. One is, I know mix was a headwind in the Q1, but can you confirm that dollar price was above dollar inflation In the Q1 and kind of if not, kind of how does that trajectory change for the rest of the year? And second, kind of if you're going to have a pretty Kind of significant inflection in volumes, currently you're running down 2.5% year to date and you could get to better than down 0 point 7% for your full year guide. Speaker 1200:55:29What macro assumption does that involve for the second half of the year? Are you counting on an improvement In macro conditions and or restock to get you there? Thank you. Speaker 400:55:40I'll hit the first part of your question. And yes, our pricing gains in the Q1 did exceed our inflation. Kenny? Speaker 100:55:46I'll hit a second in terms of macro assumptions. We do not have planned in a recession, right? So a recession would be a problem for us. Absent that, What we need is markets to continue to just behave reasonably, I. E, we need Consumers to continue to be healthy, spend some, they don't have to go crazy, they just need to Not pulling their horns and we need the industrial economy to continue to do what it's doing and we need inventory and This whole destocking to calm down after the Q1, first half. Speaker 100:56:29All of those I think are pretty reasonable expectations. The wild card would be a recession. Speaker 1200:56:36Thank you. Operator00:56:40Our next question is from the line of Brandon Oglenski with Barclays. Please Speaker 1300:56:46My one question for Lance or Eric, your trip plan compliance on manifest Remains in like the low 60% level. And I know there's definitional issues, but there are carriers out there delivering much higher than that. So I wonder, we've talked a lot about service product on this call today. What's the right target for Trip Plan compliance? And what are the steps to get there? Speaker 300:57:10Yes. So as we're focusing on the manifest and autos, when that starts with a 7, So right 70%, 75%. That's in a place where our customers are giving us feedback that says that we are meeting their Now as far as steps to get there, you're going to always have manifest and auto lag the intermodal TPC and it's simply because the cycle time Those cars is longer. It's a conversation we were just having the last 2 weeks to make sure that we are doing those actions. So when you look at the velocity picking up, That's a tailwind to it. Speaker 300:57:45When you look at our uses counts, which means that we're making connections in the terminals to the right trains, that's up. Just those two things alone drive TPC in the right direction. And we're driving that as fast as we possibly can because we want to send the message to our We understand Q1 was difficult, but we're in a better place now and it's for their benefit and ours. Speaker 1100:58:07Thank Operator00:58:11you. The next question is from the line of Walter Spracklin with RBC. Please proceed with Speaker 1400:58:16Yes, thanks very much. I just want to come back to service levels and the regulatory spotlight. Clearly, the whole industry, Union Pacific included, is under a bit of a spotlight from the regulator for the service issues. And when I look back historically, Whenever railroad is needed to promptly address a service issue, operating metrics almost always deteriorate rather than improve. So I don't know if this is best for Jennifer, but I want to come back to that question about, are you expecting an OR improvement as early as Q2 Based on what you're seeing now, I know you said you saw some pretty good exit trends in Q1, weather is behind you, Easter was more of a It was more of a numbers event or a year over year numbers event as opposed to anything fundamental. Speaker 1400:59:03So would you see yourself as on track to achieve Q2 improvement despite your efforts to address Service and that that Q2 improvement should continue through the rest of the year? Speaker 400:59:14Yes, Walter, I'm going to resist the temptation to give you 2Q guidance and stick with the full year guidance. You all can do the math. I mean, we have to make improvement quickly. And it's got to be sequential. And at some point, obviously, that It should be year over year and that is our focus and that is our intent and we're very confident that we will do that. Speaker 1400:59:35Okay. And barring that, then perhaps Your full year is at risk if you can't see that quickly, the quick turnaround that you're mentioning, Jennifer, is that fair? Speaker 400:59:45The longer you go into the year without improvement, it gets more difficult. Yes, I will agree with that. Speaker 1100:59:50Okay. All right. Okay. Thank you very much for the time. Speaker 900:59:52Appreciate it. Speaker 100:59:52Thank you, Walter. Operator00:59:55Our next question is from the line of Bascome Majors with Susquehanna. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 1501:00:01Thanks for taking my questions. Can you talk a little bit about how your relationships and engagement with the STB has evolved over the last few months? And Any expectations of how they'll extend the service period sorry, the service oversight period when it expires in a few weeks here? And Maybe walking that forward next 12 to 18 months, where do you think their eyes will be most focused and how do you engage with them as the CPKC See deals stop sucking up oxygen in that room. Thank you. Speaker 101:00:30Thank you for the question, Bascome. So we are deeply engaged at the STB. There is an executive level interaction with an STB either staff or member Virtually every day, certainly several a week. What is helping in those conversations right now is The service product is better and customers' temperatures are down. The other thing, if you recall late last There was a hearing at the STB that focused on Union Pacific and our use of embargoes and we To the STB and to our customers more importantly, made the commitment that we're going to both look at how we use embargoes and have an eye towards essentially Getting back to a place where they're rare. Speaker 101:01:24Year to date this year, 65% reduction in the use. In the last 2 months, 75% reduction as the railroad is getting better. And I have all the confidence in the world that kind of progress is going to continue. So what I At this point, the STB is a bit of a wildcard. I won't predict what they do in May as regards to the service Reporting period. Speaker 101:01:47But I know the overall industry and certainly Union Pacific is in a place where our service product is not prompting More scrutiny and significant temperature coming into the STB from customers. And That's their purview. That's what they're built for is to react to customer feedback and that's what they've done in 2022. So The fact that if we can get customers to a place where they are satisfied with the service product and in good dialogue with us on it, That takes a lot of the pressure off the STB. Speaker 1501:02:26Thank you for that. And maybe The longer term part of that question over the next 12 to 18 months, where do you think they will focus most and how do you make sure that your Shareholders and customers' interest are protected there? Thank you. Speaker 101:02:40Yes, Bascome. So what we keep an eye on are is the fulsome docket That they've got in front of them things like final offer rate review versus this alternative dispute resolution mechanism, Forced open access, the use of revenue adequacy as a rate setting mechanism, Those are things that we're working hard with the STB for them to understand what the ramifications of some of those decision What is and is not justifiable by data in fact and then of course we engage fulsomely with them To help make sure the regulation coming out of the STB makes sense and accomplishes what they're trying to accomplish, which is Very good service product and growth in the rail industry. Speaker 1501:03:34Thank you. Operator01:03:37Our next question is from the line of Ari Rosa with Credit Suisse. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 1601:03:45Great. Thank you. Good morning. So really quickly, I was wondering what was the real estate transaction? Maybe you could give a bit of color on that. Speaker 1601:03:52I Don't think we saw it. And then Lance, as you approach perhaps the final months, perhaps quarters of your time as CEO at UP, I was hoping you could just kind of take a bigger picture, step back and reflect on what are the accomplishments you're most proud of and how you think about where you'd like to see The future of the railroad go from here. And in particular, I was hoping you could touch on your thoughts on the ability of UP to grow volume and take Share over the next 5 or 10 years. Thanks. Speaker 401:04:23Yes. In terms of the real estate transaction, Ari, it was a fiber optics deal. Speaker 101:04:29And Ari, thank you very much for the question and the opportunity to reflect just a moment. If I look back Over the last 8 years now working on year 9, the things I am most proud of is what we as a team have accomplished in terms of moving our transportation plan to a PSR model, Doing that over the course of the last 4 years and doing it in a way where our customers weren't damaged by the transition, they were benefited I think we've done stupendous work on sustainability as I mentioned in my opening comments. We've done terrific work on diversity, To be able to grow, we've got a wonderful stable of partners, IMCs that are world class in Hub, And Schneider and Knight Swift and XPO and its current form. So I'm really, really pleased with As I look into the future, we are poised to be able to grow. We have to be consistent Reliable in our service product. Speaker 101:05:49That means we have to get our 5 critical resources right all the time. We got one of them wrong last year, part our issue and part the fact that the world blew up to a degree. But we have to Be stable and consistent for our customers. They tell us they want that and they will grow with us as we deliver that. So I know the growth potential is there. Speaker 101:06:13Their supply chains want to use rail more and the concept is really simple and straightforward. It's in our strategy, serve with consistent reliable service, grow with service product and products that meet our customers' needs, Do that in a way where we are the provider of choice, the partner of choice that allows us to win in the marketplace and do it together With all 4 of our stakeholders being benefited from it, we think the strategy is sound and we're ready and executing on it. Speaker 1601:06:48Great. Thank you and congratulations. Speaker 101:06:51Thanks, Ari. Operator01:06:53The next question is from the line of David Vernon with Bernstein. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 501:06:59Hey, good morning. Jennifer, a couple of questions for you. Within the guidance You're giving for a full year OR improvement. Is that all just the mechanics of fuel or is there some improvement in the underlying business? And then as you think about costs from 2022 to 2023 on a full year basis, can you give us some sort of absolute numbers around Inflation and what added cost is being put in there for PTO and additional enhancements to the competition package? Speaker 401:07:29So in terms of our inflation guide, we said 4% was our inflation guide for 2023 and we said on the employee The comp for employee would be up mid single digits and those things still hold and that takes into account what we have negotiated for and plan to negotiate In terms of how we're going to get there and how we're going to improve, It really is the basis for the service product, the pricing, fuel will be a component. I mean, it obviously is But we have the other levers and that's where we're very much focused. Fuel is going to be what it's going to be. We're going to go after those items that we have the greater control over. That's winning new business, pricing it appropriately and moving it efficiently. Speaker 501:08:22And then maybe, Eric, just as a quick follow-up, as you think about the FTE count for the full year, where are you sort of targeting the business to be At year end 2023? Speaker 401:08:34I think Lance already answered that question. Our hiring levels for this We came into the year assuming that they were going to be roughly similar to last year. Attrition is roughly similar in terms of what happens in the back half. Operator01:08:55Thank you. Our final question today is from the line of Hiram Nathan with Sidotiwala. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 1701:09:02Hi, thanks for squeezing me in. I just Had a question on the EV penetration. And as do you need to does UP need to make investments given the fire risk Of batteries within EVs? Speaker 201:09:19I will say that we have not seen that risk right now. We have very close relationship with the EV leaders. We have enjoyed growth there. Our ramps We are prepared to handle those EVs and then we're looking at the forecast and the size and what we need to do, if anything, from an investment perspective, Make sure that we can efficiently move those off and on the ramp and do it safely. Speaker 101:09:45Yes, this is Jerome. I think fundamentally the answer is We have not seen a shift in risk based on our shipments of EVs. Speaker 1701:09:56Okay, great. Thank you. Speaker 101:09:57Thank you. Operator01:09:59Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. And I'd like to turn the floor back over to Mr. Lance Fritz Speaker 101:10:07And thank you, Rob, and thank you all for joining us today and for your questions. We're looking forward to talking with our owners again in May at our annual Until then, take care. Operator01:10:18This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. 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