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Western Railroad Discussion > UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place"Date: 10/17/19 16:37 UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: Marcus UP released it's third quarter earnings and held a conference call with financial analysts.
Perhaps, the financial world doesn't think UP is changing fast enough. Exchange between Walter Spracklin, of RBC Capital Markets. and UP COO Jim Vena on the financial analyst conference call. Mr. Vena refers to UP's 3Q19 performance; OR 59.5 5700 less employees (FTE) 3Q19 vs. 3Q18, or 13 % less Volume down 8 % 3Q19 vs. 3Q18 2600 locomotives parked. Walter Spracklin: Okay. And then just following up on the pace, Jim, of PSR adoption, in the past we have always noted it to be very fast, very significant early on. This quarter compared to Q2 was effectively flattish, obviously, we were expecting a little bit better given you had a lot of flood impacts in the second quarter, hoping for a bit more of a improved third quarter relative to the second quarter. I don’t want to answer it for you, but obviously prior PSR implementation generally has been done in a nice strong economy and growth environment. Is that the reason why we are seeing a bit more of a muted pace in the early execution or is there another reason? Jim Vena: Son of a gun, I am telling you, Walter. So 5,700 FTEs, 13% drop versus volume 8%, train length up 16%, dwell time dropped, freight velocity up, workforce productivity on a dropping business model better, so if that’s average, son of a gun, I want average again next quarter, okay? That’s the way I look at it. I think we have got to be smart about it. We don’t want to blow up the place. I could have parked a thousand locomotives the first day I showed up. I am not going to do that. I think it’s a long game and I don’t mean long by years, but it’s a long game, do it right. Get the right product and this whole intermodal discussion, it’s a great question, and this is where we want to be. We want to be where we have a very efficient railroad. We are able to open up new markets. We are able to beat the competition which is other railroads and truck and bring more product in without dropping our price. So that’s the game we are playing. I am excited about it, Walter, and you are a tough, your kids must hate coming home with their score cards, you are a tough marker. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/19 16:41 by Marcus. Date: 10/17/19 17:08 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: Juniata Spracklin may be in Toronto but; he’s essentially just another short sighted Wall Street ass.
On another note; is there any more demoralizing acronym than “FTE’s”? Over 5,000 people lost their jobs so the money changers on Wall Street can be somewhat mollified for another three months - lets not simply dismiss that many lives suddenly disrupted by referring to them as “FTE’s”. Posted from iPhone Date: 10/17/19 17:45 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: pdt Spraklin sounds like an absolute jerk. Its all about short term money for him now. Has no understanding or care about the long game.....total lack of maturity.
Date: 10/17/19 17:50 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: PHall These guys think in 90 day blocks only. To them long range planning, if they know what it is, is 1 year.
Date: 10/17/19 18:27 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: Lackawanna484 PHall Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > These guys think in 90 day blocks only. To them > long range planning, if they know what it is, is 1 > year. A good company, well managed, with a visible growth trajectory, will often transcend tweets, industry upsets, and other events which cause analysts or share owners to panic. Having a longer investment horizon than "the herd" can suggest opportunities not obvious to those with very short attention spans. (Saving / Reading analyst reports to see what they said six months ago, a year ago, etc can be revelatory, as well. Guys were burying Apple in the mid 190s, and explaining why it was toast. Sell, get out of it. The same guys are pounding the table to buy at 230 per share.) Date: 10/17/19 18:52 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: callum_out Damn mule, was doing so well, we doubled the load it was carrying and the darn thing had
the nerve to die. Out Date: 10/17/19 20:15 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: TheNavigator Too bad that Warren bought BNSF instead of Uncle Pete. Now they have to defend themselves against myopic know-nothings like this Spracklin person.
GK Date: 10/17/19 20:28 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: DD40 When Berkshire bought BNSF rather than hometown UP, it made me wonder what was the reason. There was something either very negative to UP or very positive to BNSF. Mr. Rose was always singled out in the Berkshire annual meeting so was he and his team the reason? Without his guidance, what now?
Date: 10/17/19 20:29 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: sphogger Grant’s analysis:
Grantspub.com click on the “Almost Daily Grant’s” graphic, 3rd Box from the left. October 17, “Mystery Train” Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/19 20:50 by sphogger. Date: 10/17/19 20:36 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: SantaFe Blow up it....to late for that.
Posted from iPhone Date: 10/17/19 20:48 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: The-late-EMD U.P. might as well exit the railroad business in stick to real estate and what ever esle they own.
Posted from Android Date: 10/17/19 21:16 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: PHall TheNavigator Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > Too bad that Warren bought BNSF instead of Uncle > Pete. Now they have to defend themselves against > myopic know-nothings like this Spracklin person. > GK They buy well managed companies. Kinda tells you what they thought of UP management. Date: 10/17/19 21:24 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: SantaFeRuss Dumb and heartless Wall Street son of a bitch.
SantaFeRuss Posted from Android Date: 10/17/19 21:41 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: CarolVoss DD40 Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > When Berkshire bought BNSF rather than hometown > UP, it made me wonder what was the reason. There > was something either very negative to UP or very > positive to BNSF. Mr. Rose was always singled out > in the Berkshire annual meeting so was he and his > team the reason? Without his guidance, what now? > > I always thought Buffet was buying Matt Rose as a possible successor to him— apparently not but nonetheless I am certainly happy with the performance of my original BNSF stock which is now Berkshire B. Carol Voss Bakersfield, CA Date: 10/17/19 21:57 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: Drknow The UP is on fire.
Posted from iPhone Date: 10/18/19 00:35 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: needles_sub SantaFeRuss Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > Dumb and heartless Wall Street son of a bitch. > > SantaFeRuss > > Posted from Android This is capitalism and free enterprise. This what made america great. If some people lose their jobs, so be it. The company and investers are all that counts. Date: 10/18/19 04:34 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: Korigaoka1811 needles_sub Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > SantaFeRuss Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Dumb and heartless Wall Street son of a bitch. > > > > SantaFeRuss > > > > Posted from Android > > > This is capitalism and free enterprise. This what > made america great. > If some people lose their jobs, so be it. The > company and investers are all that counts. People? People??? They are not people. They are FTEs! John Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/19 05:33 by Korigaoka1811. Date: 10/18/19 04:34 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: gbmott CarolVoss Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > I always thought Buffet was buying Matt Rose as a > possible successor to him— apparently not but > nonetheless I am certainly happy with the > performance of my original BNSF stock which is now > Berkshire B. Ditto. Meantime good for Jim Vena for calling out this guy. My problem is being old enough to remember when people bought stock because of the dividends and held onto it intending to pass it along to their grandchildren. Management made decisions based on what would ensure a strong company that would continue to pay dividends over the long term. Now it's all about tomorrow's stock price; people don't hold a stock long enough to ever see a dividend. OK, end of rant. Gordon Date: 10/18/19 06:50 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: Bob3985 Gordon is right and my thoughts are that, ok, we laid off 5700 employees and our stock went up but how do those employees afford raising families and surviving in an ever increasing cost of services and products by flipping burgers at McDonald's. We are already in an economy that requires most familes to have both parents working to be able to afford a family. I can see the results of the tariffs every day as the train count drops thru Cheyenne and that is taking in the extreme train lengths.
Yes I am old and can remember a day when we had over 100 trains thru here in a 24 hour period with full crews. And I understand changes were inevitable but where does it end? They are down to the point that the only profit increases they can make are greater marketing increases or fewer employees to pay. But as I said who will be able to earn enough to purchase what they are hauling? Bob Krieger Cheyenne, WY Date: 10/18/19 07:37 Re: UP COO Jim Vena: "We don’t want to blow up the place" Author: Walla183 needles_sub Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > SantaFeRuss Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Dumb and heartless Wall Street son of a bitch. > > > > SantaFeRuss > > > > Posted from Android > > > This is capitalism and free enterprise. This what > made america great. > If some people lose their jobs, so be it. The > company and investers are all that counts. Capitalism and free enterprise combined with Main Street was what made America great. Main street has been replaced with corporate greed, nothing more. Those 5k + employees who lost jobs, guess what? The actual losses compound throughout their communities. I've watched out a local plant closure has decimated the community, businesses closing, crime and drug use skyrocketing. And all so corporation A can claim an extra $0.01 of profit that quarter. |