Jim Vena

They cited concerns about reduced rail competition, higher costs, and insufficient shipper protections.

The groups also highlighted a reported comment by Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena suggesting rates could rise for shippers that do not support the merger.

Union Pacific maintains that individual customer views should carry more weight.

While Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern argue the merger would create a faster, simpler transcontinental network.

Hamon joined Union Pacific in nineteen ninety-two and has served as CFO since January twenty twenty.

Following leadership roles in finance, human resources, marketing and sales, investor relations, and corporate audit.

Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena credited her with guiding the company's finances through major challenges in supporting its strategy.

Hamon was the first woman to serve as the railroad's CFO and was executive sponsor of its women's employee resource group.

They have been-- UP has a long history of doing everything they can to evade, delay actually putting those into practice or making them uneconomic.

So I was a little surprised to hear Jim Vena say that out loud.

That, well, this is what I'll do.

I'll just make it uncompetitive [laughs] through rates.

And if you can do that, I think it, you can, we're showing today, you can convert over the road to rail.

Okay.

Um, any other thoughts, uh, uh, about the merger and, and, and w-what BNSF might want? Or suppose, uh, Jim Vena called to Katie tomorrow, uh, Katie Farmer, the BNSF CEO, and said, "Let's talk." What would that conversation go like? What, what would BNSF want besides what it's already asked for or said it plans to ask for, uh, when that deadline arrives?

arrives?I would not venture to characterize that fictional conversation [laughs] in any way, shape, or form.

We kick things off on the rails, where the CEO behind the industry's most ambitious mega merger is making an extraordinarily bold prediction.

Union Pacific Chief Executive Jim Vena said he is 99.99% confident that regulators will approve the railroad's proposed $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern.

Speaking with Fox Business News on October 6th, Vena defended the massive consolidation against fierce opposition from labor unions, agricultural groups, and competing railroads.

He argued that joining the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern networks could save customers 24 to 48 hours by eliminating interchange delays on freight moving between the Western and Eastern United States.

You know, how do we embrace the technology without being taken over or overrun or, or spending needlessly on it? And there's a huge merger that is being applied for, and so that was a focus of our conversations.

We had both, uh, Katie Farmer from BNSF, who is anti-merger, and Jim Vena from the Union Pacific, who is pro-merger.

They spoke one after the other on our main stage, and so you can imagine they have completely different takes on how, in particular, how to grow and sustain growth in intermodal.

intermodal.All right.

Excellent.

Well, Kari, we, uh, we all just came out of a great session with, with Jim Vena.

Yes.

Um, I- it was a lot of fun.