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Although weak international demand caused Union Pacific Railroad’s intermodal traffic to decline 12 percent to 3 million units in 2009, the Class I set an annual domestic intermodal volume record of 1.25 million units. The previous record of 1.19 million units was set in 2007.

The introduction of 43 new truck-competitive services enabled the railroad to capture freight that previously moved over the highway, UP officials said in a prepared statement. The Class I also generated additional business from the Hub Group Inc., Pacer International and other large domestic intermodal customers.

In addition to the volume record, UP marked another achievement in 2009 by providing “perfect” peak-season service to United Parcel Service (UPS) for the second-consecutive year. Between the Tuesday following Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, the Class I delivered 100 percent of UPS’ freight — totaling thousands of carloads — without a sorting failure, according to UP.

BNSF Railway Co. achieved a “perfect” peak-season mark from UPS, as well. During the 27-day period, the Class I registered zero service failures. Similar to UP, BNSF overcame several weather- and equipment-related challenges to keep trains operating on time.