Union Pacific stays on track with Carrier

Union Pacific relies on the proven track record and cutting-edge technology of Carrirer

Of the three major classes of rail fleets in North America, class one rail fleets are the largest, with revenues over $260 million and control of nearly 44 percent of all freight cars in operation. The largest class one rail line is Union Pacific — and it recently awarded Carrier an order for Ultima™ units to retrofit part of its aging refrigerated boxcar fleet.

Presenting its "Complete Package" of equipment and mobile service support to Union Pacific, Carrier outbid some stiff competition for the multimillion-dollar project. But it was the hard work of key individuals, the company's impressive rail refrigeration experience and its state-of-the-art Advance™ control system and DataTrak™ feature that helped seal the deal. The agreement also has the potential for additional units to be purchased over the next four years.

"Union Pacific is updating its fleet of older refrigerated boxcars, ranging anywhere from 20 to 30 years old, by converting them from split systems to nose-mount," said Doug Moore, Carrier's manager of national accounts for intermodal and rail sales and service. "Updating the cars with our Ultima units will give Union Pacific several benefits, including better temperature performance, lighter weight, remote monitoring capabilities, less fuel consumption and lower maintenance costs."

Proven Track Record

The Ultima units boast sophisticated service features and industry-leading technology. In addition to the UltraFresh™ temperature control feature that comes standard on the units, they also feature the Advance microprocessor equipped with DataTrak to provide

unparalleled functionality to connect with state-of-the-art communications systems like the one offered by StarTrak™ This satellite system is factory-installed by Carrier on each Union Pacific unit and can be used to monitor unattended rail cars to ensure superior performance. Using Advance, DataTrak™ and StarTrak, Union Pacifgic can also enable functions such as on/off, pre-trip inspections, set-point changes and defrost initiation to be performed remotely via the Internet. "Carrier's RailCare service package and Advance™ microprocessor technology are very attractive features," said Rex Beck, director of freight car planning, standards and p