• TPM25 | March 2-5, 2025
  • TPM25
  • March 2-5, 2025 | Long Beach Convention Center

Beth Whited

Union Pacific Railroad

President

Beth Whited is a railroad industry leader and the first female president in the history of Union Pacific. Her experience includes leadership roles in disciplines that touch nearly every part of operating the world’s largest freight rail network.

Over the past 35 years, Whited has led multiple functions across Union Pacific, spanning Strategy, Marketing and Sales, Sustainability, Finance, Investor Relations and Workforce Resources. As executive vice president-Sustainability and Strategy, she helped lead the development and implementation of Union Pacific’s strategic vision as it strives to become the nation’s No. 1 supply chain logistics provider while guiding its efforts to reach net zero by 2050.

Whited’s team led historic labor negotiations, securing unprecedented quality of life and paid sick leave agreements for Union Pacific’s craft professionals. As part of her Marketing and Sales leadership positions, she led the department for two years, the Chemicals business for four years and served as president of subsidiary Union Pacific Distribution Services.

Whited’s industry-leading efforts have been recognized through a myriad of awards, including the 2021 Railway Woman of the Year by the League of Railway Women and Progressive Railroading, and Constellation Research’s ESG50 List reflecting her commitment to sustainability. Additionally, Union Pacific was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, underscoring its environmental and sustainability efforts.

Engaged in both business and community activities, Whited is a member of the Board of Directors of RPM International Inc., serving on the Compensation Committee. She’s a member of the Humanities Nebraska Board, the Omaha Symphony Board and the Aksarben Foundation Board of Governors. She was a founding member and former president of Union Pacific’s LEAD (Lead, Educate, Achieve, Develop) women’s initiative.

Whited graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Iowa. She and her husband Kelvin have three children.

Sessions With Beth Whited

Monday, 4 March

  • 02:00pm - 02:30pm (PST) / 04/mar/2024 10:00 pm - 04/mar/2024 10:30 pm

    A Conversation With Union Pacific President Beth Whited
    When the inevitable rebound in international intermodal volume occurs, the Class 1 North American railroads’ performance will be under a microscope. Intermodal service was consistent and reliable in 2022, but was it only because volume was weak? Or have railroads learned their lessons from 2020-2022 and will handle volume surges better going forward? Many are worried that nothing has changed and, when West Coast port volume surges again, so will the crippling congestion at on-dock rail facilities and inland terminals in Chicago, Dallas, Memphis, and Kansas City. Union Pacific has made several investments to address how cargo owners are diversifying their supply chains. It has begun new service with Ferromex in Mexico, connecting shippers to the Midwest and Southeast US. It has begun new service between Port Houston and several Midwest destinations. It also has opened a new international intermodal terminal in Phoenix to capture some short-haul traffic from the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach. The new services not only aim to take traffic off the highways but also to serve customers who are concerned about their carbon footprints. In this much-anticipated session, Journal of Commerce senior editor Ari Ashe will sit down with Union Pacific president Beth Whited to discuss these issues and how UP will keep the freight flowing in 2024.
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