Josh Funk

Stay informed with Josh Funk’s coverage and analysis for Fortune.

Page 10 of 13

  • Smoke rises after an explosion at Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard in North Platte, Neb., Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023. An explosion Thursday inside a shipping container generated toxic smoke and forced evacuations. (Melanie Standiford/Midwest Media via AP)Environment

    Explosion at the world’s largest railyard in Nebraska releases ‘heavy toxic smoke’, triggering evacuations

    By Josh Funk and The Associated Press
  • Union PacificLeadership

    The Feds’ top railroad cop just wrote to Union Pacific saying spot checks found defects were twice the national average this summer

    By Josh Funk and The Associated Press
  • FILE – A maintenance worker walks on the side of a locomotive in the Union Pacific Railroad fueling yard in north Denver, Oct. 18, 2006. Federal inspectors found an alarming number of defects in the locomotives and railcars Union Pacific was using at the world’s largest rail yard in North Platte, Neb., this summer and the railroad was reluctant to fix the problems. Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose wrote a letter to UP’s top three executives Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, expressing his concern that the defects represent a “significant risk to rail safety on the Union Pacific’ railroad.” (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)Finance

    Federal inspectors warn of ‘significant risk to rail safety’ after reporting alarming number of Union Pacific defects

    By Josh Funk and The Associated Press
  • Ian Jefferies, president and chief executive officer at the Association of American RailroadsPolitics

    Railroad giants slam the brakes on safety hotline because they want to be able to discipline staff who use it

    By Josh Funk and The Associated Press
  • Norfolk Southern crashFinance

    Norfolk Southern and other big railroads claim they encourage safety and transparency—but nearly 800 whistleblower complaints say otherwise

    By Josh Funk and The Associated Press
  • Norfolk Southern derailmentEnvironment

    The fiery Ohio train derailment is turning into a finger-pointing legal fight as Norfolk Southern slaps supplier with lawsuit

    By Josh Funk and The Associated Press
  • Alan Shaw, Misti AllisonPolitics

    The federal government’s failure to ensure that trains won’t derail and create fiery toxic messes has states rolling up their sleeves and regulating

    By Marc Levy, Josh Funk, and others
  • Keith Drabick, Drew McCartyPolitics

    Railroad safety standards have gotten so bad the NTSB is beginning to question the whole concept of self-regulation

    By Josh Funk and The Associated Press
  • WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 22: Alan Shaw, CEO of Norfolk Southern, testifies before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on March 22, 2023 in Washington, DC. The committee heard testimony on “Improving Rail Safety in response to the East Palestine Derailment”. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)Success

    Norfolk Southern is first railroad to give all workers sick days—like most other industries have done for decades

    By Josh Funk and The Associated Press
  • FILE – Cars wait for a train to pass, in Valley, Neb., Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2007. With the rail industry relying on longer and longer trains to cut costs, the Biden administration is handing out $570 million in grants to help eliminate railroad crossings in 32 states. The grants announced Monday, June 5, 2023 will help eliminate more than three dozen crossings that delay traffic and sometimes keep first responders from where help is desperately needed. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)Finance

    Biden administration will hand out $570 million in grants to help eliminate dangerous railroad crossings in 32 states

    By Josh Funk and The Associated Press
  • Randi BerghorstSuccess

    A railroad’s former employee of the year claims her decades of promotions came to a screeching halt after she came out as trans

    By Josh Funk and The Associated Press
  • Greg Abel, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Energy Co., center, speaks with attendees before the start of the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S., on Saturday, May 6, 2017. Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, said during the company’s investors gathering that he’s more inclined than usual this year to sell some assets because the tax advantage could soon diminish for divesting securities at a loss. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesFinance

    Warren Buffett’s hand-picked successor will have big shoes to fill in someday replacing the 92-year-old investing icon: ‘He’s not going to screw this up’

    By Josh Funk and The Associated Press
  • FILE – A worker rides a rail car at a BNSF rail crossing in Saginaw, Texas, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022. Tens of thousands of engineers remain frustrated with the lack of paid sick time and the demands railroads like BNSF are making in negotiations despite the progress that has been made in 2023 with sick time deals for most of the other rail unions. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)Politics

    Many railroad workers have won paid sick leave but unions say companies are asking for too much in return

    By Josh Funk and The Associated Press
  • Warren BuffettFinance

    Warren Buffett reveals he basically didn’t think anything was worth buying last quarter

    By Josh Funk and The Associated Press
  • FILE – A worker heads into the JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley, Colo., Oct. 12, 2020. Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI), the slaughterhouse cleaning company that was found to be employing more than 100 children to help sanitize dangerous razor-sharp cutting equipment like bone saws, has continued to lose contracts with the major meat producers since the investigation became public in the fall of 2022. Cargill, Tyson Foods and JBS have all terminated contracts with PSSI at at least some of their plants. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)Success

    A slaughterhouse cleaning company that used more than 100 children as workers keeps losing contracts with big companies

    By Josh Funk and The Associated Press