On June 25, 2025, about 12:33 p.m. local time, a Union Pacific Railroad conductor was seriously injured while riding the lead tank car during a shoving movement on the industry lead track at the Chief Ethanol Fuels facility in Lexington, Nebraska. The Union Pacific Railroad switching crew was in the process of shoving 25 empty rail cars into the facility when the accident occurred. The conductor was struck when the lead tank car sideswiped a stationary trackmobile fouling the industry lead track. Emergency medical responders airlifted the conductor to a hospital in Kearney, Nebraska.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the June 25, 2025, accident was the Union Pacific Railroad conductor’s failure to control the shoving movement in accordance with the General Code of Operating Rules by stopping short of an obstruction that was fouling the industry lead track and not identifying the potential hazard created by riding the lead tank car on the side passing in close proximity to equipment on an adjacent track. Contributing to the accident was the improper placement of the trackmobile by Chief Ethanol Fuels personnel beyond the clearance point, creating a close clearance hazard on the industry lead track, and the lack of standardized railroad operating rules training for those personnel.
Railroad conductors face increased risk of death and injury when riding equipment during shoving movements. Of the 20 conductor fatalities reported to the Federal Railroad Administration between January 2020 and July 2025, 14 involved conductors riding trains during shoving movements (FRA Safety Data, n.d.). The National Transportation Safety Board’s safety alert, Shoving Movements: Avoid the Risks issued on November 5, 2025, discusses the steps conductors and railroads can take to increase safety during shoving movements.
