The cost of inefficiency, waste, and assorted mishaps at UP surpassed $600 million, or nearly 1.5 times total profits. For example, UP customers rejected boxcars as faulty 10 percent of the time. Thus, despite record earn- ings, return on assets was an anemic 5.5 percent, which meant the railroad was not earning its real cost of capi- tal. As a result, the parent company was investing cash in trucking and hazardous waste material businesses and thinking about selling off UP assets.