Railway Rundown: Spotlight on CSX, Norfolk Southern, and RailState

CSX beefs up industrial development program, NS reaches sick leave deal and RailState names advisory board member

CSX has beefed up its industrial development program (Photo: Jim Allen)

CSX reconfigures network operations and service design teams, adds to site selection program

CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) recently restructured its operations team and introduced additional features to its industrial development program to support potential partner companies. Jamie Boychuk, Senior Vice President of Operations, announced last week that the company would merge its network operations and service design teams into one unified group. This shift entails a reconfiguration of leadership roles, with Casey Albright receiving a promotion from Vice President of Service Design to Senior Vice President of Network Operations and Service Design. Albright will now take on numerous network operations tasks previously managed by Brian Barr, who has since joined Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP).

Guy Sequin will become Vice President of Network Operations, Chantel Goutcher will assume the role of Head of Service Design, and Wally Siergua will serve as General Manager of the Operations Service Group. They will report to Albright. Lauden DeAlexandris, Daniel Deboer, and Wendy Schroeder will continue to report to Albright in their current positions.

Boychuk added that the intermodal operations of CSX, led by General Manager Marcelo Estrada, will now report to Senior Vice President of Operations Ricky Johnson.

CSX revealed enhancements to its industrial site selection program in a separate announcement. The company has developed searchable criteria and a system that enables prospective businesses to evaluate the degree to which various sites meet their needs. These particular locations are close to CSX's network and can be developed rapidly for industrial purposes. On the basis of size and screening, each rail-served site has been categorized into one of four levels: platinum, gold, silver, and bronze.

Due to their greater than 100-acre size and prior screening, thirteen sites have been designated as premium. CSX and Austin Consulting worked together to develop the select site program. In addition, CSX has incorporated Global Location Strategies (GLS) tools into its site selection program, which provide data on a site's characteristics, acreage, utility infrastructure, and environmental, social, and governance factors.

CSX Vice President of Real Estate and Industrial Development Christina Bottomley stated that factors such as sustainability and shortening supply chains by bringing manufacturing back to the United States are driving increased interest in the economic and environmental benefits of rail. The Select Site program is another way in which CSX collaborates with businesses to achieve their objectives.

Norfolk Southern reaches sick leave agreement with another union

Norfolk Southern has successfully negotiated a sick leave arrangement with the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Blacksmiths (IBBB). This agreement mirrors other recent sick leave deals with other unions, offering four days of paid sick leave annually and the option to utilize three more days of existing paid time off for sick leave purposes.

Alan Shaw, NS President and CEO, stated in a news release last week, "We continue to work together with our unions to enhance the quality of life for our craft railroaders. Our railroaders play a crucial role in advancing the American economy, and these new agreements further ensure they have ample time to focus on their personal health and well-being."

With this agreement, NS now has agreements with nine of its twelve unions, affecting approximately 6,000 employees. The National Conference of Firemen and Oilers, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way – Employes Division, the mechanical department of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers are among the other organizations that have reached agreements.

As reported by NS, the American Association of Train Dispatchers and the Transportation Communications Union have already negotiated paid sick leave benefits.

RailState adds BNSF veteran to advisory board

Dean Wise, former Vice President of Network Strategy at BNSF (NYSE: BRK.B), has been appointed to the advisory board of rail network visibility solutions provider RailState. Wise is the current leader of a consulting firm serving the transportation, logistics, infrastructure, and geospatial industries. According to a RailState press release, Wise played a significant role in BNSF's strategy process, transformational technology initiatives, and the development of non-freight rail uses including fiber optics, cell towers, and electric transmission lines.

Wise, who has 32 years of industry and consulting experience, served as President and Managing Partner of Norbridge, a Massachusetts-based freight transport and logistics company. RailState's sensor network, located at least 100 feet from the right-of-way of a railroad track, captures and processes images of passing rail cars, collecting data on individual trains, including the number and types of rail cars.

In his 45-year career in transportation and logistics, Wise acknowledged that data quality for effective planning has been a persistent challenge. He emphasized that RailState's unique insights offer various stakeholders a new dimension of supply chain visibility. John Schmitter, co-founder and chief commercial officer of RailState, lauded Wise as an innovative thinker and strategist who understands the challenges customers face and the transformative impact of the right technology on businesses.

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