Hunter Harrison at CSX

Zeke wrote:CSX = Crash...Spill...Explode

If only explode started with an x.....rolling eyes

In CSX's defense..
-Biloxi will probably take a lawsuit to assign responsibility. I submit that most of the responsibility lies with a bus driver who didn't consider his clearance limitation and got stuck on a posted but badly designed crossing,
-Newburgh was the result of the engine hitting a forklift that did not clear the tracks.

Not sure what CSX can do to mitigate short notice track blockages other that decrease running speeds. One report on Batavia suggested high winds caused the derailment; maybe management should have forseen that. Blue Island articles did not indicate a root cause.

Nice way to welcome the new boss..

spatcher wrote:

Zeke wrote:CSX = Crash...Spill...Explode

If only explode started with an x.....rolling eyes

Or how say we express it as CSX = Crash....Spill....eXplode

But regrettably, to end on a more somber note.

Mr. Lincoln, regarding Biloxi, even though the Plaintiff attorneys smell fresh meat and deep pockets, they will not wait for anything like the NTSB to issue a Final Report, let alone a Preliminary. The blame arising from the incident cannot properly be assessed until such investigation is complete.

Attorneys, take note.

Financial Express

New CSX CEO Hunter Harrison eyes yard closures, truckers’ market share to lift profits
...
His ability to squeeze railroads’ profits by shutting yards, cutting employees and driving efficiency using “precision railroading” is another, which is why Harrison, 72, will likely cost CSX $300 million for a four-year contract.

He takes the helm of America’s third-largest railroad at a time when revenue from coal, CSX’s most lucrative commodity, has fallen by a third from 2014 to 2016 and the company’s cumulative job cuts since 2012 are approaching 20 percent of its workforce.
...
Despite operating improvements, CSX remains the least profitable major North American railroad.
...
But he has also noted that Harrison, Morningstar’s 2013 “CEO of the Year,” slashed Canadian Pacific’s operating ratio – operating expenses as a percentage of revenue, a key metric of railroad profitability for Wall Street – to under 59 percent in 2016, from more than 81 percent in 2011.
CSX’s operating ratio was nearly 70 percent in 2016.
...

What lines do you think will get spunoff? What types of further employee cuts will he make?

Some good information can be found here:
http://cs.trains.com/trn/b/fred-frailey ... t-csx.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I suspect a number of hump yards will be closed, some lines will be sold and some help will go. Exactly what is kind of hard to tell right now. I wouldn't be surprised if nearly every hump yard was closed down. I think the trains might be more predictable and maybe longer. I think it will be interesting to watch, stay tune.
Noel Weaver

Any chance they might actually start buying from EMD again?

ekt8750 wrote:Any chance they might actually start buying from EMD again?

I kind of doubt if they will buy any new locomotives in quantity anytime soon. Just my opinion.
Noel Weaver

ekt8750 wrote:Any chance they might actually start buying from EMD again?

EMD's lack of reliability, performance, pricing and financing have left it a bit player in the locomotive market. Carriers will buy from EMD for one reason only - to keep GE honest and prevent a total monopoly of the US locomotive market. If and it is a big if, EMD can build and support a demonstrably superior locomotive at a more than competitive price and financing they may be able to claw back a legitimate portion of the locomotive market.

Figure on a large sell off of unneeded real estate for redevelopment,as major yards are closed.

Noel Weaver wrote:

ekt8750 wrote:Any chance they might actually start buying from EMD again?

I kind of doubt if they will buy any new locomotives in quantity anytime soon. Just my opinion.
Noel Weaver

Most of the Class I's are in the same boat after 10+ years of binge-buying brand new intermodal corridor power, so that's an industry-wide purchase slowdown and not anything unique to CSX. CP was going through the same draw-down in pace of purchasing in HH's last years there, too, so it has more to do with the comedown from an industry-wide procurement high than it does with any biz nuts-and-bolts specific to one Class I over another. Most of them have such a glut of displaced/rebuild power being passed around the leaser market like Pez candy or stacked like cordwood in-storage to cover every fluctuation in the leaser market. There's little financial incentive for new rounds of big strategic procurements for the rest of this decade and first few years of the 20's. Tradin' the proverbial baseball cards pretty much will cover all foreseeable needs until the 1st-gen SD's/GP's of the Johnson & Nixon Administrations finally pass out of respectability for any further rebuild on Class I/II rosters and disperse fully down to their next lifecycle as III's/shortline mainstays. GE's got more money to make in the next decade selling parts & re-power kits for its last 30 years' worth of installed base than it does pushing new units, and is acting the part with its quiet product catalog of late. Don't know where that leaves EMD since they coughed up the market lead long ago and have a whole lot less 1990's-and-newer stuff to supply-chain for upcoming rebuilds, but they don't have a choice but to play in the same boat because the market is what it is for the foreseeable future.

Backshophoss wrote:Figure on a large sell off of unneeded real estate for redevelopment,as major yards are closed.

Yep! Forestall any capacity enhancements before they are needed and price them out of reality when they are needed.

It is expensive to retain qualified CEO's and you want them to have performance based compensation.

I am hopeful CSX will see positive improvements going forward,

railfan1928 wrote:What lines do you think will get spunoff? What types of further employee cuts will he make?

Some good information can be found here:
http://cs.trains.com/trn/b/fred-frailey ... t-csx.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Can't comment on specific line closures or employee cuts. I do know CSX was looking to sell off less utilized routes like Tampa, Florida for commuter rail for instance and retain usage rights,

I have been on CSX tracks on Amtrak, The NY to Florida route uses mostly CSX tracks after you leave the Northeastern Corridor Amtrak tracks,

Apparently railroad is stil used for less time sensitive deliveries, With All Aboard Florida making use of thr FEC class 2 railroad tracks in Florida with improvements that will even affect the freight rails, CSX tracks have a lot of potential if they improve the infrastructure on the route and perhaps work with other firms in the private sector to sell land or whatnot.

A CEO change for CSX at this time is a very positive move and I believe CSX has loads of untapped potential for improved rail in the USA.

I really wonder how different the CSX system map is going to look like in a few years after Hunter has made his changes. How much of the webs in the middle will be gone? Is it fair to say Hunter might be trying to boil CSX down to a triangular system? PHL/NY-FL-CHI?