JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX CEO Joe Hinrichs has asked train crews to pitch in to help the railroad dig out of congestion.
“When I joined CSX, I said it clearly, our front-line railroaders are the ones who create the value our customers pay for,” Hinrichs wrote in a system notice sent to employees on Friday evening. “I also said we needed to improve the service we provide to our customers to help us grow the business. Both those comments have never been more true than right now.”
Hinrichs said “it is no secret” that the CSX network has slowed down after a string of harsh weather events and the impact of detouring trains around two major projects: The rebuilding of the Blue Ridge Subdivision and the Howard Street Tunnel clearance project in Baltimore.
“We are seeing an increase in customer orders in some sectors of our customer base. So we are adding service, running more trains, and putting more locomotives to work to meet that demand and get our yards cleared,” Hinrichs wrote.
CSX was already struggling to recover from a Jan. 21 winter storm that hit the Southeast and Gulf Coast when the Howard Street Tunnel was shut down on Feb. 1 for a planned clearance project that will last six to eight months.
After the tunnel was closed, terminal dwell rose and average train speed fell. Congestion spread to main lines as trains were held out of congested yards. The railroad’s velocity and dwell performance metrics were largely unchanged in the most recent data, but CSX was making progress on working down the backlog of cars that had not moved in 48 hours or more, Rick Paterson, an analyst with Loop Capital Markets, wrote in a note to clients on Friday.
“We have a real opportunity to show our customers what we are capable of as a ONE CSX team! It is also an opportunity for train and engine crews in particular to take on more work and earn more as we respond to our customers’ needs,” Hinrichs wrote.
“Together, working safely and efficiently, we are going to get this done! We all know what we are capable of. We have dramatically improved our Trip Plan Compliance before,” Hinrichs wrote. “Getting back to the high standards our customers deserve will take all of us, pulling together as ONE CSX team.”
Share this article
