Ulrich CN and CP turned out fine after EHH's tenure there.. why would CSX be any different? I don't understand the dislike for this man.
CN and CP turned out fine after EHH's tenure there.. why would CSX be any different? I don't understand the dislike for this man.
First off, neither carrier really turned out fine until after new management had a chance to repair the damage to customer service and employee morale after EHH left, as a matter of fact, CP is still trying to fix those issues. CN has had plenty of time to right the ship since EHH left, so they're in a much better position today than when he first left. Instead of just going by what EHH says perhaps you should listen to railroaders and shippers, not to investors and hedge funds(neither of which know a damn thing about how to run a railroad, but certainly know how to make a cash grab).
jeffhergertArticle is about 3 years old. http://www.canadianbusiness.com/companies-and-industries/forward-fast/ Quote from the linked article. In the full article, this quote appears towards the end of it. "Shippers’ advocacy groups are hardly convinced, though. “When Hunter Harrison was at CN, the results were pretty mixed,” says Bob Ballantyne, chairman of the Coalition of Rail Shippers. May concurs. Although CN’s service remained largely unchanged after Harrison’s retirement, the company adopted a gentler approach to customer relations. “One of the problems with Hunter was, he was pretty gruff,” May says. “It was hard to get anything but a ‘screw you’ out of CN if you were complaining.” By way of illustrating how efficiency and service sometimes clash, May recalls a branch line in Alberta, on which CN served four companies with a 120-car train. One of the customers doubled its business, and wanted 80 cars instead of its usual 40. But a 160-unit train was too long, and CN balked at adding another train. “The response by the railway, initially, was to not give them the service they wanted,” May recalls. “And when pressured, they took away cars from the other customers on that line. But nobody ended up getting what they needed.” Customer service, he says, became thoroughly subordinated to driving profitability for shareholders. “That’s really what’s at the core of what’s wrong with Mr. Harrison’s model.” Some customers fear CP’s service is now suffering. “Some of our members have expressed concern over how much service, attitude and communications have deteriorated at CP over the last several months,” says Susan Murray, spokesperson for the Forest Products Association of Canada. But customers probably have less leverage than the unions. Their best hope was the Fair Rail Freight Service Act bill, the result of years of complaints and lobbying about rail service in Canada. Unveiled in December, it would give shippers new rights to service contracts with railways, and a new system to resolve disputes. But May calls the legislation underwhelming, saying it benefits railways more than shippers." Jeff
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/companies-and-industries/forward-fast/
Quote from the linked article. In the full article, this quote appears towards the end of it.
"Shippers’ advocacy groups are hardly convinced, though. “When Hunter Harrison was at CN, the results were pretty mixed,” says Bob Ballantyne, chairman of the Coalition of Rail Shippers. May concurs. Although CN’s service remained largely unchanged after Harrison’s retirement, the company adopted a gentler approach to customer relations. “One of the problems with Hunter was, he was pretty gruff,” May says. “It was hard to get anything but a ‘screw you’ out of CN if you were complaining.”
By way of illustrating how efficiency and service sometimes clash, May recalls a branch line in Alberta, on which CN served four companies with a 120-car train. One of the customers doubled its business, and wanted 80 cars instead of its usual 40. But a 160-unit train was too long, and CN balked at adding another train. “The response by the railway, initially, was to not give them the service they wanted,” May recalls. “And when pressured, they took away cars from the other customers on that line. But nobody ended up getting what they needed.” Customer service, he says, became thoroughly subordinated to driving profitability for shareholders. “That’s really what’s at the core of what’s wrong with Mr. Harrison’s model.”
Some customers fear CP’s service is now suffering. “Some of our members have expressed concern over how much service, attitude and communications have deteriorated at CP over the last several months,” says Susan Murray, spokesperson for the Forest Products Association of Canada. But customers probably have less leverage than the unions. Their best hope was the Fair Rail Freight Service Act bill, the result of years of complaints and lobbying about rail service in Canada. Unveiled in December, it would give shippers new rights to service contracts with railways, and a new system to resolve disputes. But May calls the legislation underwhelming, saying it benefits railways more than shippers."
Jeff
Guess CSX will have to change their slogan - "It starts with the customer". Now it will have to be "It starts with EHH"
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Article is about 3 years old.
Convicted One Someone should pass a law right now that specifies that CSX may not be considered "too big to fail" for at least 10 years after Mr Harrison et.al. conclude their little looting expedition. No need to hang the taxpayers for what these folks have in store.
Someone should pass a law right now that specifies that CSX may not be considered "too big to fail" for at least 10 years after Mr Harrison et.al. conclude their little looting expedition. No need to hang the taxpayers for what these folks have in store.
Every time one of the hedge funds gets involved in something like this I can't help but think of them as corporate raiders; get the money and leave the company a skeleton of it's former self. The stockholders may benefit but will the corporation survive?
Norm
Those long sidings for Chicago-Waycross are going to come from relaying rail made available by reducing the double track to single track with long sidings on the former B&O east of Greenwich and the former NYC east of Cleveland.
Murphy Siding Wouldn't the easiest way to replace nearly $2 billion in coal revenue be just to fire a bunch of people and call it a day?
Wouldn't the easiest way to replace nearly $2 billion in coal revenue be just to fire a bunch of people and call it a day?
Balt ACD mentioned that Michael Ward had been implementing some of EHH's ideas mentioned in the Newswire article. Bet he is glad his 'exit' was so timely!
My thought is that the Corporate Game of " Putting lipstick on the pig" is about to start. Guessing that the first moves will be to see Who gets to hold the lipstick, and Who gets to hold the pig? Should be really interesting, to watch from the sidelines.
How about hiring a thousand straight commission sales reps? Nothing wrong with B2B telemarketing.. For some reason the railroads don't do this or at least they don't do it to the same extent as the truckers do. A good old fashioned boiler room operation is what's needed with sales people who aren't afraid to call on prospects and who have the smarts to close deals on the phone...hustle hustle hustle..
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
samfp1943 From the link as posted by Brian Schmidt: FTA:"...Minimize car dwell time in yards. Since cars spend most of their time in yards, reducing dwell time is the most effective way to improve car velocity, or the number of miles they travel per day. Minimize car classifications. Switching a car as few times as possible also reduces car cycle times, allowing the railroad to use fewer cars. Build large blocks of traffic or, in lower-density lanes, haul a block as close as possible to the destination to minimize handling at intermediate yards en route. Use multiple traffic outlets. By having more than one way to get a block of cars to its destination, a railroad can balance traffic flows, improve transit times, and reduce the need for extra trains. Run general-purpose trains. A unit train is more efficient only when loading and unloading times are 24 hours or less, the train shuttles between the same origin and destination, and operates seven days a week in each direction. Unless a train meets all three criteria, run the traffic in general-purpose trains. Balance train movements by direction. Canceling trains on low-volume weekend days can leave locomotives and crews in the wrong places, resulting in deadhead moves that increase costs. Minimize power requirements. Get the most out of every locomotive, the most expensive piece of rolling stock on the railroad. Limit hours spent idling and maximize available horsepower. Strive for steady workflow. Avoid surges and lulls by leveling out work as much as possible across every location on the railroad..."
From the link as posted by Brian Schmidt:
FTA:"...Minimize car dwell time in yards. Since cars spend most of their time in yards, reducing dwell time is the most effective way to improve car velocity, or the number of miles they travel per day. Minimize car classifications. Switching a car as few times as possible also reduces car cycle times, allowing the railroad to use fewer cars. Build large blocks of traffic or, in lower-density lanes, haul a block as close as possible to the destination to minimize handling at intermediate yards en route. Use multiple traffic outlets. By having more than one way to get a block of cars to its destination, a railroad can balance traffic flows, improve transit times, and reduce the need for extra trains. Run general-purpose trains. A unit train is more efficient only when loading and unloading times are 24 hours or less, the train shuttles between the same origin and destination, and operates seven days a week in each direction. Unless a train meets all three criteria, run the traffic in general-purpose trains. Balance train movements by direction. Canceling trains on low-volume weekend days can leave locomotives and crews in the wrong places, resulting in deadhead moves that increase costs. Minimize power requirements. Get the most out of every locomotive, the most expensive piece of rolling stock on the railroad. Limit hours spent idling and maximize available horsepower. Strive for steady workflow. Avoid surges and lulls by leveling out work as much as possible across every location on the railroad..."
And it isn't like CSX hasn't been implementing all these ideas since John Snow parachuted out of the corporation. None of these are new concepts and all have previously been implemented in various iterations of the operating plan.
Brian Schmidt JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Now that E. Hunter Harrison is calling the shots at CSX Transportation headquarters, he faces the same daunting problem that former CEO Michael Ward had to grapple with: How to replace nearly $2 billion in coal revenue that... http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2017/03/10-hunter-update
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Now that E. Hunter Harrison is calling the shots at CSX Transportation headquarters, he faces the same daunting problem that former CEO Michael Ward had to grapple with: How to replace nearly $2 billion in coal revenue that...
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2017/03/10-hunter-update
It is one thing to write a 'How To" book, something else to preform that in real life. EHH has done that in his tenures at ICRR,and CN, and CPR...At least he instituted those programs, and was reportedly successful in achieving his goals while there.
I am really curious to know if those programs have outlasted his tenure, and are they still successful? One has to wonder how successful he will be at CSX? It seems what he is proposing is a 180 degree turn around, of a long-held 'company culture'. Is he going to be able to 'win' a place in the 'corporate hearts and minds', without the onus of having to create a "bloodbath" in the ranks; in order to get his way. Does the "Deep Management,[ sort of a shadow-governing group] come together to sabotage EHH's efforts, similarly to what is currently, happening in D.C.?
Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.