Harrison: CSX full speed ahead despite recent ‘challenges’

Among the issues the Jacksonville, Fla.-based Class I railroad has been facing since new CEO E. Hunter Harrison took over earlier this year are unpredictable transit times, gateway congestion, unreliable switching operations and poor customer service.    CSX has made progress over the past two months in implementing its new “precision scheduled railroading” system, and many of the hiccups resulting from the implementation have been alleviated, according to the Jacksonville, Fla.-based Class I railroad’s chief executive.
   “I’m confident that many of the challenges we and our customers have recently faced are behind us,” President and Chief Executive Officer E. Hunter Harrison said in a Sept. 6 statement. “The CSX team of dedicated railroaders has worked tirelessly over the last few months to implement our new operating model and moved as quickly as possible to address customer issues when they arose.”
   Among the issues the railroad has been facing are unpredictable transit times, gateway congestion, unreliable switching operations and poor customer service, according to complaints made by rail shippers to the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s Surface Transportation Board (STB).
   The situation became so bad that some shippers were forced to “curtail production, temporarily halt operations, and/or utilize other transportation options that have added additional expense and inefficiencies to their operations,” according to a letter the STB sent to CSX in late July.
   But Harrison has said that many of the rough patches have now been smoothed over.
   “The railroad is now returning to a normal operating rhythm, and our performance metrics are improving,” he said. “Fluidity in our terminals largely has been restored and we are appropriately resourced to continue making progress. Car dwell has improved from week to week for the last five weeks, and system-wide velocity is increasing.”
   Under the precision scheduled railroading system currently being implemented, CSX is among other things: consolidating inefficient unit trains; transitioned some hump facilities in into flat switching operations to reduce freight handlings and transit time for traffic processed at the terminals; and reassigning personnel to new posts.
   The measures will in theory allow the railroad to move the same amount of traffic with fewer trains, equipment and people.
   “I am confident that as CSX continues to implement the Precision Scheduled Railroading model, it will provide profound and lasting benefits to customers, employees and shareholders,” Harrison said.
   A public listening session on CSX’s rail service issues is scheduled for today at STB headquarters in Washington, DC.