CSX taps acting CEO Foote to replace Harrison

Jim Foote, who became CSX’s acting CEO after E. Hunter Harrison went on medical leave on Dec. 14, will also join the company’s board of directors.    The board of directors of CSX Corp. has unanimously voted to name James M. Foote as the company’s new president and chief executive officer, effective immediately.
   He replaces former CEO E. Hunter Harrison, who died Dec. 16 from unexpected complications from an illness. Harrison had served in the role since March. Foote, who became CSX’s acting CEO after Harrison was placed on medical leave on Dec. 14, also joins the company’s board of directors.
   “Jim has decades of railroading experience and the Board is confident of his ability to lead the company,” CSX Chairman Edward J. Kelly III said of removing the “acting” portion of Foote’s title. “The board looks forward to working with him.”
   A 40-year railroad industry veteran with experience in finance, operations and sales and marketing, Foote was named executive vice president and chief operating officer of CSX in October 2017. Prior to joining the Jacksonville, Fla.-based Class I railroad, he served as president and chief executive officer of Bright Rail Energy, a technology company formed in 2012 to design, develop and sell products that allow railroads to switch locomotives to natural gas power.
   Before that, Foote was executive vice president of sales and marketing with Canadian National Railway. He joined Canadian National in 1995 as vice president of investor relations to assist the company’s privatization. He also served as vice president of sales and marketing merchandise.
   His time at CN included 14 years working alongside Harrison, who served as Canadian National’s vice president and COO beginning in 1998 and its president and CEO from 2003 through 2009.
   “I worked alongside Hunter for over a decade and his pioneering approach to railroading unlocked significant efficiencies and value, and we remain focused on delivering on this vision for CSX, our customers and our shareholders,” Foote said in a statement after being appointed to his new role.
   Foote began his career in the railroad industry in 1972 as a laborer in the mechanical department with the Soo Line Railroad in Superior, Wisconsin. For nine years, he worked union operating positions with the Soo Line and Chicago North Western full time while earning his undergraduate and law degrees.
   Under Foote, CSX is expected to continue its transition to Harrison’s “precision scheduled railroading” (PSR) operating model, which at its core is about moving the same amount of cargo with fewer trains, equipment and personnel.
   “The execution of Precision Scheduled Railroading is well underway, with the most critical components of the implementation completed and beginning to generate measurable operating improvement,” Foote said.
   PSR consists of seven principles: minimizing car dwell times in yards, reducing car classifications, using multiple traffic outlets, running general-purpose trains, balancing train movements by direction, minimizing power requirements, and striving for steady workflow.