Kansas City Southern names new CEO

Patrick Ottensmeyer has been named chief executive officer of the Kansas City, Mo.-based Class I railroad, effective July 1.    Patrick Ottensmeyer has been named chief executive officer of Kansas City Southern (KCS), effective July 1.
   He will succeed David L. Starling as the Kansas City, Mo.-based Class I railroad’s CEO. Ottensmeyer will also remain president, a position he assumed on March 1, 2015.
   KCS said the move was part of its executive succession plan. As part of that plan, Starling will serve as senior advisor to the CEO, starting July 1 and continue until his retirement on Dec. 31. Starling will also remain a member of the KCS board of directors until May 2017.
   Ottensmeyer, 59, joined Kansas City Southern in 2006 as its executive vice president and chief financial officer. In 2008, he was named executive vice president of sales and marketing, and appointed president in 2015.
   Starling said Ottensmeyer’s “relationships with customers, investors, other railroad executives, and employees in both Mexico and the U.S. will be a tremendous asset as KCS seeks to translate its abundant business opportunities into sustained long-term growth.”
   For a detailed look into the railroad’s recent activities, read the February American Shipper article, “Railroad operates through shipper’s eyes.”