CSX’s situation continues to get tougher. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on Aug. 2 filed a lawsuit against the railroad, claiming that it has been discriminating against women by using a physical strength test to determine employment eligibility.
Thirty-two cars of a 178-car, 18,000-plus-ton CSX freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed early Wednesday, Aug. 2, in the small town of Hyndman (Bedford County), Pa., setting railcars and a garage on fire and prompting emergency officials to evacuate hundreds of nearby residents. No injuries were reported.
More than 80% of respondents to a CSX Service Quality survey issued by Cowen and Company say they have experienced service issues since the company initiated President and CEO Hunter Harrison’s Precision Railroading. According to Cowen Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor Jason Seidl, “nearly 40% [of respondents] have switched some freight to Norfolk Southern, and 67% have transferred freight to a trucker.”
CSX Chief Executive Hunter Harrison in a letter to the railroad’s customers apologized for mounting service issues, citing the rapid pace of operational changes he has implemented and blaming employees who have “pushed back” against those changes.
CSX President and CEO E. Hunter Harrison, our two-time Railroader of the Year, reached out to me personally following publication of my blog, in this space, asking about the events at CSX since he took over the railroad. What I wrote was based solely on correspondence I received from various stakeholders. I promised Hunter that I would publish his response, unedited, and he could use as much space as needed:
Growing concerns by shippers regarding service issues with CSX have prompted a response by regulators.
CSX has designated the South Alabama Mega Site in Bay Minette, Ala., as a CSX Select Site.
North Carolina Ports and CSX announced a new daily intermodal service between the Port of Wilmington and Charlotte, beginning July 28.
Hunter Harrison, what exactly is going on at CSX? I’m hearing lots of voices. They’ve become loud and frequent and as such are nearly impossible to ignore. They’re the voices of railroaders, from the executive to the train and engine service level. They’re former and present CSX employees. They’re people who have worked for you at other railroads. And they’re all saying basically the same thing: That the changes you are making at CSX aren’t the right thing to do, or aren’t working.
CSX said its second-quarter 2017 earnings results are based upon “improved asset utilization, cost control and fuel optimization. These operational improvements, coupled with the benefits from the management restructuring that was completed early in the second quarter, drove $90 million in efficiency gains. These gains more than offset the cost of inflation in the quarter.”