CEO PERSPECTIVE: Railroads as a Sustainable Business

Jim Foote, President and CEO, CSX

As a part of a particular sequence in Railway Age’s March 2021 concern, 11 North American railroad CEOs tackle the daunting challenges the freight rail business faces because the twenty first century enters its third decade—from operations and expertise to advertising and progress. Right here, Jim Foote, President and CEO of CSX, discusses rising enterprise, whereas practising significant environmental, social and company governance.

As a spine of the U.S. economic system, freight railroads supply important transportation companies to companies and prospects throughout the nation. Over the previous 12 months, because the world has been grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, the business’s essential function has accelerated, with secure, dependable service turning into extra vital than ever to move important items and maintain America—and its economic system—shifting. 

Whereas the world has been laser-focused on COVID-19, the consequences of local weather change haven’t slowed, underscoring the necessity for companies to double down on their sustainability method. Rail is essentially the most sustainable mode of land-based transportation: On common, freight railroads are three to 4 occasions extra gasoline environment friendly than vans and produce 75% fewer greenhouse fuel (GHG) emissions. This isn’t solely a substantial environmental benefit for freight rail, but in addition a big alternative to assist prospects scale back their very own carbon footprints by diverting incremental volumes off the freeway, with out sacrificing reliability. 

With this benefit comes each a possibility and crucial for the railroad business to steer by instance to mitigate the consequences of local weather change and forge the way in which towards a low-carbon economic system. 

At CSX, we take this duty very significantly and have made sustainability core to how we function. 

In 2017, we launched into a transformative journey to change into the most secure, most effective, best-run railroad in North America, providing unparalleled service and environmental advantages to prospects. 

Our operational transformation enabled us to drive important enhancements throughout the enterprise, together with our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) efficiency. It allowed us to attain new ranges of environmental effectivity, in addition to security efficiency and buyer excellence. These embody: 
• Reaching 2020 emissions discount targets forward of schedule.
• Turning into the primary U.S. Class I railroad to function at a gasoline effectivity charge of lower than one gallon of gasoline per thousand gross ton-miles.
• Establishing the primary U.S. Class I railroad emissions discount goal to be authorised by the Science Primarily based Targets initiatives, setting the objective of a 37% discount in GHG emissions depth by 2030.
• Delivering record-setting security efficiency throughout the community via enhanced security coaching, processes and expertise.
• Attaining sooner transit occasions, higher schedule reliability, elevated transparency of community efficiency, and extra constant freight flows, leading to a superior service for purchasers. 

CSX is now higher positioned to be a best-in-class provide chain companion to prospects. Common transit time for merchandise carloads has been diminished by greater than two days, and complete gasoline effectivity has improved by greater than 15%. This new effectivity ends in a extra engaging service product for purchasers and higher environmental advantages as a consequence of decreased gasoline utilization and decrease emissions. As well as, we’re capable of supply prospects a better stage of reliability, predictability and transparency than has ever been potential via rail.

— “We’re centered on leveraging the inherent advantages railroads supply as essentially the most sustainable mode of land-based transportation and are working laborious to verify CSX is constructing on these advantages.” —

To supply the very best expertise for our prospects, CSX continues to make use of and put money into modern applied sciences to streamline provide chains and create extra environment friendly modes of supply. For instance, via the introduction of XGate—a revolutionary new system that reduces potential emissions at intermodal terminals by as much as 90%—we had been capable of enhance the tempo of buyer deliveries by scanning and inspecting containers in a fraction of the time it takes a workforce to take action. We’re additionally utilizing zero-emission automated cranes at a few of our main intermodal terminals, which maximizes efficiencies and environmental advantages.

Trying forward, we’re able to embark on the subsequent part of sustainable progress by making CSX rail the bottom transportation mode of selection. With continued investments in rail belongings, accident prevention, environmental expertise, gasoline effectivity, and extra, we proceed to search for alternatives to raised serve our prospects, workers and the communities wherein we function. We’re centered on leveraging the inherent advantages railroads supply as essentially the most sustainable mode of land-based transportation and are working laborious to verify CSX is constructing on these advantages to proceed main the business in security and sustainability.

Our management within the freight rail business and our aspirations depend on our capability to conduct enterprise in a sustainable approach that does proper by our stakeholders, together with prospects, workers, communities and shareholders. Whereas we’re pleased with the progress we’ve got made, we all know our work isn’t completed. We’re all the time striving to be safer, extra environment friendly and extra dependable. It’s my duty to drive the mission of CSX, which is to be the perfect run railroad in North America. I consider the perfect is but to come back for CSX. 

Learn extra of Railway Age’s particular CEO Views sequence:

• Ian Jefferies, Association of American Railroads: Sustainable Economic and Legislative Policies
• Katie Farmer, BNSF: Leveraging Advanced Technologies
• Keith Creel, Canadian Pacific: Growing the Top Line
• JJ Ruest, CN: Improving Customer Supply Chain Visibility
• Pat Ottensmeyer, Kansas City Southern: Maximizing USMCA for Cross-Border Growth
• Jim Squires, Norfolk Southern: Building the Digital Railroad of the Future
• Lance Fritz, Union Pacific: Smart Capital Investment Strategies
• Peter Gilbertson, Anacostia Rail Holdings: Providing Outstanding Customer Service
• Dean Piacente, OmniTRAX: Building Better Communities Through Industrial Development
• Dan Smith, Watco: Integrated Transportation Services Fuel Growth