Hunter hits Cumberland CSX

He developed his management style up here in Canada! Wait till he starts sending office managers out on the road as engineers and conductors!

As Eddy Valiant said in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" 'Pencil pushers,may they all die of lead poisoning'

UPDATED: CSX Lays Off At Least 50 In Cumberland Back Shop

per the link. Sad for the families involved. 

UP and BNSF have only backshop for the whole system.

Unfortunately, employment at the Cumberland shops has not been a sure thing since the end of steam.
To quote John Hankey in his comprehensive feature on the Cumberland shop/terminal in the March 2012 TRAINS;
"Cumberland's survival as a major shop was never assured". For 35 years+, Cumberland has had to justify its existence by continually modernizing its facilities, and simply being more productive/efficient.
Road service employees (the majority of CSX employees) in Cumberland have also experienced the reduction in forces, as mergers, starting with Chessie in the 1970s, have resulted in abandoned lines, longer runs, and less frequent trains,  technology that have reduced need for helper engines, and the change in economics that took away the need for local freights. To my best knowledge, there are no active shippers on any CSX trackage anywhere in the Cumberland city limits!
I spent 4 years on a Chessie " hiring list" from 1977-81 in Cumberland, I remember very little hiring was done in any craft, this was right after the local Western Maryland work force had been absorbed, and the area went through 2 cycles of a coal boom, then bust.
The very few options in the Cumberland area for this type of skilled worker will probably mean a lot of uprooted people, more bad news for a place that never seems to catch a break...
The Cumberland feature in the March 2012 TRAINS is well worth a look, the photos and maps are excellent.

What we are seeing now with railroad employment generally and on CSX specifically, is simply the continuation of a process that began when steam gave way to diesel in the 1940's.

Unfortunately, change is almost always painful to someone.

Curt

Big orange is hot on the trail of csx with the changes I assure you. Many many terminations of mid and upper level management, with many still in fear of the ax to come. Trainman with 20+ years of seniority looking for other employment. It is not a pleasant place to work right now. 

Due to the push to do away with coal-fired power plants over the last decade, railroads are now feeling the loss of the once-profitable coal business.  Railroading is going to be a tough business for a while.

And, especially for CSX, it is going to be a tough business, because there is now a man at the top who has no people skills, and does not care.  We had a guy like that at BNSF, and he got pretty close to the top, but, finally, his bad behavior got him fired.  People at headquarters lined up at windows to watch the Special Agents escort him out.  I wish I had been there.  Not one kind word was said about him after his departure.  It was not fun to be "on his radar".  Maybe Hunter will get the same treatment someday, if his formula does not produce a big benefit at CSX.

On another note the my CSX stock it up big time.

In San Bernardino starting June 6, all assigned through freight will be gone. Multi directional pools it is, with serious talk of bringing back the Valley Pools, and creating a "Combo Board" with the elimination of the Brakemans Board. A general manager with 40 years of service was escorted off the property, and the beat goes on. RFE's are sweating bullets right now because their seniority sucks and the "easy life" could very well be over. Leaving CA now instead of later became a priority a few months ago. No light at the end of the tunnel. Railroading as a career for young guys.......not these days buddy. 15 more years for me, new location, hope we all make it.

As a retired CSX employee. I can sympathize with those losing their livelyhoods.  CSX is a business and needs to run as such. Looking at the closing, yes, it hurts. But you have to look as a business. Worse job I had to do, other than injuries and fatalities, was to tell someone, their job was cut off.  If the railroad is running better, and making a gains in business, then you have to admit, the changes are for the good. I would rather work for a profitable company with less employees, than one that is not as profitable. The true test is to see what happens in the near future and in the next couple of years. 

There is also a big difference between making a profit and strictly GREED. 

Greed, is his wanting the 84 million he left on the table when he walked and is not wanting CSX to pay. 

If cutting hump yards, allows the trains to move faster to the customer with less hands touching it, then it is a business decision. So far the business is up. Trains are moving faster and car dwell time is way down.. Now lets see if it lasts..

I was driving along the Columbia River in Oregon two weeks ago traveling to Spokane, WA.  There were many BNSF and UP trains traveling on both sides of the river.  It seemed as if there was a train about every 10 minutes.

 The BNSF line through Spokane and onto Glacier Park was also very busy.  This was mostly long grain trains, tank car trains, and intermodal trains.  I also saw several trains with lumber cars and box cars.  The BNSF track maintenance forces were working on miles of track.

Both the UP and BNSF appear to be super busy in the Pacific Northwest right now.  Perhaps this is seasonal traffic?  Maybe railroads are busy in some parts of the country and not others.

I am sorry for employees who lose their jobs.  We are entering an age when most people will have more than one employer and will have to move to have a job.

NH Joe

Change is a needed thing sometimes, I must agree. But how it's done sometimes, too, seems to me to not be nasty. Men coming to work on second shift and getting "laid off" with CSX police there is a lot over the top. A few week's notice should have been in order, one would think.

I suspect the old Baltimore and Ohio "west end" will come up for sale again in the near future. And, I also wonder if the freight yard in Cumberland could be at risk. It is on a grade, and I've watched them build trains, takes a lot of locomotives and fuel....

It's said the only constant in the universe is change...look out Cumberland, here it comes...

Ed

Contract employees get a weeks notice or being laid off per the contract. You would be amazed at how many injuries come up in that one week. As an employee, you know it can come at anytime, nothing is given.

Officials, on the other hand are given an immediate notice. Most time, the Police are called to make sure nothing happens on the way out the door, such as an injury.  They have learned from the past, injuries "happen" on the way out. As an Official, you know in the back of your mind, business direction can change and again, nothing is ever a given. 

In my 37 years, in the beginning, I was laid off several times, and as a Supervisor, I had to do it more than I liked. 

Number 90 posted:

And, especially for CSX, it is going to be a tough business, because there is now a man at the top who has no people skills, and does not care.  We had a guy like that at BNSF, and he got pretty close to the top, but, finally, his bad behavior got him fired.  People at headquarters lined up at windows to watch the Special Agents escort him out.  I wish I had been there.  Not one kind word was said about him after his departure.  It was not fun to be "on his radar".  Maybe Hunter will get the same treatment someday, if his formula does not produce a big benefit at CSX.

Question(s)

If the guys preceding Hunter were so good to be very handsomely paid, why was he brought in?

If the guys preceding Hunter were so bad, why weren't they fired by the BOD long ago?

Ed Mullan posted:

 But how it's done sometimes, too, seems to me to not be nasty. Men coming to work on second shift and getting "laid off" with CSX police there is a lot over the top. A few week's notice should have been in order, one would think.

Having been laid off 2 times and surviving a 3rd, (computer and electronics industry) no notice was given on any of them.

Rusty

I love the history of the rails and "job loss" in the USA rails is nothing new. Now, I am sorry for you guys because you gave to build a career, but the mantra of "cost saving" is everywhere in industry today. The chief executive figures if he can't drive sales and save ( make) a dollar his head is on the chopping block. Worse yet our government has declared "war" on black diamond coal shipments so the rail shippers have to beat the bushes for what other small traffic is left. Coal and rail are two words that convey the same. 

Write to your congress-person and tell them the family man is getting squeezed by stupid thinking in Washington the belt-way. The world needs energy. The USA leads in coal and frac-oil mining. When coal is put out-of-business by environmental interests .. China and India are happy to source from "down-under".

Some crow about our President and management "style" .. isn't it time to cut taxes on business and cut the EPA down to size? If you are not part of the solution you must be part of the problem. God bless the USA. 

BobbyD posted:

Number 90 posted:

And, especially for CSX, it is going to be a tough business, because there is now a man at the top who has no people skills, and does not care.  We had a guy like that at BNSF, and he got pretty close to the top, but, finally, his bad behavior got him fired.  People at headquarters lined up at windows to watch the Special Agents escort him out.  I wish I had been there.  Not one kind word was said about him after his departure.  It was not fun to be "on his radar".  Maybe Hunter will get the same treatment someday, if his formula does not produce a big benefit at CSX.

Question(s)

If the guys preceding Hunter were so good to be very handsomely paid, why was he brought in?

If the guys preceding Hunter were so bad, why weren't they fired by the BOD long ago?

Bobby:

You have identified corporate America's biggest secret.  There isn't necessarily a right way or a wrong way; there's just the top guys way.  One CEO will push for centralization in the name of "synergy" and claim success.  His replacement will push for decentralization - "we need to be closer to our customers" - and will also claim success.

I concluded long ago it's the people actually tasked with implementing a strategy who determine whether it will be successful.  For all the millions they earn and accolades heaped on them by Wall Street; you could replace most CEO's with a nice potted plant and achieve the same level of success.

Hunter is just the flavor of the day for CSX investors.  His mere presence is what is valuing CSX stock.  Hunter is all about driving out cost.  He hasn't the first darn clue about how to grow business. His cost reduction process works for a bit then grows stale; the same as any management theory.  

The reason CN is successful now is they took the low cost structure Hunter created and used it to grow business.  And that happened AFTER he left; not while he was there.   I suspect you'll see the same from CP but, it will be a bit longer before that is evident.

Curt

To Curt's observation, "CEO's" in Japan and Europe produce similar results as US CEO's, but are paid maybe 20% of what our big boys make. Tax laws, offshoring, Wall Street pressure have skewed our CEO pay. Rather obscenely.

Re Gene's comment on police walking employees out, so as to prevent "injuries", is the product of the unfair treatment the railroad industry has been subjected to. To the best of my knowledge, it is the only industry that is not covered by workers compensation law and procedures, which cap payments and settlements in a prescribed manner. Unfortunately, railroad injuries are adjudicated in liability courts, where juries can make monstrous settlements in favor of the "injured" plaintiff.  So, it is good business to insure that an aggrieved employee can not create a liability for the employer railroad.    

A sad state for arranging the affairs of humans. I have great empathy for anyone trying to make their way through today's employment world.

 To the best of my knowledge, it is the only industry that is not covered by workers compensation law and procedures, which cap payments and settlements in a prescribed manner

Not here   north of the border ... I was  seriously injured   in a switching accident and   now  have a life time compensation from Workers  composition   plus my CN pension. Thank goodness for  United transportation union ,   CN rail , and the Canadian health plan. Both CN and the UTU  worked together in trying to get me back to work. (this was before the HH days)

What really disturbs me is the terrible wreck in Quebec....One man crew... What was the Canadian transport commission thinking   that allowed this to happen...  

 Back to CP...Taking  office workers and forcing then to be train crews. I know it takes years to become an experienced railroader .. I'm glad  HH  is back in the states and I wish  the now CEO of CP Creel) will be shortly behind him.. I got a smile on my face when they said they  were going to make CN &  CP  great railway again.   

 Maybe  train crews need to hold  a few more  union meetings. (it's too late or is it) 

Sure most of us can accept getting laid off, I know I was laid off in the winter for about 4 years until finally I held a position on the spare board...Finally after about 8 years I stood for a regular job and not a great one.

It's has to be tough for someone with about 20 years knowing they're going to get the axe.

Now I am worried about my home town of monroe nc.Where the line from charlotte and merges with the main line in monroe.It would be a darn shame if the trains stopped running these trains.Where I live I can hear CSX blowing for rr crossings.Can some body tell me why csx seems to get the bad guys.Who bring nothing but trouble for their people?

Roger Peet posted:

Worse yet our government has declared "war" on black diamond coal shipments so the rail shippers have to beat the bushes for what other small traffic is left. Coal and rail are two words that convey the same. 

Write to your congress-person and tell them the family man is getting squeezed by stupid thinking in Washington the belt-way. The world needs energy. The USA leads in coal and frac-oil mining. When coal is put out-of-business by environmental interests .. China and India are happy to source from "down-under".

Some crow about our President and management "style" .. isn't it time to cut taxes on business and cut the EPA down to size? If you are not part of the solution you must be part of the problem. God bless the USA. 

There were some excellent articles about the coal industry in "Trains" magazine awhile back.  Coal use is declining because power plants are changing to natural gas.  A new drilling technology, fracking, is what is driving the change from coal to gas.  Gas is cheaper to buy and transport than coal once the pipeline is built.  

This trend has almost nothing to do with the EPA.  It is true that  natural gas burns cleaner than coal and there is no leftover ash.  Other clean sources of energy are coming on line.  I was driving through California, Oregon and Washington two weeks ago.  Windmills are everywhere.   

The biggest coal producing state is Wyoming because the coal is near the surface and can be strip mined.  Appalachian coal is mostly in deep mines that are expensive to operate.  Therefore, the traditional mines that CSX and NS serve are no longer competitive with WY strip mines.   

The last coal mine in England shut down last year.   I was in Australia a couple of years ago.  The papers were full of news about coal mines shutting down there also.  

Coal as a fuel is going away everywhere just as wood went away as a fuel in the 19th century.  

CSX and NS were railroads built to haul coal.  The challenge will be to find new business that is not dependent upon coal.  Other coal roads such as the PRR, Erie, Lackawanna, Western Maryland and Reading, are already gone. 

NH Joe

It seems the world is moving away from coal.A few days ago I saw a csx load coal train.Its not like it used to be.They used to come through pretty often.On the other hand I do see.Trains that have covered gons.I do not know what their hauling but it must be pretty heavy because the pulled by 3 dash 9 and the e44.

Coal is dying, pure and simple, and it isn't the EPA regulations, it isn't because of those out to 'get coal', it is because coal economically makes less and less sense. 90% of coal use is for electricity generation, and these days it represents only 1/3rd of power generation. The appalachian coal is especially problematic, it is deep mined and it also is more dirty than the 'hard coal' they mine out west, so more and more of the demand that exists is being met by western coal. In theory, you can use coal to synthesize things like natural gas and gasoline (the Germans ran almost their entire war effort on synthetic gasoline), but given oil and natural gas being done by fracking, it wouldn't make economic sense, fracking and getting oil from tar sand and shale has become efficient enough that it is competitive even at today's low prices....

And nothing is going to bring coal back, because it isn't just the US, other countries are moving away from it, China is rapidly getting out of it, and India is moving away from it as well, because it is a dirty fuel, and also because economically with the world awash in oil and natural gas, it makes no economic sense either. Within 10 years very few power plants will be running on coal at the current rate of conversion. 

CSX and other coal hauling roads have a problem that plagues industry, single focus businesses are subject to economic disruption when new things disrupt the old ways, the problem is that CSX and other railroads needed to read the handwriting on the wall and may not have. 

Funny, I remember being told in school how we were running out of oil and coal was the future!  Then they had the folks come in to tell us about the advantages of the new plant being constructed in nearby Louisa, VA.  Clean, safe nuclear power!

bigkid posted:

 

CSX and other coal hauling roads have a problem that plagues industry, single focus businesses are subject to economic disruption when new things disrupt the old ways, the problem is that CSX and other railroads needed to read the handwriting on the wall and may not have. 

Perhaps NS and CSX did see the handwriting on the wall.  Perhaps they bought CONRAI in order to diversify away from coal?  This may mean that these two railroads will need less equipment, infrastructure and, sadly, people  to move intermodal freight and other things than were needed to move coal.  The oil tank car business will most likely go away as soon as new pipelines are built.  This magnitude of change is a huge challenge for any organization and its employees.  

I would have thought that the circus would continue forever but that didn't happen either.

NH Joe