Alan Shaw NS CEO Proxy fight

[lordsigma]

Interesting situation brewing in relation to Norfolk Southern. They are in the midst of a revolt by an activist group of shareholders. Regulators have praised CEO Shaw’s response to the East Palestine incident and safety culture changes which has reduced the number of derailments. The concern of regulators and even passenger advocacy organizations that have weighed in is that this activist group of shareholders is primarily motivated by the affect of the response on short term gains and operating ratios and wants to dump Shaw in order to get back to the regular PSR order of things. Interestingly one of the board members NS just announced to try to fend off the challenge is none other than….Richard Anderson.

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-rev...ts-activist-investors-short-sighted-strategy/

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

So spending a bit of money to run a safer railroad is bad. Derail a train and spend huge amount of money on clean up is good?

Oh the insurance pays for the clean up?

Just found my red “Save Amtrak, Fire Anderson” baseball cap.

 

[PaTrainFan]

So called activist investors are usually billionaires with nothing better to do. Years ago one (I forget who, maybe Nelson Peltz) was micromanaging Olive Garden on the number of free bread sticks they were giving out.

 

[Palmland]

The collision and wreck this week of 3 NS freights made national news. Sadly, good news for the activist investors.

From Trains’ newswire-

“The NTSB said that preliminary information indicates that an eastbound NS train struck a stopped train; wreckage from the moving train fouled an adjacent track and was struck by a westbound train”

 

[AmtrakMaineiac]

The collision and wreck this week of 3 NS freights made national news. Sadly, good news for the activist investors.

I'm not sure why this is good news since it emphasizes the need to spend on safety, depending on the outcome of the investigation perhaps better crew management i.e. adequate rest times etc.

 

[Septa9739]

I get the sense the FRA is starting to get really tired of the PSR racket. The chair of the STB apparently voiced unfavorable comments earlier last week. Congress and state legislatures are taking a look at things. It would be a shame if these guys take it over and then get beat over the head with opprobrious regulations.

 

[PaTrainFan]

I'm not sure why this is good news since it emphasizes the need to spend on safety, depending on the outcome of the investigation perhaps better crew management i.e. adequate rest times etc.

Yeah the activist investor, I believe, was complaining about an over reaction to the derailment and essentially saying they spent to much. An idiotic stance in the wake. Profits over people. I believe it was William Henry Vanderbilt of the New York Central who was credited with saying "The public be damned."

 

[Palmland]

Predictably here is Ancora's response to the derailment - from Trains' newswire today.

"Ancora released a statement a few hours after a Saturday morning NS derailment in Pennsylvania calling for the “immediate termination” of Shaw. The Cleveland-based firm said it stands ready “to engage with the company about an orderly reconstitution of the Board and a transition to capable management with a track record of actually delivering on safety commitments,” and that images from the derailment “underscore the urgent need to replace the company’s failed executive leadership and provide the railroad the fresh start it so desperately needs.”

 

[PaTrainFan]

Predictably here is Ancora's response to the derailment - from Trains' newswire today.

"Ancora released a statement a few hours after a Saturday morning NS derailment in Pennsylvania calling for the “immediate termination” of Shaw. The Cleveland-based firm said it stands ready “to engage with the company about an orderly reconstitution of the Board and a transition to capable management with a track record of actually delivering on safety commitments,” and that images from the derailment “underscore the urgent need to replace the company’s failed executive leadership and provide the railroad the fresh start it so desperately needs.”

By aggressively instituting PSR and laying off employees to maximize shareholder value.

 

[JamesWhitcombRiley]

(U.S.-focused) Worldwide Railfan's quarterly video on all things rail mentions NS twice:

• 5:51 - Norfolk Southern acquires ex-KCS Dash 9s. His analysis: it was short-sighted to sell off locos in 2019.
• 14:35 - Investor attempts to takeover Norfolk Southern. His analysis: Ancora says it will reduce focus on intermodal, which has lower profits. But intermodal is "the only rail traffic segment that's currently growing." Short-term thinking will make things worse.

I recall people saying Virginia's purchase of much of the Buckingham Branch, to make a Richmond - Charlottesville - West Virginia connection, dovetailed with the decline, or projected decline, of coal exports. I don't know about any of this stuff, but figured it would be worth posting in this discussion.

The video covers a long list of topics, each treated briefly. The list of topics and timestamps can be seen by expanding the description.

 

[AmtrakMaineiac]

Predictably here is Ancora's response to the derailment - from Trains' newswire today.

"Ancora released a statement a few hours after a Saturday morning NS derailment in Pennsylvania calling for the “immediate termination” of Shaw. The Cleveland-based firm said it stands ready “to engage with the company about an orderly reconstitution of the Board and a transition to capable management with a track record of actually delivering on safety commitments,” and that images from the derailment “underscore the urgent need to replace the company’s failed executive leadership and provide the railroad the fresh start it so desperately needs.”

There was a derailment, so management must be incompetent and should be replaced.
If there hadn't been a derailment, they were spending too much on safety so management must be incompetent and should be replaced.

 

[PaTrainFan]

There was a derailment, so management must be incompetent and should be replaced.
If there hadn't been a derailment, they were spending too much on safety so management must be incompetent and should be replaced.

That about sums it up.

 

[Jdub]

I had a phone message today supposedly from Norfolk & Southern about a 'personal matter', please call back. Of course I deleted the message because I couldn't think why N&S would be calling me. I DID look up N&S and found a number of articles about a Board of Directors election and CEO replacement effort. Also a management shakeup going on as we speak. Some of the replacement proposals are politicians and at least one has been an AMTRAK executive. Now I suppose the call was to solicit my proxy vote. It would be interesting to see what forum member perspectives may be.