CSX Mike Ward Vs Matt Rose and now pro passenger convert Wick Moorman

[steamtrain6868]

As a person Michael Ward seems to be a warm down to earth guy who I would not mind having a beer with. As far as a CEO I dont see the innovations that a guy like Hunter Harrison and Claude Mongeau. CN has a good record of working with Passengers (Toronto-Montreal-Windsor and GO trains) and inovations of sceduled freight trains and being able to tell custumers with certainty of when there cars will be placed or switched.I have worked with them in shipment rates and there customer service gets you a live person to talk to who gets you a rate in a matter of less then a hour.In addition CN has a Google Map of there system online. They seem to be Technology Driven.....Could it be that it is because Bill Gates is one of there largest shareholders? Railroads need to be a responsive industry like the high techs...When the industries in my planning district tell me that CSX and or NS will only switch them once a week or that it takes months to even years for the towns to work with CSX on Grade Crossing and Bridges and that they are arrogant..something is very wrong here...Maybe its not Mikes Fault but he could take a page from the playbook of Warren Buffet and GEICO and have RR rates in 15 minutes or less and tell the customers when there cars are going to be switched..As far as passengers go the MARC Brunswick-Washington DC line is a mess as far as customer satisfaction from the Passengers and the MD Transit Administration. Of the half dozen or so

commuter systems that CSX runs on the train that Uncle Sam takes to work every day is the one that Mike seems to be screwing up and doing on purpose. No wonder those who work inside the Beltway want to regulate the railroads. There is no escuse because remember that the BNSF Northstar (MN) also runs on a very busy main line railroad as well.....This line that we are a private business is not exactly true. Railroads are Corperations who are creations of the state who hold charters to run on right of ways that have been gotten thru eminent domain or the threat of...If a railroad does not do there job that right to run a line can be taken away by the STB or the State that Chartered them

 

[steamtrain6868]

"So maybe I should become a shareholder of CSX so I can tell them to accept passenger service? "..............

.Yep ING Oneshare program www.sharebuilder.com alows you tod do just that.. and the CSX Shareholders meeting is coming up in may

 

[AlanB]

commuter systems that CSX runs on the train that Uncle Sam takes to work every day is the one that Mike seems to be screwing up and doing on purpose. No wonder those who work inside the Beltway want to regulate the railroads. There is no escuse because remember that the BNSF Northstar (MN) also runs on a very busy main line railroad as well.....This line that we are a private business is not exactly true. Railroads are Corperations who are creations of the state who hold charters to run on right of ways that have been gotten thru eminent domain or the threat of...If a railroad does not do there job that right to run a line can be taken away by the STB or the State that Chartered them

A totally different example. BNSF was hired by the Met Council to run the trains. BNSF get's paid not only to allow the trains to run, but they get paid to crew the trains. If BNSF screws something up and a crew dies on hours, it''s their problem and expense to fix.

CSX only gets paid to allow the trains to run on their tracks, and even then I'm not sure if they're actually getting fair market value for that.

As for taking a rail line away, only the STB can do that. The only way that a state could take away a line would be if the state owned that line, like say North Carolina, but allowed a freight company like NS to run on those tracks.

By the way, most tracks on located on land that was granted to the RR's by the Fed, not the states. And the Fed marked that debt paid after WW II in consideration for what the RR's did to support the war effort.

 

[battalion51]

At the end of the day as a business you want to make sure you are at least breaking even with running passenger trains. It might be a bit hard to see it on the P&L but if a CEO comes in with a particular philosophy and desire there is little you can do to change their mind. For example, my hotel chain does NOT use CFL bulbs. Our owner doesn't like the light they give off (plus he's an oil man). So every single one of our hotels has standard incandescent bulbs in every single lamp. It doesn't matter to him that the CFLs use 25% of the energy that the incandescents do and our utility costs would go way down, he wants incandescents and he gets them. I don't agree with it, and the facts are on my side, but I would never dream of arguing my case to him. Seems like the same sort of situation with CSX.

 

[amtrakwolverine]

At the end of the day as a business you want to make sure you are at least breaking even with running passenger trains. It might be a bit hard to see it on the P&L but if a CEO comes in with a particular philosophy and desire there is little you can do to change their mind. For example, my hotel chain does NOT use CFL bulbs. Our owner doesn't like the light they give off (plus he's an oil man). So every single one of our hotels has standard incandescent bulbs in every single lamp. It doesn't matter to him that the CFLs use 25% of the energy that the incandescents do and our utility costs would go way down, he wants incandescents and he gets them. I don't agree with it, and the facts are on my side, but I would never dream of arguing my case to him. Seems like the same sort of situation with CSX.

What hotel chain you work for?

 

[rrdude]

Dad-GUMMIT GML, we agree again!

Almost as good of a post as that multi-page rant in the novel Atlas Shrugged about the value of money, etc, etc.

I'm serious, If I were ever in the market for whatever you make, you'd be the first person I contact.

 

[jis]

So, CSX provides a service (freight) to consumers, in exchange for payment. CSX is in the business of earning a profit and increasing the wealth of their owners. The exception to this would be if they are not-for-profit organization, which I don't think CSX is. So, CSX is definitely in business to make money. How many people really think CSX is not in business to make money? They run the capital-intensive service because of their benevolent intentions? I don't think so.

Considering that the CSX is the worst performing of the major railroads in the business of actually making money maybe it is time for the CSX management to step aside and let someone who can do the job better take over, instead of spouting these inanities to create a smokescreen to hide behind Maybe they actually have no clue how to manage a corporation such as theirs.

I agree with Rich, good business is a business that provides a needed service which improves the life of all. I used to think that businesses that exist only to make money would not survive because they were not providing a needed service in which someone is willing to pay for. However, recent government actions, both with a D and an R, have skewed this with things like TARP and "too big to fail". Now, I think there are corporations who only exist to make money and have the US government doing their bidding in this process. :angry:

This is the really scary part, because this make the US business environment start to look more and more like the one in Russia where it is a government and rich people oligarchy, with both working hand in hand to milk the rest. It is astounding that a one party and a two party system leads us apparently to the same place, only following different paths and rhetoric.

 

[PRR 60]

Considering that the CSX is the worst performing of the major railroads in the business of actually making money maybe it is time for the CSX management to step aside and let someone who can do the job better take over, instead of spouting these inanities to create a smokescreen to hide behind Maybe they actually have no clue how to manage a corporation such as theirs.

CSX's financial performance is pretty much in line with the other US publicly owned railroads, and all are pretty good.

2010 annual financial results (Wall Street Journal)

CSX

Total revenue: $10.636 billion

Net income before taxes: $2.546 billion

Margin: 24%

Union Pacific

Total revenue: $16.965 billion

Net income before taxes: $4.433 billion

Margin: 26%

Norfolk Southern

Total revenue: $9.516 billion

Net income before taxes: $2.367 billion

Margin: 25%

(BNSF is not a public corporation)

I bet there are lots of other businesses that would like to make a 25% profit margin.

 

[jis]

OK I stand corrected. Maybe then they are even right about not running passenger trains too, unlike the other large railroads.

But CSX also carries almost double the debt/equity ratio of UNP and a third larger than NSC, which might be making their management a little more antsy.

BTW, the Profit margin figures I am getting for their last fiscal year reports are respectively:

CSX 14.7, UNP 16.4 and NSC 15.7 from their SEC filings. Would be interesting to find out what different definitions are being used by the WSJ and SEC.

But this is getting way off topic.