Former CSX CEO Joe Hinrichs posted this letter to railroad employees today on LinkedIn.
Just over three years ago I came out of retirement to become President & CEO of CSX. I was the first outsider to come in as CEO in the rail industry and also the first one who had actually been a major rail customer, so I knew the industry from an outsider’s perspective. I am proud that during my tenure we were able to lead an effort to focus on improving the employee experience and customer service while leveraging a strong operating model to deliver shareholder returns.
As my time as CEO of CSX comes to an end, I want to thank all 23,000 CSX employees for your support and efforts over these last three years. We worked hard to bring ONE CSX to life for everyone, including the communities we live in and work every day. We put a special emphasis on our employees out in the field, serving our customers every day and keeping America moving. Each year we took and responded to employee surveys – I enjoyed randomly visiting yards every week, unannounced, to thank and speak directly to employees on the ground. These efforts have been reflected in our employee net promoter scores and trust. Our efforts didn’t end there – we also took the lead in improving labor relations by leading the industry in resolving the paid sick leave issue and setting the early pattern for this latest round of national negotiations, making history before the contract expired last year.
Along the way our customer service levels kept getting better and better, with the last three quarters representing the best customer net promoter scores we have ever had, even while we were dealing with Mother Nature’s wrath and the simultaneous rebuilds of the Howard Street Tunnel and the Blue Ridge (Clinchfield) Subdivision. There is a very strong correlation between employee NPS and customer NPS. We were the only Class I railroad last year to grow volumes compared to 2019 (pre-COVID). There is also a strong connection between service and volume growth. Please don’t lose sight of that. We worked hard to invest in a culture of pride and love for CSX by our employees and in our communities. Accomplishments of which I am proud are the return of the CSX Santa Train, fantastic CSX Family Days, and our leadership role in the Jacksonville community. We took our CSX Pride In Service initiatives to new levels. Today you see our employees wearing CSX with pride everywhere … all while our new digital CSX signs light up the downtown Jacksonville skyline.
Our operating metrics have been industry-leading for almost all of those three years, save for a difficult first four months of this year. We can all be proud of how the Operations team has responded and the results we have delivered since the beginning of May. With the major projects now opening back up, there is tremendous opportunity to continue leading and improving.
Everything starts with Safety, and I am proud of the progress we are showing this year in InjuryRates and Train Accident Rates, especially in the last few months. We lost four ONE CSX family members during the first 17 months I was here and that is by far my biggest regret. Thankfully the last 19 months have been much better. Safety First Always.
We were able to achieve shareholder returns while focusing on employees and customers. If you look at the numbers CSX is the second best performing Class 1 stock year-to-date, trailing only NSC which has a deal premium in their stock. Over my three years our Total Shareholder Return is second only to NSC in the rail sector, again due to the recent premium in the stock due to the proposed UP acquisition.
I was proud to be named 2025 Railroader of the Year in September 2024 – this was a recognition that all 23,000 ONE CSX team members worked together to win. It wasn’t about me. That is what ONE CSX means. Everyone is important.
So, this is a long way of saying THANK YOU to our entire ONE CSX team. As we said at investor conferences over the last few weeks, 2026 sets up very well for CSX with the railroad running well, the major projects completed, and the industry partnerships working together to drive more volume to CSX.
I wish you all the best moving forward. Thank you for welcoming me, Maria, and our family into your ONE CSX family. Make us all proud by not only what you do, but how you do it. The rail industry is changing. I hope you can lead the way. All the best. JOE
Ancora is a disappointing organization. They want to squeeze expenses for short term gain at the expense of long term growth and they use distortions and cherry picked data to push their agenda. I am surprised the board of directors rolled over so quickly.
My B&O family experience, along with my own, will confirm that it was a well managed company. They also gave a hoot about their employees. Unwritten company policies made sure that workers were taken care of when bad things happened… whether on or off property. One fellow that I knew lost an arm due to a farming accident. He could no longer work his brakeman’s job. This man was given a lifetime position with the company.
So, if BNSF merges with CSX at some future point, who takes over from whom? The well-run railroad in North Fort Worth or the looming disaster in Jacksonville?
Long ago in a faraway galaxy (Detroit, Michigan) the daughter of a B&O executive told me, bitterly, that her Dad’s railroad was the better managed company, C&O had the money. Guess who ran the combined corporation?
Totally unrelated, absolutely off topic, but I have nowhere else to drop the question: What in the name of {whatever) is going on at MKA General Mitchell Airport train station. Went through in March, the project begun a year earlier was making good progress. Early in August, a bit more work has been done. Went through Saturday, almost eight weeks later, no visible progress whatsoever in simple project begun in 2024. What’s going on?
I do have some contacts at Wisconsin DOT but I doubt they know anything about a train station.
Bear in mind, the improvement at MKA is operational, not aesthetics or comfort. Until the work at MKA is completed, all passenger trains in both directions except the Empire Builder run on the WB track for about 15 to 20 miles. Meaning if any train is off schedule, the single track for most passenger trains could break down. As it happened, my NB train last Saturday was off schedule b/c of Saturday track work on METRA in Illinois. Another factor that could get trains off schedule is changing one Hiawatha into the Borealis from Saint Paul. Anything could happen EB between Saint Paul and MKA especially in winter.
Joe is a total class act. The BoD rolling over to Ancora is a true failure.