SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — CEOs with strongly opposing views of the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger will be the keynote speakers at the annual winter meeting of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers, a key annual gathering of railroad officials and customers where discussion of the merger is likely to be the leading topic.
The event at the Renaissance Schaumberg Convention Center Hotel begins with a reception on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 13, and runs through midday on Thursday, Jan. 15.
CPKC CEO Keith Creel and BNSF CEO Katie Farmer — who have both come out against the merger — are among speakers scheduled to appear Wednesday, Jan. 14. Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena will be the morning keynote speaker on Thursday.
Also on the agenda as keynote speakers are Janet Drysdale, chief commercial officer at Canadian National, and Christopher Kuehl, founder and managing director of Armada Corporate Intelligence.
Short line and regional railroads are also well represented, with speakers including R.J. Corman Railroad Group CEO Justin Broyles; Jon Carnes, CEO of Transtar and the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway; Michael Miller, CEO of Genesee & Wyoming; and Joe Parsons, CEO of Iowa Interstate. They will take part in a panel discussion moderated by Chuck Baker, president of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association.
Other rail industry speakers include Anthony B. Hatch, president of ABH Consulting; Association of American Railroads CEO Ian Jefferies; James Pearce, vice president, people solutions, and Christian Rowe, vice president, development, at supply chain firm Savage; Alex Peiffer, chief operating officer at autonomous railcar startup Intramotev; and Lorie Tekorius, CEO of The Greenbrier Cos.
From the shippers’ perspective, speakers include Mike Barth, vice president, transportation and logistics, United Sugar Producers and Refiners, and Katie Beardslee Kloentrup, senior digital mine engineer at mining company Carmeuse.
Registration for the MARS meeting is still being accepted, with rooms available at the overflow hotel, the Embassy Suites Schaumburg. Information is available at the MARS website.
— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
