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  • Passing of CEO Hunter Harrison

  • Discussion of the operations of CSX Transportation, from 1980 to the present. Official site can be found here: CSXT.COM.
Discussion of the operations of CSX Transportation, from 1980 to the present. Official site can be found here: CSXT.COM.

Moderator: MBTA F40PH-2C 1050

 #1453568  by John_Perkowski
 
Official announcement at the CSX site here
Announces Death of CEO E. Hunter Harrison

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – December 16, 2017 – CSX Corporation (NASDAQ: CSX), today issued the following statement: “It is with great sadness that we announce that E. Hunter Harrison, President and Chief Executive Officer of CSX, died today in Wellington, Fla., due to unexpectedly severe complications from a recent illness. The entire CSX family mourns this loss. On behalf of our Board of Directors, management team and employees, we extend our deepest sympathies to Hunter’s family. Hunter was a larger-than-life figure who brought his remarkable passion, experience and energy in railroading to CSX.”

Edward J. Kelly III, Chairman of the CSX Board of Directors, issued the following statement on behalf of the Board of Directors: “With the passing of Hunter Harrison, CSX has suffered a major loss. Notwithstanding that loss, the Board is confident that Jim Foote, as acting Chief Executive Officer, and the rest of the CSX team will capitalize on the changes that Hunter has made. The Board will continue to consider in a deliberative way how best to maximize CSX’s performance over the long term.”

About CSX

CSX, based in Jacksonville, Florida, is a premier transportation company. It provides rail, intermodal and rail-to-truck transload services and solutions to customers across a broad array of markets, including energy, industrial, construction, agricultural, and consumer products. For over 190 years, CSX has played a critical role in the nation’s economic expansion and industrial development. Its network connects every major metropolitan area in the eastern United States, where nearly two-thirds of the nation’s population resides. It also links more than 240 short-line railroads and more than 70 ocean, river and lake ports with major population centers and farming towns alike.
 #1453588  by Backshophoss
 
Hopefully Mr Foote will take a step back and rethink the "Wholesale" change that EHH was attempting at CSX,
and return to a more sane approach to the railroad as a whole.
 #1453606  by justalurker66
 
The entire CSX family mourns this loss.
That statement seems overly broad. Based on the derogatory comments I have been reading since Mr Harrison took control of CSX some have been hoping for this loss.

The company is more than one man. I expect there are contingency plans in place to maintain continuity through the transition to an EHH-less CSX.
 #1453625  by mmi16
 
Condolences to the family, however, among the CSX Family I knew and worked with for over 51 years his departure is not lamented. Thousands of CSX lives have altered, and not in a good way, during his brief but much too long tenure at CSX. Nine and a half months to make the company the laughingstock of the rail industry as well as it's customer base. His and Mantle Ridge's sole purpose was to liberate from the treasury as much money in as short a time as possible. Thieves! Larceny by trick. The $84M 'signing bonus' was nothing more that extortion orchestrated by EHH and Paul Hilal upon institutional investors that were too greedy to be able to see the company knowledgeable and clearly and thereby hire a invalid.

Goodbye EHH, you lasted 9 and a half months too long!
 #1453628  by amtrakhogger
 
mmi16 wrote:Condolences to the family, however, among the CSX Family I knew and worked with for over 51 years his departure is not lamented. Thousands of CSX lives have altered, and not in a good way, during his brief but much too long tenure at CSX. Nine and a half months to make the company the laughingstock of the rail industry as well as it's customer base. His and Mantle Ridge's sole purpose was to liberate from the treasury as much money in as short a time as possible. Thieves! Larceny by trick. The $84M 'signing bonus' was nothing more that extortion orchestrated by EHH and Paul Hilal upon institutional investors that were too greedy to be able to see the company knowledgeable and clearly and thereby hire a invalid.

Goodbye EHH, you lasted 9 and a half months too long!
Shades of Patrick McGinnis.
 #1453713  by DogBert
 
I hate to say it but the activist investors who signed him up for this job knew he had health issues. Maybe they'll buy up more stock today while the price is lower. He'll be replaced by Foote who will presumably stay on the exact same course. They knew this was coming. It's like a crass shell game to these guys.
 #1453935  by trainster78
 
Honestly one of the worst things I'm seeing coming out of this are foamers commemorating EHH's death as the best thing to ever happen in their life. Like, EHH was a person and making fun of his death because he "didn't run a railroad properly" is just uncalled for.
 #1453981  by Tadman
 
Between EHH's death and the Amtrak crash in Washington, it really has brought out the dark side of a lot of people.

I get it, EHH was very radical and ruined a lot of jobs. I can see railroaders being relieved that he is no longer around to threaten their jobs. I can even see some being really angry and venting after his death. But so many armchair railroaders are saying such needless stuff. Let it go, he's gone.

Same thing with the Amtrak wreck. Everybody's an expert and it's getting old so fast.
 #1454019  by CRail
 
People here talk about jobs like they’re just things you go buy at a store. Taking people’s jobs away doesn’t mean they just go get another one tomorrow and live happily ever after. For a lot of people it means uprooting their entire lives, costing people their families as financial woes tear them apart, and stripping someone of the one thing they knew how to do and were good at. To watch the suffering of so many you care about and to be effected by the actions of someone blissfully disconnected from his own consequences is a truly enraging experience. The passionate hatred you’re seeing is the result of the passionate love many have for this industry and those who serve it. When you attack with such pride and hostility those whom and that which I care deeply about, you earn yourself the level of disrespect and dishonor being expressed towards him here.

There is no moral low ground that stems from spitting on the grave of evil, and I despise the notion that the dead deserve greater respect than the living. If you wish to be regarded fondly in memoriam, conduct yourself accordingly in life. And for heaven’s sake, if E. Hunter Harrison can be awarded the benefit of being “only human,” then certainly us common folk may be granted the same.