Proven scheduled railroading operator enhances
leadership team and will help accelerate implementation of the
company's strategy
ATLANTA, March 20,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Norfolk Southern Corporation
(NYSE: NSC) announced Wednesday the appointment of John Orr as executive vice president and chief
operating officer, effective immediately. Throughout his
four-decade career, Orr has earned a reputation as a proven leader
in applying scheduled railroading principles to drive sustainable
long-term value creation. He spearheaded the turnaround of Canadian
Pacific Kansas City's (CPKC) Mexico operations by successfully implementing
a high-efficiency operating model, shaped and guided the execution
of Kansas City Southern's (KCS) service-focused scheduled
railroading initiatives, and drove significant improvements in
Canadian National Railway's (CN) safety and operational
performance.
Orr will oversee Norfolk Southern's railway operations,
including safety, transportation, network planning and operations,
engineering, and equipment maintenance. He began his career as a
craft railroader and served as a union representative for 15 years.
During his tenure at CN, Orr held a variety of positions including
chief safety and sustainability officer and was recognized for
driving numerous process improvements, mentoring programs, and
progressive safety culture initiatives. Orr's experience as a
frontline railroader and an executive informs his approach to team
building, employee development, and engagement with regulators.
Ultimately, this enables him to drive new levels of safety,
service, growth, and operating efficiencies. He will report
directly to Norfolk Southern president and chief executive officer
Alan H. Shaw. In connection with
Orr's appointment, current chief operating officer Paul Duncan departed the company to pursue other
opportunities.
Amy Miles, Norfolk Southern's
independent board chair, said, "Alan, together with the board, took
decisive action in recruiting John, an exceptional talent who will
help accelerate the execution of our strategy and deliver results
for our shareholders. John is a proven railroad operator, and we
are confident he brings the right skills and experience to drive
profitable growth over the long term. Importantly, he shares our
commitment to the critical cultural transformation at Norfolk
Southern that values our employees, customers, shareholders, and
communities."
Claude Mongeau, Norfolk Southern
independent director and former chief executive officer of CN,
added, "Orr has a solid track record of operational excellence and,
with four decades of broad industry experience, is clearly one of
the most effective operating leaders in the rail sector. I've
worked closely with John at CN as we first implemented scheduled
railroading with a more customer-centric agenda, and I can vouch
for his unwavering commitment to safety. I'm confident that he will
help the NS team deliver on its balanced strategy to drive top-tier
revenue and earnings growth at industry-competitive margins."
Alan Shaw, Norfolk Southern
president and chief executive officer, said, "John is a deeply
respected and accomplished leader, and is the right chief operating
officer to ensure execution of our strategy of balancing safe
service, productivity, and growth. He has a proven ability to build
strong relationships with customers, regulators, unions, and
industry partners. His performance history as a disciplined and
thoughtful operator makes him an ideal fit as we look to execute
our balanced strategic plan that will deliver top-tier earnings and
revenue growth at industry competitive margins. John recognizes a
high level of service is critical to delivering for our customers
and for sustaining growth. I have full confidence Norfolk Southern
is positioned to execute our ground-breaking strategy, leveraging
our unique franchise strengths."
Shaw concluded, "I want to thank Paul
Duncan for the leadership, passion, and dedication he
brought to Norfolk Southern throughout his tenure. His
contributions were instrumental in enhancing our safety culture and
improving our service product. On behalf of the management team, I
wish Paul all the best in his future endeavors."
John Orr said, "I have great
admiration for Norfolk Southern and am honored to join this iconic
railway at such a pivotal time in its history. I have deep respect
for Alan and the transformation he is leading through the pursuit
of an industry changing strategy. The company has an extraordinary
network and I want to build upon the strength of the franchise. I
am excited to work with the full leadership team and the company's
dedicated craft railroaders to enhance operating performance and
strengthen Norfolk Southern's industry leadership for years to
come."
Orr joins Norfolk Southern from CPKC, where he served as
executive vice president and chief transformation officer, and
oversaw network operations planning and design, labor relations,
and regulatory affairs. In that role, he led the integration and
optimization of operations following Canadian Pacific Railway's
acquisition of KCS in December 2021,
including rapidly remediating the challenged Mexican operations by
restoring service levels and resiliency, which resulted in
significant operating improvements across train speed, terminal
dwell time, car miles for care, locomotive productivity, and
service experience for the customer. Prior to CPKC, he was
executive vice president of operations at KCS, where he
successfully executed precision scheduled railroading initiatives
focusing on improving service. Orr is an award-winning expert and
author in Precision Scheduled Railroading operations, having worked
under Hunter Harrison for decades at
CN, and was honored with Railway Age's 2023 Top Influencer
award.
He began his career at CN in 1985 as a conductor. Over the
years, he held various operating and network positions at the
company, ultimately being promoted to senior vice president and
chief transportation officer. Orr holds a bachelor of arts in
environmental studies from University of
Waterloo and completed the Advanced Management Program at
Harvard Business School.
As a reflection of Orr's unique set of skills and experience and
his expected impact on long-term value creation, the company has
entered into an agreement with CPKC that offers certain financial
and commercial considerations in exchange for a waiver of his
non-compete provisions. Norfolk Southern has agreed to a one-time
payment to CPKC of $25 million, make
certain commercial and operational considerations related to the
Meridian Speedway and the Meridian Terminal, and abide by temporary
non-solicitation and non-hire provisions regarding a short list of
CPKC employees.
About Norfolk Southern
Since 1827, Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) and its
predecessor companies have safely moved the goods and materials
that drive the U.S. economy. Today, it operates a customer-centric
and operations-driven freight transportation network. Committed to
furthering sustainability, Norfolk Southern helps its customers
avoid approximately 15 million tons of yearly carbon emissions by
shipping via rail. Its dedicated team members deliver more than 7
million carloads annually, from agriculture to consumer goods, and
Norfolk Southern originates more automotive traffic than any other
Class I Railroad. Norfolk Southern also has the most extensive
intermodal network in the eastern U.S. It serves a majority of the
country's population and manufacturing base, with connections to
every major container port on the Atlantic coast as well as major
ports in the Gulf of Mexico and
Great Lakes. Learn more by visiting www.NorfolkSouthern.com.
Important Additional Information and Where to Find
It
The Company has filed a preliminary proxy statement on
Schedule 14A containing a form of WHITE proxy card with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") in connection with
the solicitation of proxies for its 2024 Annual Meeting of
Shareholders (the "2024 Annual Meeting"). The proxy statement is in
preliminary form and Norfolk Southern intends to file and mail a
definitive proxy statement (the "2024 Proxy Statement") to
shareholders of Norfolk Southern. SHAREHOLDERS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED
TO READ THE COMPANY'S 2024 PROXY STATEMENT (INCLUDING ANY
AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO), THE WHITE PROXY CARD AND ANY
OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE
BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Shareholders may
obtain a free copy of the preliminary proxy statement, 2024 Proxy
Statement, any amendments or supplements to the 2024 Proxy
Statement and other documents that the Company files with the SEC
from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or the Company's website at
https://norfolksouthern.investorroom.com as soon as reasonably
practicable after such materials are electronically filed with, or
furnished to, the SEC.
Certain Information Regarding Participants in
Solicitation
The Company, its directors and certain of its
executive officers and employees may be deemed participants in the
solicitation of proxies from shareholders in connection with the
matters to be considered at the 2024 Annual Meeting. Information
regarding the direct and indirect interests, by security holdings
or otherwise, of the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC,
be considered participants in the solicitation of shareholders in
connection with the 2024 Annual Meeting is included in the
Company's preliminary proxy statement for the 2024 Annual Meeting,
filed with the SEC on February 26,
2024, and will be included in Norfolk Southern's 2024 Proxy
Statement, once available. To the extent holdings by our directors
and executive officers of Norfolk Southern securities reported in
the preliminary proxy statement for the 2024 Annual Meeting have
changed, such changes have been or will be reflected on Statements
of Change of Ownership on Forms 3, 4 or 5 filed with the SEC. These
documents are available free of charge as described above.
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking
Statements
Certain statements in this press release are
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe
harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995, as amended. These statements relate to future events or
our future financial performance, including statements regarding
our COO transition and our ability to execute on our strategic
plan, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other
factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity,
performance, or our achievements or those of our industry to be
materially different from those expressed or implied by any
forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking
statements may be identified by the use of words like "may,"
"will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate,"
"intend," "believe," "estimate," "project," "consider," "predict,"
"potential," "feel," or other comparable terminology. The Company
has based these forward- looking statements on its current
expectations, assumptions, estimates, beliefs, and projections.
While the Company believes these expectations, assumptions,
estimates, and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking
statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks
and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances
that are beyond the Company's control. These and other important
factors, including those discussed under "Risk Factors" in our
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, as well as the Company's
subsequent filings with the SEC, may cause actual results,
performance, or achievements to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by these forward- looking statements. The
forward-looking statements herein are made only as of the date they
were first issued, and unless otherwise required by applicable
securities laws, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation
to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
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SOURCE Norfolk Southern Corporation