E. Hunter Harrison

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Ewing Hunter Harrison (born November 7, 1944 in Memphis, Tennessee , died December 16, 2017 in Wellington, Florida ) was an American railroad manager . He was Chief Executive Officer of the Illinois Central Railroad , Canadian National Railway , Canadian Pacific Railway and most recently the CSX Corporation .

Life

E. Hunter Harrison was the oldest of five siblings. His father was a police officer who later worked as an itinerant preacher. To finance his studies at Memphis State University , he began to work in 1963 as a worker (so-called oiler) at a marshalling yard on the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (Frisco). After completing his studies, he stayed with Frisco and began his rise in management. When the railway company was taken over by the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1980 , he remained employed. At BN, he rose to Vice President for the areas of transport and later service design. After the Prospect Group took over the Illinois Central Railroad in 1989, he took the opportunity to join the newly formed management team at Edward L. Moyers . First, he was Vice President and Chief Operating Officer . After Moyers unexpectedly resigned from his position in early 1993, he was appointed President and CEO of the railway company. During this time he developed the system of "Precision Scheduled Railroading". The system is based on using the existing track systems and rolling stock to an even greater extent than was previously the case. Unnecessary systems, locomotives and freight cars were sold and scrapped. This was also associated with a lower demand for rail workers, which resulted in layoffs. He also took drastic measures when dealing with senders (e.g. fines for delayed loading processes). With these measures he succeeded in reducing the operating expenses of the railway company from 90% of the income to 60% (operating ratio).

In 1998 the railway company was acquired by the Canadian Canadian National Railway . Part of the takeover was that a large part of the management was taken over. Harrison became Vice President and Chief Operating Officer under the direction of CEO Paul Tellier . After his resignation at the end of 2002, Harrison became President and CEO of the railway company. He retired on December 31, 2009 at 65.

From April to June 2011 he was Acting CEO and President of Dynegy Inc.

In autumn 2011 he was won over by the investment banker Bill Ackman to take over the management of the Canadian Pacific Railway . The proxy fight with the existing management in the spring of the following year was successful. The previous CEO and President Fred Green resigned and Ackman was elected to the board of directors at the shareholders' meeting on May 17, 2012. On June 28, 2012, Harrison became President and CEO of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Canadian National Railway sued Harrison for breaking agreements regarding his retirement. During the time at CPR, he introduced the system of “Precision Scheduled Railroading”. Harrison and Ackman also tried to merge with the American railroad companies CSX Corporation (2014) and Norfolk Southern Corporation (2016). However, these efforts failed. Due to pneumonia and a leg operation, he was unable to work for several months in 2015. In August 2016, Ackman sold his shares in CPR and withdrew from the company. On January 31, 2017, Harrison unexpectedly retired from the CPR.

A little later, investor Paul Hilal announced his intention to install Harrison as President and CEO at CSX Corporation. There was another fight vote. Harrison's state of health was also discussed in the course of negotiations with shareholders. Harrison also demanded compensation of $ 84 million for lost payments from the Canadian Pacific. On March 6, 2017, he took over the management of the railway company. Within a very short time he also introduced his “Precision Scheduled Railroading” to the CSX. In addition to the dismissal of thousands of employees and the shutdown of railway systems, this led to a near collapse of the railway company. As a result, and on the basis of complaints from shippers, the rail company was put under surveillance by the Surface Transportation Board .

Harrison died on December 16, 2017. Two days earlier, the railroad company announced that Harrison's business would be taken over by James Foote due to illness.

E. Hunter Harrison was on the board of directors of the energy company Dynegy, the Belt Railway Company of Chicago , the Wabash National , the Association of American Railroads and the TTX Company . He received in 2002 and 2015 by the trade journal Railway Age award Railroader of the Year .

Hunter Harrison was married and has two daughters. In his spare time he bred show jumping horses on his farms in Ridgefield, Connecticut and Wellington, Florida and was co-host of a horse show. He was the chairman of the National Horse Show Association of America .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ CP's Hunter Harrison: 'There is a new sheriff in town' . The Globe and Mail. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  2. ^ A b The No Bullshit Legacy of Hunter Harrison Alberta Venture. Retrieved December 18, 2017 (American English).
  3. ↑ E. Hunter Harrison . In: CBR.ca . Archived from the original on October 24, 2006. Retrieved November 14, 2006.
  4. ↑ CBR.ca - Executive Profile. (No longer available online.) October 24, 2006, archived from the original on October 24, 2006 ; accessed on December 18, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cbr.ca
  5. ↑ Stuart Chirls, Senior Editor: Hunter Harrison assumes CSX's throttle . ( railwayage.com [accessed December 18, 2017]).
  6. ↑ Harrison apologizes to Rail Shippers for Summer service disruption . In: Transport Topics . October 11, 2017 ( ttnews.com [accessed December 18, 2017]).
  7. ↑ Hunter's Jumpers | Equestrian Living. Retrieved December 18, 2017 (American English).
personal data
SURNAME Harrison, E. Hunter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Harrison, Ewing Hunter (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American railroad manager
DATE OF BIRTH November 7, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Memphis (Tennessee)
DATE OF DEATH December 16, 2017
Place of death Wellington (Florida)