Received the following via email.
CSX CEO to Harvard Business School: CSX Meeting Growing Transportation
Demand, Strengthening American Competitiveness
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -
February 27, 2014 - America's freight railroads are investing in facilities,
technology and programs to meet the country's growing consumption and
transportation needs, CSX (NYSE: CSX) chairman, president and chief
executive officer Michael Ward told an audience of more than 200 business
and policy leaders at a Harvard Business School (HBS) panel
today.
The panel, "What Moves U.S.," is part of the "America on the Move: Transportation and Infrastructure for the 21st Century" National Summit hosted this week at HBS. The panel included leaders from the public and private transportation sectors who explored issues related to balanced regulations; opportunities for connectivity, safety and sustainability; and the impact of transportation, particularly benefits and challenges for intermodal, as the global supply chain evolves.
"CSX is up to the
challenge of meeting our customers' increasingly high expectations while
creating jobs, rebuilding transportation infrastructure, and supporting
global competitiveness for American businesses," Ward said. "The nation's
freight railroads have literally transformed in the nearly 35 years since
they were partially deregulated, but there's still much to do to fully
realize the economic and environmental advantages of freight rail transportation."
To continue leveraging those advantages, CSX plans
$2.3 billion in capital investments in 2014 as the company builds for
long-term growth and continues to deliver value for customers and investors.
CSX has invested more than $14 billion since 2005 in making its network the
safest and most efficient means of transportation in the east. Long term,
CSX plans to invest 16 to 17 percent of revenue into the business each year
- a combination of investments in core infrastructure and assets with
strategic capital to support profitable growth - plus an overlay for the
positive train control system.
CSX investment in 2014 and beyond will
support the company's intermodal business, a major growth driver based on
the environmental and efficiency benefits of connecting ports with inland
consumption centers while taking long-haul trucks off of America's congested
highways. It is estimated that approximately 9 million truckloads in the
Eastern U.S. are candidates for conversion to intermodal rail service.
Priorities for CSX in 2014 include the construction of new facilities in
Florida and Canada, and expansions of other facilities across the
network.
Today, more than 90 percent of CSX intermodal traffic travels
over double-stack cleared routes, which can carry double the freight on the
same number of rail cars. That number will rise to the mid-90s in the next several years when CSX completes the National Gateway, the company's public-private partnership designed to increase the flow of freight between mid-Atlantic ports and Midwestern consumption centers via double-stack intermodal service.
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 more than 185 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 small farming towns alike. More
information about CSX Corporation and its subsidiaries is available at www.csx.com. Like us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/OfficialCSX)
and follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/CSX).
Contact:
Melanie
Cost
904-359-1702