(The following article by Randolph Heaster was posted on the Kansas City Star website on January 4.)
KANSAS CITY — Kansas City Southern has appointed Arthur L. Shoener to the positions of executive vice president and chief operating officer of the company.
Shoener will be responsible for managing all of Kansas City Southern’s U.S. rail holdings. He was also named president and chief executive officer of Kansas City Southern Railway Co. and the Texas-Mexican Railway.
Shoener succeeds Gerald K. Davies, who retired as executive vice president and chief operating officer at the end of 2004.
However, Davies will remain with the company as a consultant in its efforts to complete the buyout of Grupo TFM, Mexico’s biggest railroad. Kansas City Southern said it had reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in TFM last month.
After nearly 30 years in the railroad business, Shoener established a transportation consulting firm in 1997, which had domestic and international clients.
Immediately before that, Shoener was with the Union Pacific Railroad Co., where he was executive vice president of operations for the entire rail system for six years before becoming a consultant. Shoener worked for the Missouri Pacific Railroad Co. before it was bought by Union Pacific in 1982.
Michael R. Haverty, Kansas City Southern’s chairman and chief executive, said Shoener joined the company as it gets ready to expand domestically and internationally.
“He is widely acknowledged as one of the premier railroad operations professionals in the business,” Haverty said.
“Art provides us the expertise and management capabilities to ensure that KCS’ rail investments achieve and maintain the highest level of operational efficiency and customer service.”
Also on Monday, Kansas City Southern said Owen M. Zidar has joined the company as its vice president of marketing. Zidar most recently was with Pacer Global Logistics as regional vice president of sales.
Before that, he was with Burlington Northern Santa Fe.
With Shoener’s appointment, Jerry Heavin was named to the new position of senior vice president of international engineering.
Heavin, previously senior vice president of operations, will oversee the infrastructure needs of Kansas City Southern’s domestic and international operations.