(The following appeared on the Progressive Railroading website on January 12, 2010.)
On Jan. 1, Kansas City Southern Railway Co. (KCSR) reorganized the transportation and mechanical departments to improve efficiencies and “front-line decision-making,” according to an item posted on the “KCS News” Web page. The changes called for increasing field divisions from two to three.
The new Midwest Division includes territory form East St. Louis, Ill., west to Kansas City, Mo., and south to Shreveport, La. KCSR promoted Chad Devenney from Midwest Division superintendent to the division’s general manager, and reassigned Rick Galvan from director of shop operations to director of mechanical maintenance.
The new Southeast Division includes territory from Counce, Tenn., to Jackson, Miss., west to Shreveport and south to New Orleans. KCSR promoted David Carroll from Southeast Division superintendent to the division’s GM, and reassigned Chris Burchfield from director of mechanical maintenance for the Midwest Division to the same position for the Southeast Division.
The new Southwest Division includes territory from Laredo, Texas, to Shreveport. Mark Redd was reassigned from assistant vice president of transportation of the Southeast Division to GM of the Southwest Division, while Mark Williams was reassigned from director of mechanical maintenance for the former Southeast Division to the same position for the Southwest Division.
KCSR also named quality control directors for each division. Current directors Diana Greeley and Michael Wilkinson now are assigned to the Southeast Division and Southwest Division, respectively, while Ben Mitchell was reassigned from terminal superintendent at Knoche Yard to quality control director for the Midwest Division.
In other personnel moves, AVP Claude Friesland was named AVP of positive train control/advanced systems implementation; AVP Rick Stones was appointed AVP of advanced systems planning; and Greg Walling was promoted from general director of service design to AVP of network services.
Meanwhile, the railroad also restructured the engineering department into three divisions to better align it with the transportation and mechanical departments, according to KCSR. In related personnel moves, the railroad promoted Mark Wille from senior project manager to Southeast Division engineer, and retained Doug Haywood as Southwest Division engineer and Shawn Vecellio, as Midwest Division engineer.