Teamwork grows coal business in Northern Region

A new coal mine in southern Ohio, a challenge for better service and some innovative teamwork resulted in increased coal business for Norfolk Southern.

American Energy Corp. opened Century Mine in February 2002. NS already was serving Ohio Valley Coal Co.'s nearby Powhatan Mine 6, running a shuttle train to the Powhatan River Terminal at Powhatan Point, Ohio. Ohio Valley Coal and American Energy both are owned by Murray Energy Corp. Owner Robert E. Murray challenged the company to improve service to the mines.

"We saw a great opportunity to improve our service, get new business from Century Mine and increase our existing business from the Powhatan mine, which receives some of its coal by truck," said Chuck Fike, account manager utility coal north. The goal was to capture the truck business as well as the new business.

"We oversaw the construction of a track into the new mine," said Jerry Nassar, manager resource development. "We also worked to develop new service standards that benefit both of us."

Those standards involve quicker loadings through new high-capacity, rapid discharge equipment for both mines, improved transit times and a trainmaster working solely with these moves.

Coal shuttle trains run seven days a week, 364 days a year.

NS now operates three 65-car shuttle trains daily from the Century and Powhatan mines to the river terminal, a distance of about 17 miles. Shuttles operate seven days a week, 364 days a year. The coal is sent from the terminal by barge to three utilities.

"This is top-line business growth for NS," said Fike. "The Pittsburgh Division worked with us to ensure our customers would receive the service they expected. Bob Bartle, division superintendent, and Brian Swingle, trainmaster, designed the service plan, and they manage the day-to-day operation of these cycling trains. Lee Meadows, division engineer, oversaw the track improvement and construction to the new Century Mine load-out. Our customer worked with us to improve turnaround times and increase equipment load capacity."

"The ability to work as a team shows NS' strong commitment to growing its business," said Ron Listwak, assistant vice president utility coal north. "We developed innovative service plans for these two facilities, and Murray Energy had confidence in us to meet those service commitments. The result is Norfolk Southern quadrupled its business annually from these operations."

Diversity Council promotes inclusiveness

Since its first meeting in August 2002, Norfolk Southern's Diversity Council has created programs to develop a more inclusive workplace. NS employees already can see the company's diversity logo. It will appear on future council publications and on items in NS' Company Store.

"I love our logo," said Sonji Henderson, benefits accountant and council member. "I think it's interesting, and when people see it, they're going to want to know more. It's really eye-catching."

"We all need to know what diversity is before we can work toward it," said John Garcia, supervisory special agent and council member. "It's not necessarily a word that you can define with a dictionary. It's all about different people with different experiences coming together for a common goal. It's about being open to change."

The council has developed several projects to get NS employees to participate in creating a more inclusive workplace.

The council's communication committee has "pumped up the volume on the diversity Web site" (available through the Employee Resource Center), according to Lisa Wilson, business account analyst IT and council member. "We're really trying to spread the word about the initiatives and help employees understand the company's vision."

The committee spent time on the Alabama Division in late April talking to employees about diversity at NS and plans to do the same on other divisions.

Other teams are developing and making presentations about the initiatives, improving hiring practices and suggesting how senior management leaders can demonstrate their commitment to diversity.

"I think one of the first and most important steps with the council is to increase the awareness of diversity and its importance for Norfolk Southern and all of its employees. That's what we hope to accomplish with our presentations - we want all our employees to understand diversity and how it benefits each of us and our company," said council member Rick Davison, assistant vice president human resources. "In the next six months, I would like to see visible improvements in the company due to our efforts," said Henderson. "There are so many people working so hard to bring about change."

Employees can address questions and comments about diversity to their local council members and to diversity@nscorp.com. Profiles of Diversity Council members can be found on the Employee Resource Center.

NS receives 2002 TRANSCAER® National Achievement Award

The TRANSCAER® Task Group awarded its 2002 National Achievement Award to Norfolk Southern.

"It is wonderful to receive such important recognition," said Dave Schoendorfer, manager hazardous materials. "So many people at NS work to make our communities safer, and this is a nice reward for that work."

NS received the award for its outstanding support of TRANSCAER and for its excellence in four areas: activities, organization commitment, financial support and manpower investment.

In 2002, the company conducted 127 TRANSCAER training programs, drills and exercises, bringing more than 680 hours of instruction time to emergency responders. These programs were conducted in 267 local municipalities in 22 states on the railroad's system.

NS also sponsored a Whistle Stop Tour in 2002 that traveled to six cities in four states. Approximately 1,500 emergency responders were trained during the weeklong tour. The program included both hands-on and classroom training taught by instructors from carriers, chemical manufacturers, emergency response contractors and government representatives.

NS provided scholarships for firefighters to attend training at the Association of American Railroads Hazardous Materials Training Center. The company also donated railroad tank car valve assemblies to fire academies and training facilities.

"We believe that the real winners are the communities we serve," said Schoendorfer. "Their emergency responders have more information and updated skills to assist in public safety efforts."

TRANSCAER, or Transportation, Community Awareness and Emergency Response, is a nationwide community outreach program designed to promote chemical transportation emergency preparedness and awareness in communities. TRANSCAER fosters partnerships among chemical producers, distributors, carriers, first responders and government agencies.

NS people support America's troops

Norfolk Southern employees in many areas on the system are doing their part to support Americans in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In Atlanta, Jan Russell, manager chemicals, and Karla Holland, RACS manager, challenged others to fill care packages for American soldiers and sailors fighting in Iraq.

"We wanted to do something to help, so we asked our co-workers for the names of their friends and relatives who might like to receive a package from NS employees," Holland said. "We then asked for donations of suitable items, and the response was wonderful."

Holland said more than 300 pounds of items were collected, boxed and sent as of early April.

Russell said employees packed items on Fridays and wore red, white and blue clothing for the occasion.

In Roanoke, Judy Sublett, assistant treasurer, accepted the challenge from Atlanta.

"People really want to help and do something nice for our soldiers and sailors," Sublett said. She credited Joyce Dunn, manager administration casualty claims, and Billie Lester, assistant to the senior vice president coal, with getting the word out.

"Joyce and Billie have been instrumental in getting information out, and we're receiving many items for our packages," Sublett said. "Ginger Brown, analyst contract compliance, gave us hand-made cards with patriotic designs that people can sign for us to include in each package.

"We've received some cash donations and thought we might be able to help some of the families," Sublett said.

David Lawson, president MODALGISTICS®, accepted the challenge for merchandise marketing in Norfolk. Robyn Louderback, product manager, volunteered to coordinate the Norfolk effort.

"We know people want to help in some way," Louderbach said. "This way, Norfolk employees can be part of a real morale booster for our troops."

Holland said the support of NS people is heartwarming.

"When we started this, we just wanted to do something to say thank you to those who are serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom," she said. "The level of support we're seeing speaks volumes about how NS people care about others."

NS also sent clothing items to injured U.S. Marines at Bethesda Naval Hospital.

For a list of acceptable items, go to the U.S. Department of Defense Web site, www.defendamerica.mil.

System claims office enhances claims process

Norfolk Southern has opened a system claims office in Norfolk.

"This office was established to centralize the process of handling property damage claims," said Bob Wells, assistant general manager casualty claims. "It enhances our ability to handle those claims expediently while allowing our field personnel to devote more time to the investigation, management and resolution of Federal Employer Liability Act claims and outside personal injury claims."

The office will process all property damage claims occurring on the NS system estimated to be at or less than $10,000. The office will also handle phone inquiries when a field agent is unavailable.

"In addition to handling property damage claims, system claims office employees will shadow veteran claim agents whenever practical," Wells said. "That will give them on-the-job training and help prepare them for possible promotion and relocation to a field office."

The office is located at 2200 Redgate Ave., Norfolk, Va., 23507. Claim representatives can be reached by phone at (800) 230-7049 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Norfolk Southern territory benefits from Industrial Development

Norfolk Southern participated in the location of 93 new industries and the expansion of 33 others along its rail lines in 2002.

The new plants and expansions represent an investment of $3.9 billion by NS customers. They are expected to create more than 4,700 jobs on the railroad's territory and generate more than 91,100 carloads of new rail traffic annually.

The industrial development projects include facilities involved in the handling of automobiles, plastics and agricultural and food products.

"The number of new and expanding businesses on the NS network increased 16 percent over 2001, despite challenging economic conditions for our customers and communities," said Larry Collingwood, assistant vice president industrial development.

The largest projects are in the automotive sector. General Motors and Mitsubishi expanded auto assembly plants at Moraine, Ohio, and Normal, Ill. Southeast Toyota Distributors opened a new auto processing and distribution facility in Jacksonville, Fla. NS will serve additional auto assembly plants under construction by Toyota at Princeton, Ind., Mercedes-Benz at Vance, Ala., and Honda in Lincoln, Ala. All are scheduled for completion in 2003 and 2004.

NS helped develop 11 plastics and 17 food-related product divisions. Examples are the Aero Plastics Inc. consumer products plant in McDonough, Ga.; the Wenger Feed mill in Shippensburg, Pa.; and the Owens-Brockway Plastic Products Inc. bottle manufacturing plant in Altavista, Va.

Several projects benefited from NS' MODALGISTICS® business unit that provides transportation, distribution and logistics services.

"Customers turn to NS for service solutions from locations to logistics because they can count on us to provide expert analysis and economical and efficient transportation across all modes," Collingwood said. "They know we are here for the long haul."

During the past 10 years, NS has participated in the location or expansion of 1,143 industries, which invested $24.1 billion and created more than 58,000 jobs in the territory served by the railroad.

NS Scholarship applications due Dec. 31, 2003

High school juniors are eligible to apply for four-year scholarships to be awarded in 2005 to children of Norfolk Southern employees.

National Merit Scholarship Corp., an independent, nonprofit organization, administers the scholarship program. NMSC identifies talented high school students and aids as many as possible in obtaining college educations. NMSC handles the selection of winners and the administration of awards. No officer or employee of NS will play a part in the selection of scholarship winners.

The NS program awards merit, achievement and special scholarships. For detailed descriptions of these scholarships, go to the NMSC Web site at www.nationalmerit.org. Competition for these scholarships is open to children of active, retired or deceased employees of NS and its participating subsidiaries. Applicants must be in their junior year of high school and plan to enter college in 2005.

To compete for a scholarship, a student must take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2003 or Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2003. Students who are starting their junior year must make arrangements with principals or counselors in September 2003 to take the PSAT/NMSQT.

Participation requirements established by NMSC for scholarship competition are explained in the PSAT/NMSQT Student Bulletin distributed at schools prior to administration of the test.

To get a scholarship application, write to Norfolk Southern Corp., Scholarship Program Coordinator, Three Commercial Place, Norfolk, Va., 23510-9211 or send an e-mail to nseducation@nscorp.com or a MEMO to RESUPER. Forms also are available on the Employee Resource Center. Click "Other Links" to get to NS Scholarship Program. Students must return the completed forms postmarked no later than Dec. 31, 2003.

Winners will be selected on a competitive basis according to merit and without regard to financial need. NMSC will choose the winners by evaluating academic records through high school, demonstrated leadership and extracurricular accomplishments, the school's recommendation, the student's self description and test scores. In most cases, winners will be notified in March 2005.

The amount of each NS scholarship is determined individually and can range from $1,000 to a maximum of $4,000 a year for up to four years of college study, or until bachelor's degree requirements are completed, whichever comes first. The amount is determined by NMSC.

The winners must enter college as full-time students in the fall term following their selection, and they are responsible for making administrative arrangements and fulfilling all requirements of their chosen college. The college must be in the U.S. and hold accredited status with a regional accrediting commission on higher education.

Train crew recognized for service

Hershey Foods Corp. recognized a Norfolk Southern train crew for outstanding service.

The company presented its Galaxy Award for Outstanding Service to Engineer Bing Hofer, Conductor Steve Egenrieder and Brakeman Bob Kehoe, all of the Harrisburg, Pa., area. They serve the company's Hershey, West Hershey and Reese, Pa., plants.

"Bing, Steve and Bob have consistently provided Hershey with on-time service and have quickly adjusted to changing switching schedules," said Andrew Butch, Hershey's bean unloading supervisor. "Because of their focus on providing unparalleled customer service, the yard is always in order, rail car utilization has been excellent and the need for a second crew has been nonexistent."

L to R - Andy Butch, Steve Egenrieder, Bing Hofer, Bob Kehoe