NS receives Whitestone Supply Company's
first "Small Business Partnership Award"

When a customer's equipment failure left a small Ohio construction aggregate company without its most important cargo, rock, Norfolk Southern came to the rescue. And when the company eliminated more than 30 percent of its private car fleet and shipped 16 percent more carloads, NS was there again to handle the increased business.

Marty Schlessel, president of Whitestone Supply Company, offered his personal appreciation to NS employees who helped contribute to his company's success during 2001. During a luncheon in Hudson, Ohio, Schlessel told NS that its "application, responsiveness and follow-through" made Whitestone a success in 2001. He presented NS Whitestone's first "Small Business Partnership Award" for outstanding service and overall customer satisfaction.

"I want to thank everyone at Norfolk Southern who has anything to do with Whitestone's car movements. This award is for you," Schlessel said.

Steve Tobias, NS vice chairman and chief operating officer, accepted the award, a crystal rendition of a Thoroughbred.

Whitestone Supply is a construction aggregate company that serves the greater Cleveland market area by receiving aggregates from Norfolk Southern-served quarries in northern Ohio.

"Norfolk Southern always treats us like partners," Schlessel said. "The success of our company depends on the success of Norfolk Southern."

2001 was a banner year for Whitestone Supply Company. As a result of consistent and dependable service from NS, Whitestone was able to eliminate 100 cars from its private fleet and cut 33 percent of its equipment costs. On an even larger scale as a result of improved consistency, Whitestone was able to ship almost 3,000 more cars in 2001 than in 2000, with less equipment.

"Our business succeeds because of the commitment Norfolk Southern has to its customers and the improvements it makes, day in and day out," Schlessel said. "Just as NS has been there for us, we will continue to be there for them as a strong small business partner. Good times and bad, we will always support NS as they've supported us. NS has truly earned this award."

NS, G-P teamwork increases business

When an opportunity arose to increase rail business from Georgia-Pacific Corp.'s Cedar Springs, Ga., mill, a team including members from Norfolk Southern's MODALGISTICS^SM business unit, Merchandise Marketing, G-P and G-P's short line railroad mobilized to meet the challenge. The mill receives coal, wood chips and scrap paper, and it ships liner board and medium used in the production of boxes.

Joe Federico, G-P's manager transportation, issued a challenge. "I asked what could be done to improve overall rail transit consistency while reducing transit times," Federico said.

Vern Bauer, NS national account manager, led a team to study, analyze and recommend solutions to Federico's question. In addition to looking at ways to improve consistency and reduce transit times, the team examined ways to sustain those service improvements and developed a process to manage and quantify them. Federico was the team's sponsor through G-P's IMPACT Quality process.

"We knew we could meet the challenge," Bauer said. "The way to prove it was through solid results."

Team members included Rusty Rudd, trainmaster; Don Self, manager merchandise service design, Bob Gentzel, director marketing; and Bobby Shelley, general manager of the Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad, the Georgia-Pacific-owned short line that interchanges with NS at Hilton, Ga., and serves the Cedar Springs mill.

"It was important to have the people who make transportation decisions for Georgia-Pacific and NS involved in this process as well as our short line partner," Bauer said. "We implemented some changes, including schedule and blocking changes and daily interchange with the CIRR. Bill Cannon, NS terminal superintendent at Macon, Ga., was instrumental in implementing train schedule changes involved with this team project."

Bauer said NS closely monitored five traffic lanes simultaneously through its 5X5 business process. The process involves identifying five specific traffic lanes to monitor and improve to meet customer expectations. As service in one of the five lanes improves, it is removed from the list and another is added. Five additional lanes also are targeted for new business conversions from truck to rail as the original targeted lanes are monitored proactively.

"We're extremely happy with the process and the product," Federico said. "Working together, we were able to meet everyone's needs, and most importantly, Georgia-Pacific's needs. The team received the full support of MODALGISTICS President David Lawson from the outset, and we appreciated that."

The team's work has benefited NS and G-P.

"With better service design, we improved our average outbound transit days from 7.5 to 3.7," Rudd said.

"We're working to take trucks off the road and put these shipments on rail," Shelley said. "Consistent transit time is critical to achieve this goal." Shelley added that CIRR adjusted its operating schedule to meet new interchange requirements.

Bauer said consistent and reliable service brought increased business to the railroad and took it off the highway. "We showed that NS could provide the kind of service our customer values, and we're committed to continuing that service," he said.

"The Cedar Springs facility is designed for rail transportation, not trucks," Federico said. "We want to continue to increase our use of rail, and this process has made that possible. We're much more confident in rail transportation as a result of this team effort. Now, we can count on receiving what we need, when we expect it. That gives us the ability to meet our customers' expectations."

The team's work was rewarded in another way when the National Association of Rail Shippers invited Larry Rasche, NS director sales, and Federico to talk about the successful effort at its annual meeting in May.

"The combination of dramatic improvements in transit times and equally significant improvements in service consistency have resulted in a product our customers value highly," Rasche said. "We were very pleased when our own industry recognized the work of this team."

The team continues to monitor its progress and quantify transit improvements.

"With these kinds of process improvements, our customers win every time," Federico said. "We're confident in NS' commitment and ability to provide reliable, consistent service."

May weather problems bring challenges
to Pocahontas, Illinois divisions

Pocahontas Division maintenance of way and structures forces restoring service following a May flood are credited with heroically rescuing six people from a truck moments before it was swept away in a current.

The pickup was headlight-deep in water and got stuck near a Welch, W.Va., road crossing. Seeing what happened, Danny Muncy, Tommy Jefferies and Roger Cisco, all maintenance of way employees, formed a human chain and helped rescue an 18-month-old-child, two teenage girls, two men and a woman who had surgery earlier that day. Moments after the rescue, the truck was completely submerged by the rushing flood waters.

The heavy rains pounded the division May 2, causing washouts and mudslides. In some places, water rose up to 10 feet, posing a difficult challenge for transportation and engineering crews.

"There was a lot of signal damage," said Rodney Layman, assistant division superintendent. "The signal department worked hard to get the lines back on, and everyone pulled together to repair the damaged track areas."

The Pocahontas main line experienced extensive scouring and washouts ranging from 200 feet long and 3 feet deep to 100 feet long and 30 feet deep and mud slides ranging from 4 tons to 100 tons, said Harold Ray, assistant division superintendent. Up to 300-foot track sections were buried under track debris ranging from 2 to 4 feet deep.

In addition to the heroic rescue, NS extended a helping hand to the surrounding communities days after the waters receded.

"We gave cleaning supplies to the counties of Matewan, Welch and Iaeger, W.Va., and Hurley, Va. We also trucked in water for the people in Welch, Iaeger and Matewan," said Mike Wheeler, division superintendent.

Service was restored to the Pocahontas area completely in two days.

Wild spring weather also wreaked havoc in the Illinois Division on May 1, when severe winds derailed 12 cars of an NS train south of Staunton.

"When we got out there it was still very dark and raining. The 65 mph winds had calmed, but there was still a stiff wind," said Scott Murry, superintendent.

Murry praised the hard work of a young train engineer, Chad Davidson.

"Chad's been with us for just about four years but managed to keep a very level head when police and ambulance personnel arrived. He briefed them, knew where everything was, told them about any hazmat on the trains, and just handled everything like a real pro."

Service was restored in the Staunton area later that day.

NS receives two awards for superior service

Norfolk Southern recently received two awards for superior service to its customers.

The American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute recognized the company for superior service to the coal and coke industry.

ACCCI board chairman Bob Bloom (l) presents the institute's award to Tony Wade, NS director metallurgical coal marketing.

Anthony Wade, director of metallurgical coal marketing, accepted the award during ACCCI's meeting in Monterey, Calif. Wade said NS owes much of its success leading to the award to the Coal Transportation Management System designed to track inbound coal deliveries. He also credited development of High-Tops fleet, custom-designed to haul coke, which reduces the total number of cars handled by NS customers and allows for effective competition in the coal and coke transport market.

"Our commitment to the coal and coke industry has been tangible and persistent. We have listened to their concerns and responded," Wade said.

"The American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute recognizes Norfolk Southern Corporation as an exemplary leader and innovator in the transport of metallurgical coke and coal, as the supplier of the custom designed High-Tops fleet and CTMS tracking system, as a trusted partner which strives to ensure a viable domestic coke market," ACCCI said. Bob Bloom, ACCCI's board chairman, presented the award.

A promise of superior customer service and a special delivery earned Norfolk Southern recognition from paper board producer Smurfit-Stone Container.

In April, NS successfully completed a time-sensitive shipment of 33 cars to several destinations on time without diverting to trucks.

"All of the Norfolk Southern employees did a tremendous job," said Dave Elliotte, manager, traffic and materials coordination for Smurfit-Stone Container's Hopewell, Va., paper mill. "Your expedited moves protected this entire 33-car movement from being converted to truck, which was the original request from my customer."

Elliotte, an NS customer since 1968, said, "We have a large and heavy product that takes up a large volume of space. Railroads are a great shipping option for this type product, and they have the added advantage of relieving the nation's highways of a large number of trucks."

Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation, with $8.4 billion in sales, is the world's largest integrated producer of paperboard and paper-based packaging products, with locations throughout North America, Asia and Europe. The company operates about 300 facilities worldwide and employs approximately 38,500 people.

Forging our Future … Together

Twenty-three pairs of mentors and mentees are helping to build a brighter future for Norfolk Southern. Open to all newly promoted and nonagreement employees hired after October 2001 who have been in their new positions for at least three months, the mentoring program focuses on professional growth and fine-tuning professional skills.

A part of the company's new human resources initiatives, "Forging Our Future ... Together," the program has met with overwhelming success, said Linda Duncan, manager training.

"There was such a huge response after we announced the program. We now have about 300 experienced NS managers who have volunteered to be mentors," she said.

The initial group met at a training session in Norfolk. Mentors and mentees participated in group training sessions to prepare for the year ahead. During these sessions, they worked together to define the goals mentees hope to reach during the program. In addition to the initial training session, mentors are expected to meet with their mentees at least three times during the 12-month program.

"Norfolk Southern's mentoring program is unique when compared to most employers; we give the opportunity for this type of growth to an expanded group of people. We open the program to all new nonagreement employees with a minimum of three months in their first NS position. If an employee has the drive and the will to learn, we want to do all we can to help them succeed," said Juan Cunningham, director development and training.

With this initial group successfully under way, there are already plans for at least three more mentor groups this year, the next beginning in July.

"We see this as one way to develop the leadership we need to keep Norfolk Southern a strong, vital company," Cunningham said.

Call for entries for the 2003 calendar contest

Snap a photo of a Norfolk Southern train and enter it in our ninth annual photo contest, and you could be among 13 winning photographers whose photos will be featured in the 2003 NS wall calendar. If your photo wins, you'll collect $350 and 50 calendars.

The contest is open to active employees of NS and subsidiaries. Entries must be horizontal 35mm color slides illustrating NS train service. (No digital photos, please.) Employees can submit up to five slides photographed within the past three years.

Judges from various departments will evaluate entries for seasonal variety, content, creativity, image quality and commodity representation. Winners' names and photos will appear on some 100,000 calendars.

To enter, send your slides to the address below along with your name, title, home address and the telephone numbers at which you can be reached. Please include an e-mail address if available. It is important to include the location, date and subject featured in each slide. Winning entries become the property of NS and will not be returned; however, duplicates will be provided. All other entries will be returned. NS will not be responsible for loss or damage to any slides. Deadline for entry is Aug. 1, 2002.

If you have questions, contact Rhonda Broom, manager advertising and promotions, public relations, at (757) 629-2706, microwave 629-2706, or e-mail rsbroom@nscorp.com.

2003 Calendar Contest
Norfolk Southern
Three Commercial Place
Norfolk, VA 23510-9217

Good luck, and remember to practice Thoroughbred safety while photographing trains.