BNSF ops chief out after just five months

BNSF Railway has promoted Craig Morehouse to executive vice president and chief operations officer, replacing Matt Garland, who stepped down to pursue another opportunity after spending five months as the railroad’s top operating official.

“We thank Matt for his leadership and contributions to BNSF over the course of his career,” Chief Executive Katie Farmer said. Garland, who began his career at BNSF in 2001, had been in the top operations role since Jan. 1 of this year. Craig Morehouse Morehouse most recently served as senior vice president, network operations and service design.

As COO, Morehouse oversees the entire operations organization, including transportation, engineering, mechanical, service design, safety and training, operations support, resource protection and environmental. “Craig’s proven leadership, experience and firsthand knowledge of our network position BNSF to achieve operational excellence,” Farmer said.

“Under his leadership, we will continue building a more agile, resilient railroad that delivers exceptional value for our customers.” The move also comes after Greg Abel in January succeeded Warren Buffett as president and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B), which owns BNSF.

Both Abel and Buffett have pushed the western railroad to further lower its operating ratio, a key indicator of efficiency. Management faces further pressure as western rival Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) pursues an historic merger with Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) in the east.

If approved by federal regulators, the deal would create the first transcontinental railroad and usher in fundamental change for the national freight rail network. The Fort Worth-based carrier saw revenue modestly improve by 1% to $5. 693 billion in the first quarter, while operating income rose 6% to $1. 820 billion, and net income increased 6% to $1.

214 billion. The operating ratio improved to 67. 9% from 69. 5% a year earlier. Morehouse joined BNSF in 2006 as a management trainee and later served in a variety of leadership roles with increasing responsibility in engineering.

His last engineering role was general director of line maintenance on the California Division before transitioning to general director of transportation for the Twin Cities Division. He was later promoted to serve as general manager of BNSF’s Northwest Division.

Morehouse subsequently served as vice president, North Region operations and vice president, South Region operations. Morehouse earned his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Minnesota and holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Michigan Tech University.

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