Union Pacific taps former Canadian National exec to lead operations NEWSWIRE

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has named former Canadian National executive Jim Vena as its chief operating officer, effectively putting a protege of E. Hunter Harrison in charge of its transition to Precision Scheduled Railroading.

Vena, 60, served as CN’s chief operating officer from February 2013 to July 2016. He joined CN in 1977 as a brakeman, rose through the ranks in operations and marketing and, under former CN CEO Harrison, led all three of CN’s operating regions.

UP launched a new operating plan in October based on Harrison’s principles of Precision Scheduled Railroading.

“We have been making excellent strides rolling out Unified Plan 2020, and Jim’s vast knowledge of the Precision Scheduled Railroading model brings significant experience and expertise that will enhance the work already under way,” CEO Lance Fritz said in a statement.

Vena will begin working at UP headquarters on Jan. 14, the railroad said in announcing his hiring yesterday. Tom Lischer, UP’s executive vice president of operations, and Lynden Tennison, the railroad’s chief strategy officer, will both report to Vena.

While Vena headed operations at CN, UP notes, the railway produced the lowest operating ratio in the industry and achieved the best safety incident ratio in the company’s history.

Industry observers said UP landed the biggest available fish in the PSR pond.

“It’s a big hire,” says independent analyst Anthony B. Hatch of ABH Consulting.

Wall Street took note: UP stock was up more than 6.5-percent in after-hours trading on Monday.

But Hatch wondered what the hire meant about UP’s operational progress and its succession plan.

“At least you can say that while they may be taking a measured approach for political and other reasons, they are indeed all-in,” on Precision Scheduled Railroading, Hatch says.

At CN, Vena replaced Chief Operating Officer Keith Creel, who left CN to help Harrison turn around Canadian Pacific and now leads CP.

Vena’s colleagues at CN said he made no secret of his displeasure at not being named to succeed CEO Claude Mongeau, who stepped down for health reasons in 2016. Vena retired from CN right after Luc Jobin replaced Mongeau as chief executive.

“Vena’s a very impressive guy — decisive, a strong leader, and very articulate,” a former colleague says. “Vena is the real deal. He knows Precision Railroading backwards and will be a boon to UP.”

Insiders describe Vena as a tough and smart executive with a quick temper and no patience for excuses.

But some say Vena — a “Hunter-style guy who makes decisions based more on experience than analysis” — may be miscast in UP’s highly analytical culture.

That could be the point, however: Vena may play the role of a disruptor who will upend the status quo in Omaha.

It’s a job made more difficult by the lack of a hand-picked supporting cast of PSR veterans at UP, one insider says.

UP has said it aims to take a go-slow approach to making operational changes. The railroad wants to avoid the service disruptions that accompanied rapid Harrison-led PSR implementations at CN, CP, and CSX Transportation.

So far, UP’s rollout has gone smoothly, shippers and federal regulators have said.

This week’s announcement is the latest in a wave of management changes at UP, which had been mired in an operational slump for more than a year.

In August, UP announced that Chief Operating Officer Cameron Scott would retire Feb. 28. Lischer was named executive vice president of operations, while responsibility for the railroad’s network planning and operations team was shifted to Tennison.

UP simultaneously named David Giandinoto vice president of the Harriman Dispatching Center and network operations, while also naming a new chief marketing officer, a new chief human resources officer, and a new vice president of industrial.

Vena joined CN in 1977 as a brakeman and worked in numerous operating jobs from yardmaster, conductor, and locomotive engineer to trainmaster and superintendent, among other duties. He also served in marketing.

In early 2005, he was named vice president of CN’s Champlain district. He was appointed vice president, operations, in CN’s Eastern Region in March 2006, and then senior vice president, Eastern Region before becoming senior vice president, Western Region in June 2007. Before being named CN’s chief operating officer, Vena had served as senior vice president, Southern Region since April 2009.

Vena is a graduate of the University of Alberta and Athabasca University.