Bezar will lead the development of strategic initiatives that support CSX’s intensified focus on growth and adding value for its customers and shareholders. His appointment is effective May 29, and he will report to President and CEO Jim Foote. Bezar joins CSX with more than 25 years of strategic leadership experience in the transportation and logistics industry.
“Farrukh’s tremendous depth of experience will enable us to accelerate the development and execution of initiatives that address our customers’ transportation needs and drive profitable, sustained growth for our organization,” Foote says. “Farrukh is a highly skilled leader who further strengthens CSX’s talented management team as we strive to solidify our position as the best run railroad in North America.”
Bezar most recently served as founder and managing partner of Lynwood Partners, a leading transportation and logistics advisory firm. Prior to Lynwood, Bezar served in senior leadership roles within the transportation and logistics functions at Clarendon, Booz Allen Hamilton, and A.T. Kearney. He previously held sales and marketing positions at the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and served as a financial analyst with Chase Manhattan Bank.
I usually find agreement with Paul Bouzide’s opinions but in this case, I think it’s apparent that, while there is a lot of front office experience in the appointee, there is a very thin resume of operational experience. Creating what is possible while not knowing the mechanics of an operation won’t yield the best results. One would hope Mr. Bezar is an attentive listener and would engage the abilities and expertise of knowlegable colleagues and subordinates before launching grand programs. CSX has of late seen a lot of implementation without adequate verification.
I like Bezar’s pedigree: Transportation/Logistics and Sales/Marketing at ATSF. Plus the Northwestern U transportation school is well regarded.
Hopefully “growth” means freight transportation marketshare growth, or at the very least more than only growth in shareholder returns though. Not that I’m against shareholder returns (as a lot of my retirement savings depend on it to not erode in value), but I am against a shareholder return focus *to the exclusion of all other stakeholders*.