Watco summary
Watco (WATX) is a transportation and supply chain service company operating multiple short line and regional railroads throughout North America and Australia. It’s owned by Rick Webb, the son of founders Charles R. “Dick” Webb and Kaye Lynne, who also serves as the company’s Executive Chairman. Headquartered out of Pittsburg, Kansas, Watco owns a network of about 40 freight railroads in addition to the terminals, ports, and repair facilities across the system.
History
Watco was founded in 1983 by Dick Webb and his wife, Kaye Lynne. They obtained trackage rights to an industrial switching operation in DeRidder, Louisiana, that serves Boise Cascade. Rick Webb joined the company in 1984, and together both father and son opened a railcar repair shop in Coffeyville, Oklahoma. To provide better service for the shop’s customers, the Webb family purchased 124 miles of track from the Union Pacific between Coffeyville and Nevada, Missouri. Since then, more railroads were acquired under Watco’s ownership, expanding the overall business in material handling and storage, transportation project design and development, and other aspects in hauling both fright products and commodities.
Operations
Today Watco serves customers across hundreds of locations in both North America and Australia. In addition to rail services, the company offers freight shipments by road, water, and air. Industrial contract switching, railcar repair, terminal and port services, and a supply chain consulting group are also provided.
It was the entrepreneurial spirit adopted by Dick Webb that established the company’s success and growth with a focus on the customer no matter their size or product volume. It’s known as the “meat and potatoes” style of railroading that Watco and many other shortline operations provide. The company strives to serve a particular customer in one location to generate positive results and ultimately open new opportunities in other locations for growth.
Growth through acquisition and expansion at Watco is done on an organic basis. This is centered around the growth of the company’s own customers. Establishing developmental and operational maturity to the railroads Watco acquires serves as a model to the company’s organic growth. It enables a strong startup to the lines for future success. An example of this model is the Stillwater Central Railroad between Tulsa and Duke, Okla. Even with the main commodity in crude oil, Watco’s 279-mile subsidiary could still maintain traffic diversity without the need of relying on hauling one type of freight for a guaranteed success.
As one of the largest companies in shortline operations out of the U.S., Watco rosters a vast variation of diesel locomotives, ranging from the EMD GP30 to SD40 series. While many units in the fleet carry the company’s black-and-yellow color scheme, others still retain their original liveries of Watco’s subsidiaries.
