Norfolk Southern NSC
Norfolk Southern is the only Class I rail without PSR; electing Ancora's seven nominees replaces Alan Shaw with Barber and Boychuk to redesign the network and reach $420/share.
Thesis
Ancora, seeking to elect seven nominees to Norfolk Southern's 13-person board at the May 9, 2024 annual meeting, argues that NSC is the only publicly traded Class I railroad that has not implemented Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), leaving it with worst-in-class Operating Ratio (69.9% in 1Q24, ~900 bps gap to CSX) and Trip Plan Compliance (76.5% Merchandise, versus the STB's 82% target). The Shareholder Slate would install Jim Barber (ex-UPS COO) as CEO and Jamie Boychuk (ex-CSX EVP of Operations) as COO, joined by directors Sameh Fahmy and Gilbert Lamphere — both alumni of Hunter Harrison's PSR playbook at KCS and CN. After a 24-month network redesign and PSR implementation mirroring CP, CSX and KCS transformations, the plan targets a $420 share price by month 36, $800 million in asset-related cost savings, a 15% fuel efficiency improvement and removal of ~450 locomotives.
SCQA
Norfolk Southern is the only publicly traded Class I railroad operating without Precision Scheduled Railroading, running instead a 'resilience model' under CEO Alan Shaw and Board Chair Amy Miles that prioritizes excess assets over scheduling discipline.
The resilience model has produced worst-in-class Operating Ratio, Trip Plan Compliance and shareholder returns, plus the preventable East Palestine derailment; mid-contest the Board paid $25M to poach a CPKC COO while surrendering Meridian Speedway rights.
Elect all seven Ancora nominees to the 13-person board on May 9, install Jim Barber as CEO and Jamie Boychuk as COO, then execute a 24-month network redesign followed by full PSR implementation on the Hunter Harrison template.
Conservative assumptions forecast a $420 share price by month 36, $800 million in asset-related cost savings, 15% fuel efficiency gains, ~450 locomotives removed and closing the ~900 bps Operating Ratio gap to CSX.
The three reasons
- 1
NSC is the last Class I railroad without PSR — worst-in-class OR (~900 bps gap to CSX) and Trip Plan Compliance
- 2
Install Jim Barber (ex-UPS COO) as CEO and Jamie Boychuk (ex-CSX EVP Ops) as COO to run the Hunter Harrison playbook
- 3
Conservative plan targets $420 share price by month 36 with $800M asset savings and 15% fuel efficiency gain
Primary demands
- Elect all seven Shareholder Slate nominees to the 13-person board at the May 9, 2024 annual meeting via the BLUE proxy card
- Replace CEO Alan Shaw with Jim Barber (former UPS COO) and install Jamie Boychuk (former CSX EVP Operations) as COO
- Execute a 24-month network redesign followed by full Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) implementation
- Exercise the purchase option on the Wylie Intermodal Terminal and protect Meridian Speedway assets from CPKC concessions
- Adopt an at-risk compensation model governed by tangible value creation rather than discretionary milestones
KPIs cited
Pattern membership
Where this document fits across the library's 12 rhetorical / structural patterns.
Precedents cited
- Canadian National PSR (Hunter Harrison)
- Canadian Pacific PSR transformation
- CSX PSR transformation (Boychuk as EVP Operations)
- Kansas City Southern PSR (Fahmy as EVP)
- Darden Restaurants change-in-control (Betsy Atkins)
- UPS scheduled transportation network (Barber as COO)
Notable slides (6)
Notes
Final-stretch proxy-fight letter (17 days before May 9, 2024 vote) under the 'Move NSC Forward' campaign branding. Signed by Frederick D. DiSanto (Ancora Holdings Chairman/CEO) and James Chadwick (Ancora Alternatives President). Structure: three-part thesis (Right Slate / Right Management / Right Plan) plus two appendices — Appendix A curates third-party analyst and institutional-investor endorsements (EdgePoint, Neuberger Berman, RBC, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Susquehanna); Appendix B is a striking red-box/blue-box 'Board's Contention vs The Reality' rebuttal table running ~9 pages. Heavy use of direct CEO/Board quote-contradiction. References a companion 193-page deck at MoveNSCForward.com. Stake not disclosed in this document. Campaign outcome: partial win — Ancora secured 3 of 10 contested seats at May 9 meeting.