Resetting for Q2: Safety, Cost, and Service

Sean Ireland

Good morning, everyone, and happy Easter. I really do hope you were able to spend some time with family over the weekend, catch your breath a little bit, and reset. Those moments matter. And as we come out of the holiday and get rolling again, I just want to start with a very direct thank you to the entire team across the Northeast Region.

Sean Ireland

Q1 was not easy. We worked through a difficult winter, we had our share of challenges, and still, because of your focus on our processes, we safely navigated that period and delivered strong overall performance. That does not happen by accident. It happens because people stayed disciplined, stayed engaged, and kept doing the work the right way, even when conditions made it harder.

Sean Ireland

So thank you. I mean that. From the field to the terminals to every support function tied into this region, thank you for the effort, the professionalism, and the consistency it took to get us through the first quarter.

Sean Ireland

Now, with that said, we're already five days into the second quarter, and our attention needs to turn fully to what is in front of us. Q1 matters, absolutely, and we will review those results in more detail during our regional town hall on April 15 on Teams. We'll talk through performance, where we did well, and where we need to keep pushing. But right now, day to day, the focus is Q2.

Sean Ireland

And that focus is pretty straightforward. Safety, cost, and service. Same core priorities, but we've gotta attack them with renewed energy and very clean execution.

Sean Ireland

On safety, coming out of the Easter weekend and really looking at last week overall, we're seeing an uptick in human-factor issues tied to shoves and switches. That's where we need to slow down, get locked back in, and be very intentional about how we're working. As we move into warmer weather, there can be a tendency to relax a little, maybe rush a move, maybe take a shortcut. We cannot let that happen. Continued daily engagement and disciplined process execution remain critical.

Sean Ireland

On cost, we still have major opportunities in recrews and extra crew starts. Those are areas we can influence with better execution, especially around work events and ITD within the allotted time. And on service, our job is to keep improving train performance, especially intermodal, while delivering the local service plans our customers are counting on.

Sean Ireland

So that is the reset for this week and really for this quarter. Appreciate what the team accomplished in a hard first quarter, learn from it, talk through it more on April 15, and then get right back to basics. Safety first. Control cost. Deliver service. That's the work in front of us, and there are a lot of opportunities ahead if we stay focused.

Sean Ireland

Let me spend a few minutes on the week ahead, because this is where execution really matters. Starting with safety, our immediate focus is on shoves and line of fire, with special attention on shoves and switches given the issues we've seen. To help slow things down and reinforce the right behaviors, we are using banners on shove moves to increase focus at the point of execution. Very simple idea, but important. Slow down. Be deliberate. Do the job the right way every time.

Sean Ireland

We're also asking for strong job safety briefings at the start of shifts, after meal breaks, and before the last moves of the shift. Those moments matter. They are not check-the-box conversations. They are opportunities to get everybody aligned on the work, the risks, and the expectations before something goes wrong.

Sean Ireland

This week we are also running a drone day focus from 0700 Tuesday to 1700 Wednesday, centered on exposure reduction discussions and operational testing. Each zone will report out findings on the 1700 Northeast Region Safety Call. That cadence will help us keep visibility on what we're seeing and where we need to adjust. The broader engagement plan runs through next Friday at 1800, and we're using drones, switch tags, and banners to drive that engagement.

Sean Ireland

I also want continued attention on dismissal warning, the last chance list, and making sure alerts are set so we connect with those employees, along with our new hires with less than two years of service working this weekend. Senior leadership will be in the field at night this week, and our senior team will focus on in-field validations between 1800 and 0600. Assistant Superintendents and the broader team need to stay close to the work. We also have a significant focus on critical rule follow testing. We've had more than 41 people with critical rule test exceptions this year, and those follow-ups matter.

Sean Ireland

On the cost side, the message is consistent. Reduce recrews. Reduce extra crew starts. Execute work events and ITD inside the allotted time. Those extra starts remain one of our biggest cost opportunities, so we've gotta stay disciplined there. We are also continuing our car hire review across the system, maintaining focus on overtime, and looking for opportunities to combine trains, particularly on weekends.

Sean Ireland

From a service standpoint, CSD improved last week to 93.1 percent across the region. That's progress, but we're still below our 95 percent goal, so we are not where we need to be yet. The path forward is better first-mile and last-mile service with our customers and consistent execution of local plans. And this coming week, the primary service focus is on-time train performance, especially with our intermodal trains.

Sean Ireland

So that's the week. Stay sharp on safety. Stay disciplined on cost. Stay reliable on service. I appreciate everything you're doing, and we'll keep the drumbeat going. Have a safe week.