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Company Overview
About CSX Corporation
CSX Corporation is a Jacksonville, Florida-based Class I freight railroad — publicly traded on NASDAQ (NASDAQ: CSX) as an S&P 500 Industrials component — operating approximately 20,000 route miles across 26 states in the eastern United States and two Canadian provinces, connecting industrial facilities, ports, agricultural markets, intermodal terminals, and power plants through approximately 22,000 employees. CSX transports merchandise freight (chemicals, automotive, agricultural products, metals, food), intermodal containers and trailers, and coal (utility coal to power plants and export coal to terminals) across the densest rail network in the eastern US, including critical connections to the Port of Baltimore, Port of Savannah, and Port of Norfolk. In fiscal year 2024, CSX reported revenue of approximately $14.5 billion, with the Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) operating model maintaining operating ratio efficiency while managing volume volatility from coal headwinds and intermodal competition. A defining leadership development is the September 28, 2025 appointment of Steve Angel as President and CEO, succeeding Joe Hinrichs — Angel brings two decades of operational experience from Linde plc (where he served as CEO from 2018 to 2022 and oversaw the $90B Linde-Praxair merger) and 22 years at General Electric working directly with locomotive and rail operations, bringing a manufacturing and industrial operations discipline to CSX's continued operational improvement agenda.
Business Model & Competitive Advantage
CSX's freight railroad model generates durable economics through the eastern rail network's natural monopoly characteristics in served corridors: a chemical plant in West Virginia, an automotive assembly plant in Kentucky, or a grain elevator in Ohio that requires rail service can only access it through CSX's network in many routes — there is no alternative Class I railroad running through the same locations, and long-haul trucking's cost-per-ton-mile is 4-6x rail for the distances CSX's average freight moves. The PSR (Precision Scheduled Railroading) operating model — which CSX pioneered under Hunter Harrison's leadership beginning in 2017 — transformed the company's operating ratio from the mid-60s to the low-to-mid 50s by running scheduled trains (like an airline) rather than build-and-hold block trains, reducing locomotive and car cycle times, and eliminating yards that were collecting rather than moving freight. The intermodal business (containers/trailers on flatcars from port to inland distribution center) competes with long-haul trucking on the basis of CSX's price-per-container advantage on movements exceeding 500 miles.
Competitive Landscape 2025–2026
In 2025, CSX competes in eastern US freight transportation against Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC, eastern Class I railroad, $12B revenue) and long-haul trucking carriers (Knight-Swift NYSE: KNX, Werner Enterprises NASDAQ: WERN) for shipper routing decisions in overlapping eastern US corridors. The Steve Angel CEO transition brings industrial operational credentials to CSX's ongoing quest for operating efficiency improvement — CSX's operating ratio is a key metric watched by Wall Street as a measure of how efficiently the railroad translates revenue into operating income. The export coal business (serving Virginia and West Virginia metallurgical coal mines shipping to European and Asian steel mills) faces structural demand risk from global coal-to-clean energy transition but provides near-term revenue diversification. The 2025 strategy focuses on intermodal volume growth through truck-to-rail conversion as highway capacity tightens, merchandise network fluidity improvement under new CEO Angel, and port connectivity investment to capture growing import/export container volumes through Atlantic and Gulf ports.
The CSX Corporation Story
Founders
Recent Activity
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Major milestones in CSX Corporation's journey
Leadership Team
Meet the leaders behind CSX Corporation
Steve Angel
Appointed September 28, 2025, Steve Angel previously served as Linde Chief Executive Officer from 2018 to 2022 and Chairman since 2022. He began his career at General Electric, where he spent 22 years in various management positions working directly with locomotive and rail operations.
John J. Zillmer
Elected Chairman in January 2019, John Zillmer also serves as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aramark Corporation. He previously served as Executive Chairman, President and CEO of Univar Inc.
Mike Cory
Responsible for overseeing CSX's operations strategy and coordinating all aspects of the company's Transportation, Mechanical, and Engineering department performance to ensure operational excellence.
Kevin Boone
Appointed effective October 29, 2025, Kevin Boone oversees the company's financial operations including accounting, financial planning, investor relations, procurement, tax, and treasury. He previously held the CFO position for two years during COVID-19 and joined CSX in 2017.
Diana Sorfleet
Appointed in July 2018, Diana Sorfleet oversees aviation, facilities, human resources, people systems and analytics, and total rewards functions across the organization.
Michael Burns
Appointed in 2025, Michael Burns oversees the company's legal and regulatory affairs, corporate secretary's office, risk management, freight claims, police and infrastructure protection, environmental and hazardous materials, and audit functions.
Maryclare Kenney
Leads the CSX commercial organization and oversees the company's profitable growth strategies as well as customer service, customer engagement, and business development activities.
Casey Albright
Oversees network operations and service design to optimize CSX's rail network efficiency and customer service delivery across the approximately 20,000 route-mile system.
Key Differentiators
Market Leader
CSX Corporation is recognized as a market leader in the Manufacturing sector, demonstrating strong industry presence and customer trust.
Frequently Asked Questions
Estimated Visibility Trend (Beta)
Simulated 8-week rolling score
Based on estimated brand signals. Historical tracking coming soon.
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