Delta Railroad Services' new CEO talks about next-gen recruitment, leadership 

Delta Railroad Services CEO Linda Laurello recently invited high school and college students and early-stage career professionals to apply for the company's new "CEO For a Day" program, which is designed to expose young people to rail-industry executive leadership. Individuals who apply or who are nominated by their peers will be considered to participate in the June 20 event, which includes a full day onsite hosted by Laurello at the railroad construction and equipment rental company’s headquarters in Ashtabula, Ohio. 

“CEO For a Day” is an example of Laurello’s goal to raise Delta Railroad’s profile among the next-gen workforce and younger professionals looking for a career change. 
 
In August 2024, Linda Laurello succeeded her father Larry as CEO; she is the fourth generation of Laurellos to work for the family business. 

Recently, Linda Laurello talked with RailPrime Senior Editor Julie Sneider about the company, and her career background and views on leadership. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

RailPrime: Explain why Delta Railroad Services launched the CEO For a Day program?  

Laurello: We're trying to get more people involved in our industry and bring more information to the public about who we are and what we do. When I tell people what I do, a lot of people don't really know that there are so many different careers in the railroad industry. You don't have to just be a railroader, you can be an accountant, a project manager, a field engineer or work boots on the ground. 
 

RailPrime:  What does the company have planned for its guest CEOs?  

Laurello: The event will take place mostly at our Ashtabula location, which is a very large facility, where the visitors will have many opportunities to observe the active jobs performed there. We're planning on having a lunch-and-learn session, where I’ll talk about my view of leadership.  

RailPrime: Tell me more about the workforce at Delta Railroad Services. 

Laurello: Our workforce ranges depending on the time of the year and whether or not we have a lot of jobs going on. Obviously, the summer is the busiest time of the year, so we’ll have 200 to 250 people working at that time. 

In terms of leadership, my dad still serves as chairman of the board, so it’s been great working with him. I’m the fourth generation in our family to be in the business. 

We have one division called Railway Machines that consists of equipment rentals, parts, sales and remanufacture of maintenance-of-way equipment. The Ashtabula location is a big manufacturing facility where we're doing quite a bit of work, so there could be seven or eight jobs going on at a time there, with a total workforce of about 35. All our mechanics at this time are male, but we have a lot of women in working in sales, inventory and receiving. 

We have a good balance between men and women on our workforce; I’m a big proponent of making sure that we have women involved in our industry. I believe having a balance of different people brings better ideas to the table.
 

Delta Railroad Services crews work on a track construction project in Kansas City in March. Track construction is one of many services the company offers to clients. Delta Railroad Services

RailPrime:  When did you decide to join the family business? Was that something you always wanted to do? 

Laurello: It's funny that when I went to college, I ended up getting a business degree. 
I was concentrating on entrepreneurship; that was something that I was considering doing first, actually. Then I found that it wasn’t a fit for me. I really liked the in-depth side of business — the analysis and the problem solving — but not so much the public-facing side. So, my grandfather came to me and said, “Why don’t you come and work for the family railroad business? Work with me and I can teach you all the things that I know.” That was right after college, and I’ve been here ever since. 
 

RailPrime: Where did you go to school? 

Laurello: I went to John Carroll University (in University Heights, Ohio). Then when I was working full time, I also was working on my MBA at Northeastern University in Boston. I started that a few years after I had been working, just to make sure I had the experience to make the degree worthwhile. 

RailPrime: What was your career progression after joining Delta Railroad? 

Laurello: The first thing I did was work in the office to learn administration, accounting and how everything functions from the back-office end of things.  

After that, my dad said, ‘Well, if you’re going to sink or swim, you have to go and run a job.’ So, he sent me to Shreveport, Louisiana, where I worked on a job for Kansas City Southern. I lived there for almost a year and learned a lot from the superintendents that were on the job, as well as the operators and the laborers. We had a lot of [rail-service] outages to work on, which took a lot of planning, and it was a very good, hands-on learning experience.  

I decided I enjoyed project management and then moved from place to place for about eight years just doing that for jobs, including for Long Island Railroad, MARTA in Atlanta and the first phase of the rail line project into Dulles International Airport. 

RailPrime: As CEO Delta Railroad Services, what do you find to be the key recruitment and retention issues that you face today? You’re obviously thinking of the future by offering the CEO For a Day event. 

Laurello: Yes, you’ve hit the nail on the head. We are trying to educate even our own employees about what we're about as part of the rail industry. It means we do more than just the work that we do every single day, we’re part of the greater transportation infrastructure of the United States and Canada.  We bring to each employee the message that he or she should feel like they’re part of that big picture.  

Since I've taken over as the CEO, I’m really pushing this message and making sure that I'm talking to all of our people. We did a listening tour where I wanted to make sure that I talked to every single employee that works for us just to make sure that everyone has a voice. It’s really important to me that I know the pulse of our business and try to understand how each person needs to be communicated with. I think we’re doing a good job of making sure everyone is heard. 
 

RailPrime: As part of the CEO for a Day event, you plan to talk to the attendees about leadership skills. What are some pointers you’d like them to know?  

Laurello: When you're a leader, you are setting the stage for other people around you. You need to lead with your character and your passion. Remember that your presence and how you work on a daily basis makes a difference. If you’re lollygagging and not taking extra care with what you're doing, your team's going to follow suit. 
 
 

RailPrime: As a leader, what would you recommend to others about how to get through uncertain times? 

Laurello: I think it's really important to always have different options. In our business, we don't just do one thing, we have different divisions. Our Railway Machines division is very different from our Trackworks Division. We also offer flash-butt welding as well as equipment rentals. 

We’ve tried to diversify ourselves in case one area of the business is not really booming at the moment. Diversifying has helped our business move forward from times of uncertainty. 

As for me personally, I think that it’s the same thing by having opportunities to grow as a leader. When you get to a point in your career where you can sit on a community board, or involve yourself with charities in the local area, it helps to put yourself out there and make sure you’re being part of the greater good.