Looking for growth, Norfolk Southern taps into short-line gumption 

By Julie Sneider, Senior Editor 

After a year-long undertaking to work more closely with 40 short-line partners, Norfolk Southern Railway recently expanded its Short Line Improvement Project to include all its 260-plus short-line connections. 

Created to improve service for shippers and boost business, the project resulted in a 4.85% volume increase in 2024, according to NS. The Class I launched the effort after hiring Stefan Loeb in 2023 as vice president of first- and last-mile products. 

Now VP of business development and first- and final-mile markets, Loeb came to the railroad after spending several years at short-line holding company Watco, where last served as executive vice president and chief commercial officer. 

Loeb’s Watco days gave him an appreciation for the short-line side of the first-and-last-mile freight-rail business, where smaller railroads pick up shippers’ carloads for transportation on their first and last legs of the journey to their ultimate destinations. 

Prior to Loeb joining NS, the Class I had an active short-line sales team, hosted short-line conferences and offered a caucus through which short-line leaders could regularly converse with NS management about mutual issues of interest. But some of that activity stalled during the pandemic, Loeb says. Ultimately, NS invited him to join the company to help improve communication with short lines and make the carload interchange process smoother and more profitable.  

“Part of me coming to Norfolk Southern was to immediately figure out ways to inject energy into the relationship because short lines are such a key part of our growth,” says Loeb. “And quite frankly, one of the easiest ways that a large railroad can grow is to partner with these entrepreneurial railroads. When you want efficiency on every line and growth in every mile, there’s no better partner than a short line.” 

NS connects directly with over 260 short lines and has relationships with over 350, Loeb says. As small businesses, they have an entrepreneurial spirit that demonstrates an “acute ability to grow regardless of economic situations,” he says. And the NS strategy — “from the ballast line to the board room” — is to be entrepreneurial in creating value for customers and growing volume, he adds. 

More than 200 short-line representatives attended Norfolk Southern’s 2025 Short Line Conference in Atlanta. Norfolk Southern Railway

Given his background as a short-line railroader, Loeb hit the ground running when he joined NS, a Class I that he says already had a “great history” of supporting short lines.  

To re-energize the short-line sales team, Loeb restored the company’s short-line caucus and in-person meetings. Conversations between NS and short-line partners centered around growth opportunities, service issues and problems at the interchanges. Loeb also helped spread the message among NS leadership that short-line connections are crucial to NS’ growth. 

Loeb and the NS business development and first- and final-mile market teams worked for a year to come up with solutions to maximize efficiency for 2024 and beyond. Those efforts culminated with NS officially launching the Short Line Improvement Project in 2024 to underscore the importance of short-line relationships, improve the interchange process and drum up more business for NS and the short lines. 

As NS officials have described it, the project has amplified the daily visibility at interchanges by intensifying the two-way communication between the Class I and smaller roads. The project also uses real-time data to improve interchange planning, and to identify and address interchange and service problems.  

To improve the communication, NS established a Teams channel through which  railroaders from both sides of the partnership can exchange information about issues such as service plans, necessary changes, whether cars are delivered on time and if not, the reasons why. 

“Remember, an interchange is a relationship,” Loeb says. “I may do my job properly, but if you don’t, then it’s not a successful interchange. So, this effort makes sure that we both do our jobs right together.” 

When a service problem surfaces, it’s communicated and discussed, then a resolution is formed backed up by data and technology. 

“When you want efficiency on every line and growth in every mile, there’s no better partner than a short line.” — Stefan Loeb, Norfolk Southern RailwayStefan Loeb

“The relationship between Norfolk Southern and our short-line partners has improved because the quality of communication is [now] vastly better,” says Loeb. “What this program does above all else is allow both sides to tell each other how they’re doing every day.” 

Taking volume growth to the next level 

The project was front and center during NS’s annual short-line conference held at the company’s Atlanta headquarters in mid-May. Together, NS and the short-line representatives identified 6,000 carloads of growth that they expect to pursue between now and the next conference, which will be held in May 2026. 

More than 200 short-line representatives attended the 2025 conference, during which breakout sessions touched on other topics as well, such as the benefits of the RailPulse telematics program that enables rail customers to visualize shipments and track their goods; and updates on commodity trends and opportunities. 

Attendees also heard from NS President and CEO Mark George, as well as NS Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer Ed Elkins, who noted that over 40% of the Class I’s industrial freight moves through short lines; and EVP and Chief Operating Officer John Orr, who reviewed NS’s operational priorities and the importance of the role short lines play in ensuring reliable service to customers. 

After the conference sessions, NS hosted a voluntary training event for short-line representatives to ensure the railroads are on the same page when it comes to safety practices.  

“Being safe and operating as safely as possible around and in conjunction with our short line partners is a huge tenet,” says Loeb. 

Also new at this year’s conference was the presentation of the Alan Lambert Short Line of the Year Award, which NS launched to recognize a short line or regional for operating efficiently and pursuing innovative business solutions. Established to honor the legacy of the late Alan Lambert, a Norfolk Southern sales rep who was known and beloved for his innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, will be given annually to celebrate the success of an NS short-line partner. 

This year’s award went to the Alabama & Tennessee River Railway, an OmniTRAX Inc. affiliate that operates over 120 miles of track between Birmingham and the rail barge terminal at the Port of Guntersville in Alabama, and interchanges with NS at Alabama City. The ATN doubled its interchange volume with NS after just a year of participation in the Short Line Improvement Project, according to NS officials.  

The award will continue to celebrate the success that stems from the Class I’s improved relationships with short-line partners. In the big scheme of things, the Short Line Improvement Project neatly ties into NS’ long-term strategic goals, says Loeb.  

“I don't think there's a project that better exemplifies what Norfolk Southern is trying to do, which is to look at new ways of doing business,” he says. “It’s about focusing on exemplary service, not being satisfied with normalized growth, and figuring out better ways to partner with customers on solutions.”