The
Dispatch The newsletter for Watco
February 2024
Table of Contents Family - Including Watco Family - Are There After Heart Surgery_____________________________________ 4 TCBR Adds New Mechanical Building ________________________________________________________________5 Customer Awards Watco with Honor_________________________________________________________________6 Welcoming a New Team Member____________________________________________________________________7 Newsweek Selects Watco for New Honor ____________________________________________________________7 Railway Age Honors Safety Leader__________________________________________________________________ 8 New Crane Adds Efficiencies to Greens Port__________________________________________________________9 Watco Accepting Dependent Scholarship Application Forms________________________________________ 10 Winegarner Retires from KO________________________________________________________________________ 11 New Arrivals ________________________________________________________________________________________ 12 Team Member Anniversaries_____________________________________________________________________ 13-14
Highlights
Watco’s Safe Performance Center Drop in now for a virtual visit!
2 The Dispatch | February 2024
On the Cover
A Kanawha River Railroad train climbs the grade into Albany, Ohio, on a snowy winter day. Photographer: Peter Hayes
Safety Anniversaries January 1 - Houston Liquids Terminal (TX) - 12 years January 1 - Richmond Mobile Repair (VA) - 10 years January 1 - Hondo-Medina Mobile Repair (TX) - 7 years January 1 - USG Plaster City Switching (CA) - 5 years January 1 - Memphis Switching (TN) - 2 years January 3 - Houston Material Handling (TX) - 1 year January 8 - Blue Ridge Southern Railroad (NC) - 1 year January 9 - Wallula Switching (WA) - 3 years January 15 - Dutchtown Southern Railroad (LA) - 3 years January 22 - Nitro Transload Terminal (WV) - 4 years January 28 - Port of West Memphis (AR) - 3 years January 29 - Omaha Transload Terminal (NE) - 6 years January 30 - Elwood & Joliet Southern Railroad (IL) - 1 year
Check out the new sweatshirts and tees on Watco Gear! February 2024 | The Dispatch 3
Family - Including Watco Family - Are There After Heart Surgery Editor’s Note: In conjunction with American Heart Month, we’re sharing a team member’s story about cardiovascular health.
Heart-bypass. That’s a scary term to read. Even
of healing would be not only physical but emotional.
scarier is having to brave it personally.
“Following the surgery, the emotions were just so
Watco’s Chuck Teeters knows. He had surgery last summer to repair his damaged “widow-maker” artery, the heart’s largest, which carries almost 50% of the blood to the heart. The need for surgery came as a shock to Teeters, 49, a manager of learning development who’s based at Watco’s Safe Performance Center (SPC) in Fairfield, Alabama. Even though he’d had a heart attack in 2017, he wasn’t prepared for the words he heard from a cardiologist last June.
strong.” And his mind was on his surgeon’s warning. “He said, ‘Either you’re going to change your lifestyle, or you’re going to die.’I hope to be around a long, long time, but to make that happen, the changes have to be permanent.” Teeters now exercises and follows the Mediterranean Diet, which emphasizes plant-based foods. He doesn’t eat fatty cuts of meat. And he preaches “prevention, prevention, prevention,” including annual medical checkups. “Get in for those visits, and don’t miss them. If I’d missed the cardio
You’re about to have another heart attack. You’re
appointment, I was on the road to having another
going to have to have a triple-bypass.
heart attack.”
The alarming news came following a stress
Teeters said the hardest part is staying dedicated to
test, which revealed blocked blood vessels.
lifestyle changes, but he has his wife, children, and
“Life-threatening blockage is at 70 percent,” says
Watco team members to hold him accountable.
Teeters. “Mine was at 86.”
“One of the biggest things helping me is the team
Teeters was told to go home and basically stay in
at the SPC. The support I’ve had since I’ve been back
a recliner until his operation. “That was mid-June,
is phenomenal.
and they scheduled me for open-heart surgery on
“Watco has always been very family-oriented. The
July 6.” On that day, a surgeon performed a
phone calls, the concern. I know I’m not the only one
coronary artery bypass graft, taking blood vessels
to experience this. I’ve heard this about various team
from Teeters’ right leg and using them to create
members in my eleven and a half years at Watco.
new connections around three blocked areas in
When you go through a major crisis like this, it
the artery.
shows that it’s not just an employer, it’s family.”
After the operation came about a week of hospitalization. And he discovered that weeks 4 The Dispatch | February 2024
TCBR Adds New Mechanical Building Farris. “The soil is very sandy, so we had to mitigate settling. The structure is built to withstand Category 3 hurricanes. And we needed to be able to easily drain the pit if water came in.” There are five locomotives at the port, and traffic is expected to grow in 2024. This means the team’s ability to perform routine inspections, maintenance, and repairs on-site quickly and safely is crucial. The new structure provides protection from rain, wind, and the sun, and includes a four-foot-deep The partnership between the Port of Corpus Christi and Watco continues to grow. Watco’s Texas Coastal Bend Railroad (TCBR) became the rail service provider within the port in August 2022, and the agreement included plans to invest in the port’s infrastructure. The most recent addition is a covered pit where our team can inspect and repair the TCBR’s locomotives.
pit between the rails so mechanics can easily access the components under the locomotives. Otherwise they have to crawl under and work while lying on their backs. “If you don’t have a pit, it’s really challenging to access the underside of the locomotives,” Farris said. “It protects our team from the elements and makes their jobs safer and easier. It also shows the port and our customers that we’re following through on
“For a hole in the ground, there’s a lot of engineering
the commitment we made to invest in providing
that went into it,” said TCBR General Manager Darl
great service.”
February 2024 | The Dispatch 5
Customer Awards Watco with Honor
In December, WM presented Watco with the Vendor of the Year Award. The certificate of honor was shared with team members at Watco’s Middleport and Nitro Transload Terminals. Both locations have served WM for six years, primarily moving fly ash. Terminal Manager Rob Oliva said: “I’m pretty proud of our team here. They take a lot of pride in their work. I can count on them to make safe, on-time deliveries for this customer.”
6 The Dispatch | February 2024
Welcoming a New Team Member He’s busy enough as a locomotive mechanic working at a switching site in Toledo, Oregon. But Travis Kroker somehow finds time to help his team, whether that’s switching railcars from time to time or taking on extra projects. One recent project was to help improve a new team member’s on-the-job training. Kroker had the idea to install a helper seat in an in-service locomotive. “There’s usually two seats, for the engineer and the conductor,” said Kroker’s supervisor, Location Manager Nate Burke. “If you’re lucky, there’s also a helper seat.” He said without that, “the new guy has to stand around and observe, and it would be better if he has somewhere to sit.”
Travis Kroker, Switchman
“It took a few hours to get it in,” said Burke. He explained how Kroker mounted the chair onto the back panel of the cab. Four bolts in the back of the chair had to align with four holes that Kroker drilled into the thick steel of the cab panel. “So you have to measure the holes correctly. It’s like at home, when you have mounting holes in something going on the wall, but this is on steel. The measuring has to be perfect. You can’t mess up.”
Newsweek Selects Watco for New Honor
2022 Multigenerational Workforce
50
43.8%
40
30%
30 20
16.2%
10%
10 0
Gen Z
Millennials
Gen X
Baby Boomers
Watco learned recently that Newsweek has named the company one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity. The 2024 list of 1,500 companies was based in part on company reviews. An independent data research firm collected the reviews and conducted employee interviews to help Newsweek determine the list. “We value our continual progress when it comes to diversity and inclusivity,” said Rachael Peterson, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer. “A broad base of backgrounds and experiences means a wide range of ideas and perspectives that makes Watco stronger.” February 2024 | The Dispatch 7
Railway Age 2024 Fast Tracker
Lucas Conrad
Senior Manager of Rail Safety Training
Railway Age Honors Watco Safety Leader
Lucas Conrad, senior manager of rail safety training, has been named a Railway Age 2024 Fast Tracker. Fast Trackers are individuals under the age of 40 who have made an impact in their respective fields, companies, and communities. He is one of 25 people featured in the February issue of Railway Age. Conrad is a 14-year industry veteran who started as a conductor on the Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad. Today he leads a team at the Safe Performance Center (SPC) in Fairfield, Alabama, who perform new-hire, recurrent, and career development training for Watco team members working at about 60 rail operations: all U.S.-based railroads plus many contract switching sites. “Lucas is very deserving of this award,” said Travis Herod, senior vice president of environmental health and safety. “His safety support and impact and are felt throughout Watco. And it’s in part due to his efforts that the SPC has continued to grow and develop into a world-class, centralized training facility.” Railway Age established the Fast Tracker awards in 2016. Lucas is the fourth consecutive honoree from Watco. He joins Cameron Ginther (2023), Damien Cantrell (2022), and Rachael Peterson (2021).
8 The Dispatch | February 2024
New Crane Adds Efficiencies to Greens Port A special delivery recently arrived at Greens Port: a new Liebherr LMH550 Mobile Harbour Crane. This custom-made, Watco-branded crane arrived by vessel at the Houston Ship Channel in December, and the team finished assembling it the following month. “This crane is a necessary investment,” Greens Port Vice President Ernie Farrand said. “Customer demand is rapidly increasing. This new crane allows us to meet their needs for many years to come.” The new LMH550 Mobile Harbour Crane joins two other existing Liebherr cranes at Greens Port. All three cranes move commodities from vessel to dock, truck, or rail. There are several unique benefits to Greens Port’s newest crane. It unloads product 20% faster. And it has the reach to discharge cargo from all hatches. Which means, our team never has to turn the vessel at the dock. Farrand said, “This new crane is unlike anything we’ve had before. It’s faster, lifts more product, and allows us to unload closer to the dock without moving the ship. This level of service makes us unique on the Houston Ship Channel.” February 2024 | The Dispatch 9
Watco Accepting Dependent Scholarship Application Forms Watco is pleased to announce its Scholarship Program is now open for applications. The scholarship will be available to dependents of Watco team members. An applicant must be in good academic standing and must plan to attend a post-secondary institution within one year following high school graduation. Scholarships will be awarded in the amount of $2,000 each and will be issued in two $1,000 disbursements for the first two semesters of college. The funds will be credited to the recipients’ accounts at the financial aid office of the college of their choosing. The number of scholarships awarded will be determined by the number of applicants with a minimum of two awarded per year. Scholarship applications are available here. Applications need to be submitted no later than April 1, 2024. Contact watcogives@watco.com with questions. A committee will review all applications and the winners will be notified and announced in the June issue of The Dispatch.
10 The Dispatch | February 2024
Winegarner Retires from KO The night before he was set to retire, a snowstorm hit. The next morning, Sam Winegarner was the first person at the Kansas & Oklahoma (KO) Railroad’s main office in Wichita, shoveling snow, breaking up ice, and salting the sidewalks and parking lots. “That’s just the person he is, the person he’s always been,” said Loren Bradford, KO general manager. “Sam’s leaving big shoes to fill, but I think we all learned something from him. I hope we can all follow in his footsteps.” Winegarner joined the KO team in January 2002 as a track laborer. Since then, he worked his way up to section foreman and then track inspector. The KO team recently came together in Wichita to celebrate Winegarner’s 22 years on the line and wish him well in his retirement. “He set the bar for others,” said Roadmaster Herb Lamkin. “He knew every inch of his track, but more importantly, he knew his team. Whether it was making the morning coffee or helping someone off the clock, Sam was always there for us.” Winegarner is an avid fisherman and motorcycle rider. The team gave him a certificate for a fishing trip, a large Yeti cooler, and Harley Davidson gear in gratitude for his service. “I’ll miss this,” Winegarner said. “I always tried to make sure everyone made it home safe at the end of the day. If there’s one thing this team learned from me, I hope that’s it. I was lucky enough to make it home every day. Do that for each other.” February 2024 | The Dispatch 11
New Arrivals
Hayden Ray Norris Austin and Hannah Norris announce the birth of their daughter, Hayden Ray Norris, born on December 9, 2023. Hayden weighed 4 pounds, 4 ounces, and was 18 inches long. She was welcomed home by her siblings, Peyton, 9, and Meyson, 6. Austin is the operations manager of railroad logistics at the Overland Park, Kansas, office. Grandma Lynda Patterson is the senior vice president of sales for logistics.
Jocelynn Pearl-Marie Niva Aaron Niva and Richelle Jensen announce the birth of their daughter, Jocelynn Pearl-Marie Niva, born on January 9, 2024. Jocelynn weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces, and was 19 1/2 inches long. Aaron is a conductor at the Palouse River and Coulee City Condon switching location in Arlington, Oregon.
12 The Dispatch | February 2024
Team Member Anniversaries Congratulations to the following team members celebrating February anniversaries: 1 Year: Justin Aeschliman, Serjio
2 Years: Stephanie Allen, Ronald
Alvarado, Russell Beer, Calvin Bentley, Clarence Blomberg, Drew Bollinger, Zion Boyle, David Chancery, Robert Collins, KevinDavid Connelly, Garrett Cook, Grace Dighton, Nathan Dighton, Wendy Dighton, Blake Downes, Fynne Ebert, Madeline Emerson, John Farr, Jacob Foster, Anthony Garbo, Patrick Gleason, Declan Goggan, Isreal Gonzales, Dylan Gordon, Tyrell Gordon, Cody Greenwood, Bradley Hallett, Josiah Harrow, Abdulnasser Hayek, Jared Heinrich, Kolton Hicks, Christopher Higgins, Adam Hunt, Gregory Johnson, Charles Jones, Jed Landen, Jesse Lawhead, Ben Lees, Linda Lightsey, May Longfellow, Juan Lopez, Aaron Martinez, Brandon Martinez, Roberto Martinez, Yessica Martinez, Craig Metz, Alex Michel, Austin Miller, Eric Miller, Natasha Moore, Marissa Morales, Vittorio Musumeci, Brandon Nino, Aaron Niva, Carlin O’Leary, Devon Parrish, Demareon Payne, Daniel Perez, Richard Prine, Preston Rash, Christopher Reed, Edward Richards, Braiden Richey, Christian Riexinger, Chad Schlotzhauer, Matthew Sinclair, Christopher Smith, Gary Tass, Evan Terry, Dereon Thomas, Jerald Tice, Willis Timmons, Clayton Tunison, Tyler Van Kooten, Helen Van Welie, Anthony Vela, Gregory Ware, Lashundria Watson, Alicia Wouldridge, Brennon Yates
Bain, Joshua Bouchard, John Bradford, Travis Brautigam, Clifford Bray, Travis Brossette, Alexander Brown, Terrance Campbell, Matthew Capo, Robin Collis, Melissa Compston, Clint Craddon, Jared Cummings, Hunter Darling, Frank Elford, Joe Estrada, Reece Farnham, Kirk Farnsworth, Michael Ferri, DreShawn Flott, Christopher Forrest, Howard Franzen, Elida Garza, Daphne Geary, Elias Gonzalez, Mark Grisdale, Joshua Hardin, Allyssa Hicks, Jose Ibarra, Jason Jamieson, Ellis Johnson, Kenneth Killingsworth, Michel Lacroix, James Lafiatis, Michael Lidstone, Robert Loehlein, Mario Lopez, Francisco Marroquin, Nathaniel Mathia, Urana McGee, Michael McKay, Dakota Merritt, William Minnie, Timothy Perisiol, Jimmie Pixler, Cedric Reliford, Leoncio Rodriguez, Justin Rutherford, Angelita Salinas, Edwin Santos Lucero, Dale Schell, Zach Schifferns, Craig Smith, Ryan Smith, Ariyan Swift, Adam Thiessenhusen, Desmond Thomas, Fernard Tomas, Richard Vannaman, William Wallace, Kyle Warnock, Justin Westbrook, Cassie Whitton, Kyle Wied, Joshua
Witmer, Kamran Woods 3 Years: Jessica Bailey, Richard Balsiger, Matthew Bergeland, Steven Bosse, Troy Briggs, Oscar Cassidy, Philip Champagne, Albert Chapa, James Cullins, Victor Dickson, Maxwell Docking, Fabian Garcia, Austin Grant, Blake Harvey,
Dale Headley, Gavin Hidalgo, Joe Hinckley, Bruce Kennedy, Alex Kruger, Jesse Luna, Kris Mansfield, Stephanie Miller, Mark Mokai-Bennett, Mason Mollus, Zachary Morgan, Robert Morrow, Christopher Newton, Angel Salazar, Abagale Stroup, Trent Sykes, Patrick Tygett, Kimberly Veyna, Shaylee Walsh, Bobbie Jo Weiser
4 Years: Tristan Bellows, Donnie Castro, Dereck Clabough, Raymond Damian, Scott Edmiston, Jesse Fitzgerald, Luke Gard, Jacob Goodrich, Cullen Hare, Darla Jones, Austin Malone, Lee Martin, Matthew Rengel, Pascual Robles, Carlos Rocha, Brooke Ross, Karyn Lachay Thomas, Joshua Wilson 5 Years: Juan Bermudez, Brent Blaha, Nigel Budhan, Aaron Day, Robert DeBlanc, Dominic Diosdado, Samuel Garcia, Denisa Godfrey, Alissa Hackel, James Haynes, Anthony Hoyte, Charles Jones, Maurice Joseph, Mayra Juarez, Garry Major, Jose Martinez, Andrew Mattair, Joshua Mitchell, Beau Mousty, Jose Penaloza, Stephen Ricks, Dillon Sauer, Derek Schuman, Robert Slayer, David Terven, Jamarius Valentine, Brian Witzke, Robert Woods
6 Years: Shannon Colon, Audley Elder, Tyler Gilbert, Adam Gray, Brian Kelley, Peyton King, Zachary Lindley, Alvin Magee, Jason Miller, Nathanael Riddle, Jeremy February 2024 | The Dispatch 13
Team Member Anniversaries Schwarzhuber, David Torres, Mariano Uribe, Jennifer Vasquez, Stanley Whitaker, Douglas Williams
7 Years: David Blanchard, Timothy Broadway, Andrew Ermler, Curtis Holbrook, Reynaldo Lobo Guardado, John McAndrew, Gunnar Miesner, Rose Oljace, Michael Samples, Brent Shields, Sean Strong, Jennifer Thayn, Brady Trappe, Joseph Wendt 8 Years: Tyler Burke, Kevin Byrd, John Cuevas, Juan DeLaCerda, Jarmain Drake, Kevin Johnson, Daniel Lemon, Caroline Spurrier, John Weber, Christopher Wilson
9 Years: Derek Anderson, Bradley Bridges, Trevor Jones, Steven Kimball, Adam Lebihan, Eliel Morales
10 Years: Patrick Flower, John Foster, Jesse Hatch, Chris King, Evan Klaevemann, Jeffrey Lien, Dee Mitchell, Cory Montoya, Odea Nowden, Zachary Overstreet, Tomas Sanchez
11 Years: Brent Aycock, Tristan Clarke, Steven Coltrin, Steven
Coomes, Seth Creason, Michael DeLaney, Jeremy Edwards, Travis Gathagan, Michael McMillan, Michael O’Connell, Derek Prestholt, Michael Shoemaker, Misael Vazquez, Melissa Winebrenner
12 Years: Michael Brinkerhoff, Erin Flocchini, Martin Mandujano, Jacinto Mendez, Matthew Morrison, Sabrina Mounts, Stephanie Rich, Ysidoro Romero, April Rose, Chad Shaffer, Timothy Sharitt, Matt Spade, Jeffery Summers, Chris Wright 13 Years: Kevin Dean, Charley Dohle, Josh Gwillim, Michael Schaffer, Joshua Smiley, Joseph Smith, Danny Spangler, William Watts, Willis Whitaker 14 Years: Raul Pesina, Jose Reyes 15 Years: Veronica Banks, Lawrence Fix, Johnny Lima 16 Years: Michael Brown, Ben Coward, Brian Ezell, Ty Furgason, Leovardo Mata, David Riggs, Frederico Romero, Robert Smith 17 Years: Robert Balzer, Jeffery Denton, Albert Glenn, AJ Mee, Derek Nyman
18 Years: Michael Lewis, Joseph
Reid, John Scheehle 19 Years: Douglas Fleming, Matthew Hinojosa, Gregory Lovelace
20 Years: George Villa
21 Years: Gary Goodwin, Nathan Grice
22 Years: Sara Hanson 23 Years: Serafin Contreras, Kevin Schoenhofer 24 Years: James Andrews, Steven Bringer, David Terry 25 Years: Thomas Shirey 27 Years: Robert Williams 28 Years: Troy Tracy 29 Years: Michael Sebecic
30 Years: Rodney Hamilton
31 Years: Mark Hoskinson
36 Years: Steven Caudle
Watco team members are eligible for discounts on some mobile phone plans.
• Save $10/month per line with AT&T
• Receive a 22% discount with Verizon
14 The Dispatch | February 2024
