
 CAN
YOU GUESS WHO HAS
BEEN WITH I NTER-RAIL THE
LONGEST?
JOIN
US
IN
CONGRATULATING
SOMEONE
WHO JUST PASSED THEIR 30
YEARS OF SERVICE !............. 6
 IT ’S A NEW DAY, A NEW
YEAR ! ALL OF OUR FACILITIES
ARE FIRED UP AND READY TO
GO TO HELP US REACH OUR
2016 GOALS !
January 2016 Inter-Rail
C
S
X
From work anniversaries, holiday
parties and new additions to the
teams, there was definitely no
shortage of celebration across our
facilities!
T
D
S
I
Express
We hope everyone
had a great holiday
season! Scroll through
to see some of the
photos from our
facilities’ holiday
parties— and some of
their adorable
younger guests!
Click for
more info
Some of our facilities
are trying new ways
to ensure we can meet
our company goal of
reducing accidents
and injuries by 50% in
2016. How are YOU
contributing towards
this goal?
Winter is here! And in some places,
a lot more present than others.
Which facility got snowed in first?
January 2016 Page 2 New President at Inter-Rail
I am pleased to announce the promotion of Seth Ricketts to the position of President of Inter-Rail
Management Inc. Seth will assume his new responsibilities on January 1, 2016.
Seth has been with Inter-Rail officially for almost 10 years but many of you knew him long before
that as he has always been part of the Inter-Rail Team. After graduating from college, he returned as
an unloader and after a lot of hard work and dedication, was promoted to Operations Manager at
Palm Center, Florida before becoming General Manager of the Eastern Region and most recently,
he has served as Executive Vice President, showing great knowledge of the industry and has
demonstrated his ability to work with our customers and employees alike. Seth is excited and has a
vision and a plan for growth and expansion of all aspects of our company including current loading
and unloading as well as mechanical and switching operations. He will share his thoughts more fully
on how we will accomplish this both SAFELY and efficiently after he takes the reigns and gets
settled into his new position. We are looking forward to his leadership as he has exceptional
organizational skills and exhibits compassion and concern for all of our employees while building a
great relationship with our customers.
I would like to be the first to CONGRATULATE Seth on his new position and I am sure that each of
you will want to join with me and share your feeling and support to him as well.
As I continue to edge closer to retirement, I will continue on as CEO and will have the opportunity to
work closely with Seth as he leads us into the future. Jim Azpell will have expanded responsibilities
in his role as Vice President of Operations and Safety and the remainder of the management team
will remain in place. The first GOAL is to reduce accidents and injuries by 50 percent and to help
with this challenge there is a new SAFETY TEAM in place, consisting of Christina Nierenberg, Bud
Schneerer, and Larry Holmquist. Please give each of them
your assistance as we strive for success together by
meeting both our own goals as well as those of our
customers, starting with sending all of our employees
home safely each and every day.
We look forward to the NEW YEAR with new leadership,
improved SAFETY and the continued support and
dedication from each of you.
Again, congratulations to Seth and THANK YOU to each of
you for the support you have given to me while in that
position.
Sincerely,
Michael Ray Kelley
January 2016 Page 3 Are you a Boss or a Leader?
As you have heard over and over again, we are excited about 2016! We have had calls with every
facility going over budgets and goals for 2016. We followed up with a “State of the Union” call and
went over where we’ve been, where we are and where we are going. We are as prepared as we
have ever been for the challenges we will face over the next year.
No matter how prepared we are, it stills comes down to taking care of our people and leading them
to victory. I found this poster earlier this week and I feel it speaks volumes as to what an Inter-Rail
associate should be:
We appreciate everyone’s efforts and your commitment to make 2016 the best year in Inter-Rail’s
history, as we need your help. I will be visiting every facility this year, so please bring any concerns
to me during the Safety Briefings or pull me aside. We want to make Inter-Rail better!
—Seth Ricketts, President
Page 4 January 2016 Team Titusville, FL
Titusville would like to start out stating we had another accident and injury free year. We would
like to thank the home office for allowing us to enjoy a Christmas dinner together. Team building
goes beyond what happens in the workplace, it extends to our relationships outside of work and
Titusville’s employees have exemplified this in their everyday lives. Titusville would also like to
recognize Bill Yeomans for having completed his second year with Inter-rail. Team Titusville is
striving to continue improving their quality of work while maintaining an accident/injury free
workplace. None of these accomplishments could be reached if everyone at Titusville was not
responsible for themselves and watching out for their fellow employees. One more announcement
for Titusville is that Bill Yeomans celebrated his 33rd birthday during the holidays. Titusville would
like to extend holiday wishes to all Inter-Rail employees and their families with hopes of a great
New Year and further success heading into the future.
—Bud Schneerer, Operations Manager
Team Birmingham, AL
It has been a great year here in Birmingham. Team Birmingham is looking forward to another
great year and what it will bring. I am excited about all the new things that are going to take place
within our company.
As many of you know we love our college football! Here in Alabama we just won our #16 National
Championship so a big ROLL TIDE. I would like to thank my guys for all the hard work they put in
this past year.
From all of us here in Birmingham we wish everyone a Happy New Year.
—Jimbo Hubbard, Operations Manager
The Home Office welcomes
new employees Kim Kelley and
Tranita Felton to the IRT family.
January 2016 Page 5 Team Commerce, GA
Now that the Holiday Season is over and we have all gained at least 20 pounds, we are back to
normal and working hard to lose the extra pounds!
Our Christmas luncheon at Longhorn was awesome and we enjoyed the time to relax and socialize.
In the last year, Commerce gained a totally new operation with the Shuttle Crew and it has been a
learning time for us. We went from 8 unloaders to 30 full time employees!
In the past few weeks, our focus has been on safety and efficiency. We are always working on ways
to improve upon both. It has rained almost every day for the past month or so, but thank goodness
we have not had to deal with snow and ice like some of our sister facilities. However, with rain
comes wet pavement, poor visibility and sometimes dangerous conditions. We are reminded to
slow down, watch the traffic patterns and watch for others who may be walking on the lot. We have
also emphasized the importance of staying hydrated, even though it is cold outside.
For the first time ever, we have an expectant mother here at Commerce. Our little shuttle crew
member will arrive sometime in April. Congratulations Terineshia Norman! Can’t wait to meet our
baby girl!
—Debby White
Team Jacksonville, FL
Team Jacksonville would like to
welcome new Terminal Manager
Mike Gundersen back to the Inter-Rail
team. Mike has previously managed
our Jacksonville and Titusville
operations. We have been working
hard clearing out all of the overflow
from the end of the year push. With all
of the grass overflow being cleared,
things are finally getting back to
normal. We remain committed to
having an accident and injury free
2016. We look forward to achieving
our goals with the help and support of
Southeast Toyota here in Jacksonville.
—Mike Gundersen, Operations Manager
Page 6 January 2016 Team New Boston, MI
Let’s start with hoping everyone had a great holiday season. In New Boston we are grateful for the
weather so far being mild. If you spent any time in Michigan during winter, you know why. Although
it has been dreary, it could be and has been a lot worse. We are prepared though. We know it will
not last. We have our salt buckets, switch brooms, torches, and shovels ready.
I would like to welcome Ken Green and Steve Downey to the New Boston Team. They are both
eager to learn and hard working. I think they will make great additions to the team. I would also like
to congratulate Chris Zajas on his promotion to Supervisor. Chris started in Mechanical. He showed
a drive and a commitment to doing the job right and an attention to detail. His attitude was why he
was moved to operations and it is the reason he moved up to Supervisor. We are all very pleased
with his performance.
I would like to congratulate Seth Ricketts on his promotion to President. We all know the long ladder
he has climbed and the work he put in to achieve this position. It is well deserved.
We are happy to announce we have finished 2015 with zero injuries and we have gone 9 months
accident free. I have confidence in the crews and supervisors to make this happen. I am very happy
and proud of the people here in New Boston and the hard work they put in to make New Boston one
of the best again. We will make that happen.
—Darrin Daigle, Operations Manager
Team Palm Center, FL
As we take a look back at our fourth quarter here at Palm Center,
we acknowledge the extensive amount of man hours that was put
forth to get us through it. Palm Center was able to unload over
20,000 units in December and 17,000 in November. In 2015 as a
team, we dedicated each and every day to working safely and
getting the job done accident and injury free. As we embark on
the first quarter in 2016, we at Palm Center have joined the InterRail campaign, and have committed ourselves to cutting our
accidents and injuries by fifty percent. We as a team also strive to
deliver a damage-free product to our valued customers.
We would like to welcome Mark Faulkenberry to the Inter-Rail team. He has
filled the position of Assistant Manager at Palm Center. Mark has over four years
of management experience in the railroad industry. Safety, communication and
team work are three endeavors that Mark is committed to instilling in our team
here at Palm Center. He believes that "without all three, you simply cannot run
efficiently," and is "always looking for improvement in all areas." Mark is a
Missouri-native, but is ready for the beach life! Welcome to Palm Center Mark!
—Mario Fortella, Operations Manager
Page 7 January 2016 Celebrating Thirty Years of Service
Congratulations to Greg Farmer, CFO for reaching his 30-year
anniversary with Inter-Rail. Following a staff meeting, the home office,
management staff, and Greg’s family met for pizza where a surprise
‘roast’ was given in honor of Greg’s
achievement. While Greg sat in a camp chair
with a new Yeti cooler filled with Coors Light
next to him, he was a good sport and took all
the joking and ribbing in stride. Former coworkers and friends sent well wishes to
celebrate the milestone occasion.
Greg started out with Inter-Rail as a part-time
Unloader in Oklahoma City as a 20-year-old
college kid. He then flipped his schedule,
opting to work full-time at Inter-Rail, while
pursuing his degree in accounting in the
evenings at Central State University in nearby Edmond. He was soon
promoted to facility Supervisor. Upon graduation he inquired about a
management position with Inter-Rail and it just so happens there was an
opening in our Lawrenceville, Georgia operation. After a two-week trial
there, Greg got the job. Sixteen months later, Greg moved up again, to
Manager of Inter-Rail’s Southeast Region, where he oversaw the
company’s TDSI/CSX facilities in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee
and Virginia from his base in Lawrenceville. In 1993, Greg put his
accounting expertise to work for Inter-Rail and eventually became the first
Chief Financial Officer in the company’s history.
We thank Greg for his 30 years of dedicated
service and wish him many more great years
with the company.
—Melinda Biehl,
VP Human Resources
January 2016 Page 8 Team Tampa, FL
Now that we have 2015 behind us we can now focus on building up our team and find ways to
achieve our new set goals. Not only will we have new projects at the Tampa facility to give us that
world class appearance but we are also going to come up with new ways to prepare our crew for
another upcoming AAR audit.
Also big thanks to the AAR for not only introducing the new AAR website that has learning videos on
chock securement and storage, but the videos are also in Spanish which is a big help to our current
team. This will not only help us understand the new chocking devices but will give us the chance to
utilize the website for other processes. Another goal we have set in place is
to achieve another Destination Honda award for 2016. The Tampa Team
was able to take this award home two years in a row and we were recently
told that no one has ever won the award three years in a row. All and all we
are looking forward to another great year and can’t wait to see what’s in
store for us. I personally would
like to thank my crew for all their
hard work and dedication. I
would also like to thank our local
transportation train crew for
working with us and creating a
new spot time that allows us to
start work first thing in the
morning. With the short daylight
Unloader Rolando Gonzalez and his hours this is a big help to us,
making our work hours safer.
son Liam Michael Gonzalez
Liam Michael Gonzalez (Rolando Gonzalez’ son), Chloe
Martinez (Rocky Martinez’ daughter), Jenifer De La
Last but not least the Tampa team would like to thank the Caridad Garcia Oliva (Yasniel Oliva’s daughter), Camron
IRT corporate office for allowing us to have another great Martinez (Rocky Martinez’ son), and Rosana Garcia (Elier
Garcia’s daughter) at the company holiday party.
Christmas dinner for 2015. It was nice to have the crew
members and their families together to celebrate the
holidays.
—Rocky Martinez, Regional Manager
Page 9 January 2016 Team Salt Lake City, UT
It was a rough start to our winter here in Salt Lake city with nearly a foot of snow in two days. The
Salt Lake crew managed to work safely, accident and injury free. For November's safety lunch, I
treated the crew with a delicious Thanksgiving feast from Famous Daves BBQ. Very well deserved.
On December 8th 2015, an AAR Auditor showed up and so did team Salt Lake City with an overall
score of 99.49%. Congratulations Team Salt Lake City on a great audit. Great job guys. It was a
busy end of the year with some long hours
so we could not take a day where we
could all go out to dinner for our
Christmas Party, so I brought the Dinner to
them. Thank you team Salt Lake City for
finishing the year strong. Let’s make 2016
an even better year…
—Raul Correa, Operations Manager
For November’s Safety Lunch, I surprised the crew
with Famous Dave’s Holiday Turkey and Ham Feast. It
was very well deserved. I am Thankful for my crew on
all the hard work they do every day. It’s been rough
this past month trying to adjust to the change in
switching times but this Team has managed to stick it
out. Thanks again Team Salt Lake City. –Raul Correa
Mid-December snowfalls at the Salt Lake yard
From left to right: Raul Correa, Jose Rivera, Yvonne Vilchis,
Celestino Texta, Tyrus Wilcock, Adam Kasteler, Lazaro Ortega and
Gilbert Holguin, at the Thanksgiving Safety Lunch
Page 10 January 2016 Team Kansas City Muncie, KS
Muncie has been staying busy with our
increased Ford loading volume and we have
continued to grow our team. Even though it has
been busy we finally had the time to relax and
enjoy our Christmas dinner. It was nice to get to
enjoy some good food with the crew outside of
work and get to know them better. I would like
to thank the out of town employees that spent
quite some time with us. They really felt like part
of the Muncie Family. I’m sure they are enjoying
their nice weather back in good ol’ California.
—Emmanuel Oliver, Operations Manager
Top: Alfredo Rodriguez (San Bernardino), William Umanzor (Richmond,
CA), Markece Benson, Aldrin Tapia, Elias Madrid, Emmanuel Oliver
(Manager), Heather Rebeck, Rene Hernandez, Tyler Collins, Rosendo
“Isaac” Medina. Front: Brandon Fleming, Georell Bullock
Team Phoenix, AZ
We here in Phoenix, and we hope everyone, had a very
good Holiday Season! Now it's back to working hard on
an exciting 2016 and taking on the challenges in front of
us, especially with a yard constantly at capacity.
What a turnaround in weather were having so far, the
east is warm and we are cold, odd for the valley of the
sun. It’s been near freezing overnight so our vegetable
plants need to be covered.
A big welcome back to Arturo Cordova to team Phoenix.
Happy Anniversary to: Stephen Holland (1yr.) David
Barkley (1yr.) Armando Cordova (1yr.) Tommy Mendoza
(1yr.) and Monica Galvez (1yr.) Happy Birthday to:
Armando Cordova (1/21) David Fassbender (2/12)
Daniel Saucedo (2/18)
Tara West (2/21)
Well not much going
Tara West says Goooo Steelers!!!
on
here
looking
forward to watching the playoffs.
—James Gallagher, Operations Manager
Throw back pic of me and my older brother.
January 2016 Page 11 Team Benicia, CA
We would like to congratulate Antonio Maravilla on his 10 year
Anniversary with Inter Rail Transport. Antonio started working as an
Unloader and has moved up to be a great Supervisor. He always goes
above and beyond on everything he does. We are glad he is part of the
Benicia Team and wish him 10 more years with us.
—Maritza Perez, Office Manager
Team Portland, OR
5 Years for Zack Altig! Congratulations. We are all pretty happy here
whenever we reach a large milestone for any of our workers. Zack is
one of our Supervisors here at the Portland facilities and we all
appreciate the hard work he does for us. Along with the certificate he
received from us he also got to pick his choice of a level 4 Safety Award
item as well as a very delicious lunch we provided for the entire crew.
Thanks for 5 years of hard work Zack.
—Larry Holmquist, Operations Manager
Team Santa Rosa, NM
My name is Joseph (Ike) Gauna and I was recently hired
in Santa Rosa as the Operations Manager. During my
first few days I was able to experience this wonderful
view first thing in the morning, and thought I would share
this with you. Views like this make you appreciate the
early mornings. When I was hired the yard was
understaffed; currently we are fully staffed and are
gearing up for a rough winter, along with an AAR audit.
Our goal is to receive the allusive 100%. I feel with the
crew we have now we have a great chance of receiving
this 100% and meeting all our goals for 2016. We would also like to congratulate Seth Ricketts for
his promotion to President of Inter-Rail Transport.
—Ike Gauna, Operations Manager
Page 12 January 2016 Looking Ahead at IRT
Well they say time flies when you are having fun. I guess I need to convince myself how much fun
2015 was because it sure did fly by!
Here we are at a new year and it is time to reflect on 2015 and look ahead at 2016. 2016 is quickly
shaping up to be a very challenging, and optimistically a very rewarding year. The beginning of
2016 also marked my first full year with the Inter-Rail family.
When I was first offered the fortunate opportunity to join the IRT Family, Mr. Jay Ricketts told me my
responsibilities would allow plenty of travel. I can testify that the rumors of Jay Ricketts unwavering
values of honesty and integrity are beyond true. Travel he said? I could have started my own airline
in 2015 Jay!
In all seriousness, yes I did travel plenty in 2015. This travel allowed me to meet many of the key
employees that make Inter-Rail such a successful organization. And for that I am grateful. There
were many reasons why I was flattered by the opportunity to join the Inter-Rail Family, but most
importantly was the reputation and longevity of the men leading the charge. The business that we
are in is very challenging to say the least and it is difficult at best to find people that have such
outstanding reputations after so many years doing what we do. Well for years I have said that there
are only two people in this industry that I have honestly never heard a negative comment made of
their character. Those two people of course are Mr. Jay Ricketts and Mr. Michael Ray Kelley. I am
here to testify, yes the rumors are true. They are really as genuine and dedicated as advertised.
Once you have had the opportunity to spend some time with Jay, it is obvious why the company that
he founded and lead has been so successful and well-spoken of for over 30 years now. Jay’s Core
Values are just as advertised and they are contagious to the employees that have grown up in this
business under his leadership. That is what I learned most during my 2015 travels.
Mike Kelley, what can I say? Mike is a leader that truly cares about the people that he leads. Mike is
relentless in his goal to satisfy our many customers and also to make sure that every employee in
the IRT family is happy, well taken care of and receives any guidance that may be necessary. You
can honestly call Mike any time (actually the man never sleeps) for any reason and you will never
hear the words “I don’t have time right now”. This was true even during his 14 plus month move
from California to Utah. By the way Mike, are you done yet?
I recently had the honor of sitting in on an interview that General Manager Francisco Oliver was
conducting on a potential new employee. Francisco followed the general format of an interview, but
as the questions were winding down I watched Francisco switch gears from the business aspect to
speaking from the heart. Francisco’s entire demeanor changed when he started to relay to this
potential employee the opportunity that was being offered here.
(Continued on next page)
January 2016 Page 13 Looking Ahead at IRT
The opportunity Francisco spoke of “We are potentially looking at offering you an opportunity to
join a family. A family that has been around for over 30 years and will be around for another 30 plus.
A family that was built with Core Values in mind. I am not going to quote them all to you right now,
but I can tell you that they start with Integrity and all come back to Integrity” (Yes Francisco, I took
notes). To me this was a testament to the leadership and direction that has made IRT the
organization that it is today.
Time to move on to 2016. The year that started with big changes and big challenges.
2016 starts the new era of leadership that will ensure the same successes over the next 30 plus years
that have made IRT the success that it has been for the past 30 years. Congratulations to our new
President, Mr. Seth Ricketts. There is no doubt in my mind that the continued commitment to
excellence that Seth will quickly project to all of our customers and employees will be well
received. Passion, determination and extreme organizational skills are sure to equal many years of
success.
There have been many other big changes over the course of 2015 and starting off 2016. I will not go
through them all. There was enough that I may miss some and offend somebody. But I can assure
that as a company we are very excited with all of these changes and the future looks bright.
In my travels over the previous year, I had the opportunity to spend ample time in facilities that are
managed by all of the customers that we service. Are there differences in overall philosophies? In
all honesty yes there is. There is one common denominator to all of our customers though. That
common denominator is the drive and passion that surrounds Safety and Quality.
To our customers: We get it.
To our Family Members: This is our challenge. What we must do to succeed above all in 2016. It
sounds like a simple formula. Here it is - We will reduce accidents and injuries in 2016! We will
meet and exceed our company established goals in 2016! We will praise and reward our people for
their dedication to reach our ultimate goal of eliminating any and all workplace incidents! We will
hold our people and ourselves accountable when we underperform! We will remain positive and
learn from any bumps in the road that we may encounter! We will grow, change and get stronger in
2016! And most importantly, we will stick together and support each other through good times and
bad just as any strong family is meant to do.
Sit down and buckle up because the Train is leaving the station and the last stop is success. 2016 is
here. Time to make it a great and rewarding year!
—Jim Azpell, Vice President Safety and Operations
Page 14 January 2016 Team Amarillo, TX
First off, we would like to welcome our newest team member,
Matthew Ballow. Matthew has been with us for a little over 2 months
now and has caught on very quickly. He is a great team player and
very dedicated.
Recently we have undergone somewhat of a makeover here at
Amarillo. Construction for an expansion began a few months ago and
has finally been completed. Originally bay capacity was around 600.
As it stands today we have over 1000 bays and upcoming Chrysler
product will help fill the
spaces. Our team is very
Unloader Matthew Ballow
excited about the changes
and look forward to continuing our excellent safety
record as we have gone 1926 days accident free and
3223 days injury free. We would like to thank Christian
Carlsen, Sam Phanekham and the BNSF for their efforts in
the expansion.
In other news, we held our annual Christmas Dinner at
the facility with Catering from Deyers BBQ. I would like to
thank our team for a great year and for their hard work
and dedication. Great job guys!
—Chris Gallegos, Operations Manager
January 2016 Page 15 Team Dilworth, MN
In Dilworth we have been battling these long cold days. If
anyone says they are having a bad day, we gladly invite them
to come unload a few railcars in the middle of January. I am
very proud of my team and what they are able to accomplish
during the winter months. It’s not all bad though, I have
attached a photo of
what we call a Sun
Dog. This is where
the moisture in the
air is so cold it
freezes and creates rainbow
circles around the sun or beam
of light coming up from the
ground.
—Josh Alexander,
Operations Manager
Team Omaha, NE
Team Omaha will be celebrating 1000 days accident free on the 30th of January. It is no simple task
to get that many days without an accident. Team Omaha would like to thank Colin Seitz in OKC in
part for this accomplishment. Colin trained me when I first started here, and he did a great job of
implementing safety and enforcing speeds on rail and in the yard. When I filled his shoes I knew
keeping the facility accident free would not come easy. I brought on two new employees in my first
two months as Operations Manager, and as a result they have had safety drilled into their brains.
They know the correct speeds on rail and in the yard, which makes it that much easier to keep our
accident free days going higher and higher. Over the course of managing Omaha, we have had a
few accidents company wide, and as a result have to go over the incidents to understand that what
happened elsewhere, can happen at Omaha. One of the recurring accidents is drifting too far to the
right. My unloaders know that whenever they are unloading they NEED to keep their heads out of
the window to know exactly where they are relative to the railcar. I am proud to say Omaha has not
had any close calls since I have been manager, and this is because my team cares about safety. I
have trained all of my unloaders that “Skill comes with Confidence”, without skill you cannot be
confident and vice versa. I have asked one of my unloaders on quite a few occasions if he feels he is
ready to unload a flared fender dually, I believe he is but he does not, and that right there tells me
he knows where his skills are and what he needs to work on. Again Team Omaha would like to
thank everyone who helped us get this far, we will now be aiming for 2000 days accident free.
—Dillon Wyatt, Operations Manager
Page 16 January 2016 Team San Bernardino, CA
We finished the year off strong, handling more
vehicles in 2015 than 2014 and ended the year
with volume up 19%. We will look forward to 2016
and making improvements. I would also, like to
congratulate two of our employees, Ricardo
Aguilar and Guillermo Valladolid. Ricardo has
been an employee here at San Bernardino for 15
years. Ricardo is one of our Unloading
Supervisors and does a great job. Guillermo has
been an employee here at San Bernardino for 10
years and has been working the night shift at our
checkpoint.
—Chris Pope, Operations Manager
Guillermo Valladolid
Ricardo Aguilar
Team Orillia, WA
There has been an increased focus to educate
and inform our associates in Orillia to move
forward with the company’s development. If we
are going to get our associates to buy in to the
culture and the ever changing demands of
company operations, we need to provide the
necessary information and keep it out in front of
them. Use your “Associate Board” to get their
attention. Post the information that corporate is
providing for us. Use this board to provide the
information as it relates to our operations,
whether it is procedure, policy, or necessary
precautions of trends in our industry. Use it in
the daily safety meetings to get the associates to
notice.
—Todd Rapin, Operations Manager
January 2016 Page 17 Team Richmond & NOCR, CA
Here at Richmond we have been asked to try out these new High
Visibility Yellow gloves while working out on the rails. We have received
positive feedback from our crews, from being more comfortable to
lasting longer than the usual whites. The new High Visibility gloves that
we are trying out are to help promote visual awareness. Especially when
closing railcar doors, there is a high potential for a pinch point injury to
occur. By using these new High Visibility yellow gloves, the unloader's
hands will stand out and they can react quicker to prevent any injury. This
is a great safety tool set in place to help us reach our Company Goal for
2016 which is to reduce accidents and injuries by 50%. But we have set
forth a greater challenge for ourselves here with a facility goal of zero
accidents and zero injuries for 2016. And we will strive day in and day out to reach our goal.
On a very special note, we would like to welcome the newest addition to our
Team Richmond Family. Team member Adalberto Gonzalez was blessed with
a beautiful Christmas gift when his beautiful wife Rosibel gave birth to
a precious bouncing baby boy on December 22, 2015. Anthony Gonzalez
weighed in at 8lbs. 3oz and was 19 inches long. Adalberto had just been
chosen as our Employee of the Month for November a few days prior. Please
join us in congratulating Adalberto not only for his Employee of the
Month honors but, most importantly for receiving an even more precious gem.
Thank you all for reading our Special news. From all of us here at Team Richmond we wish all of you
a SAFE, Prosperous and Happy New Year.
—Gerardo Reynoso, Operations Manager
Once again we would like to congratulate NOCR on going another year
accident and injury free. This adds to a total of 695 days accident free and
2110 days injury free. Great job crew, keep up the good work !!!! NOCR
would also like to announce
the new addition to Jose Arias
and his family: Samantha
Arias. She was born
December 16, 2015, weighed
in at 7lbs 1oz and was 21
inches long. Congratulations to you and your family.
—Sabrina de Leon
Picture on the left is NOCR having their Christmas dinner from left to
right: Ulysses Oliver, Uriel Holguin, Moises Felix , John R. Alejandro
Bernal, Jose Arias, Juan Sandoval, Jose Martinez, Jesse Frias, Lorenzo
Garcia, Jose Perez , and Lontrell Lewis
Page 18 January 2016 Team El Mirage, AZ
Here is a picture of our sunset this past
weekend- breathtaking to say the least!
Greetings and Salutations from El Mirage! We hope everyone had a
happy and blessed holiday season, and wish everyone the best in
2016! We’ve been experiencing strange but beautiful weather hereFrom COLD to gorgeous! We have had days when Phoenix has been
colder than New York! But no matter what we always have stunning
sunsets!
Here we grow! We’ve been busy gearing up for Chrysler in
the last few months and have doubled our crews in both the
unload and switching. We are excited and looking forward to
this new opportunity and cannot wait to see what it holds for El
Mirage.
New faces for team El
Mirage unload crew!
Shawn
Alexander,
Mariah Alexander, Craig Gjvoik, Daniel Parker, Rasheem
Gray, Bernardo Rocha- welcome aboard! (Pictured right)
Some new and familiar faces for our new morning switch
crew! Brad Flanagan, Josh Cousineau, Rodney Barton,
Terry Colton, and Nigel Bruce. (Pictured left)
—Melissa Lawrence
Team Oklahoma City, OK
Meet the OKC Team! Colin (alumni of Portland and Omaha), Zak
(OKC original), Kevin (alumni of Rolla), and Joey from outside of
the industry. We’ve had so many improvements in the last few
months it’s hard to keep track! We’re thankful for everything from
a new Buck ramp, new sealcoat and striping, a locomotive that
runs like a top, to new furniture throughout the office. The
Oklahoma City ramp is full of history, and we’re more than excited
to carry on the tradition of safety, quality and productivity. The last
incident that occurred in OKC was in late 2000, and we don’t
intend to change that!
—Colin Seitz, Operations Manager
January 2016 Page 19 Team Kansas City Argentine, KS
KC Argentine will begin with the unfortunate loss of our
clerical employee Mang Garcia, who has moved on to other
endeavors that will be a better fit for her family. We had a
small going away party and wish her the best of luck!
On a better note, would like to welcome James Toliver better
known as JT and Bruce Masters to the management team.
They both bring with
them experience in
switching and JT is very
knowledgeable
in
Automotive Unloading/
Loading. We are looking forward to seeing their management
approach in an effort to have a more successful year at our
facility. Welcome to the Team!
—Heather Magenheimer
Team San Diego, CA
Here at San Diego, Inter Rail, Toyota,
and Vascor are more than just team, we
are family. We all work together to
strive for the best quality of work. Being
prideful of our duties, and tying it
together for a safe work environment.
Our newsletter will include all of us,
because we are all important to this San
Diego facility. We stand together, work
together, and get the job done together.
Inter Rail San Diego is not just a work
facility, but treated more like a home.
Everyone here from the San Diego team
wishes all of your teams of Inter-Rail a
safe, and happy New Year.
—Adrian Suarez
January 2016 Page 20 The Mechanical Minute
As we begin another New Year, it’s time once again to focus on safety. Companywide, we have committed to reducing accidents and injuries by 50% this year. The
Mechanical Department, as well as many of your locations, are already doing our
part to achieve that goal. That doesn’t mean, however, that we can’t find room for
improvement by seeking to prevent injuries from happening by being proactive
and always asking “what if?”
I spent the last months of 2015 putting
together some new contract projects for us, and with the
assistance of our new partners at TTX and Trinity Rail we
have successfully kicked off those projects. San Diego
Mechanical is performing a trainline trolley modification
for TTX and Benicia Mechanical is inspecting and
replacing defective Seal Safe door hoods for Trinity. I
want to take a moment to thank not only those from TTX
and Trinity who put their trust in us to do this extra work
on their cars, but also our railroad partners for allowing
us to accept these contracts on their properties. It shows
everyone that Inter-Rail is a capable, professional
mechanical contractor, and our successes with these
projects will only open the door to more work for us and
help bolster our reputation in the railroad community.
—John Eifert, Chief Mechanical Officer
Top: Chris Johnson inspecting door hoods
Left: Hayden Brockhuis welding trolley stops