September 1, 2019
Railroader: The Unfiltered Genius and Controversy of Four-Time CEO Hunter Harrison
Howard Green
Hunter Harrison’s tenacity, common sense, creativity, and willingness to not be loved allowed him to change an entire industry that is critical to life in North America. While viewed by many inside and outside the companies he ran as the enemy, Mr. Harrison’s results at the four railroads he ran were nothing short of amazing and have stood the test of time. At the core of Hunter Harrison’s success is his own brand of railroading, “Precision Scheduled Railroading” (PSR). Many of Harrison’s ideas are counter-intuitive, such as the notion that the customer isn’t always right or that by reducing the number of locomotives you could increase the volume transported or that an asset unused can actually be a liability. The key to PSR is that it results in better service for customers through faster and more reliable service while providing the railroad with better economics.