NS Taps Thomas, Loeb for Marketing Roles
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
Yannik Thomas (left) and Stefan Loeb are joining the Marketing division at Norfolk Southern.
Norfolk Southern (NS) on March 23 reported elevating Yannik Thomas and appointing Watco veteran Stefan Loeb to Vice President positions in the Marketing division, effective April 2.
Thomas will become Vice President Intermodal and Automotive Operations, focusing on “high-quality customer experience, efficient and proactive management of terminal and equipment services, development and implementation of system design engineering solutions, and alignment with enterprise commercial and operating strategies,” according to NS. Since 2020, he has served as the Class I railroad’s Assistant Vice President Financial Planning and Analysis.
Loeb’s new role as NS Vice President First and Final Mile Markets, “prioritizes innovation around first- and final-mile products and processes key to short and long-term development,” according to the Class I. He was most recently Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Watco, a transportation and supply chain services company owning and operating a network of short line railroads, terminals and ports. Loeb joined the company in 2010, and held such roles as Vice President of Business Development, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Development, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, and Executive Vice President-Network Strategies. Prior to that, he spent nine years in the banking industry. Loeb has also served as Chairman of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, Chairman of the Short Line Safety Institute, and a member of the Surface Transportation Board’s Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council (RSTAC).
Thomas and Loeb will report to Chief Marketing Officer Ed Elkins, joining NS’s current Marketing leadership alongside Vice President Industrial Products Leggett Kitchin (a recent addition to RSTAC); Vice President Intermodal and Automotive Marketing Shawn Tureman; and Vice President Business Development and Real Estate Kathleen Smith.
“At Norfolk Southern, our goal is to safely deliver profitable and industry-leading growth as a customer-centric, operations-driven service organization,” Elkins said. “With that growth in mind, I’m pleased to welcome these two proven leaders to our talented team. They each bring unique and valuable skillsets to an outstanding group. By adding their growth-oriented leadership, we can fully leverage the great work happening across our Intermodal and Automotive and Industrial Products franchises to grow business even further.”
