CSX Corp (CSX) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Colby and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome you to the Q3 2025 CSX Corporation earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

女士們、先生們，感謝你們的耐心等待。我叫科爾比，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線生。此時此刻，我謹代表 CSX 公司歡迎各位參加 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作說明）

I would like to turn the conference over to Matthew Korn, Head of Investor Relations and Strategy. Please go ahead.

我謹將會議交給投資人關係與策略主管馬修‧科恩 (Matthew Korn) 主持。請繼續。

Thank you, Colby. Good afternoon, everyone. We're very pleased to happy to join our third quarter earnings call. Joining me from the CSX leadership team are Steve Angel, President and Chief Executive Officer; Mike Cory, EVP and Chief Operating Officer; Kevin Boone, EVP and Chief Commercial Officer; and Sean Pelkey, EVP and Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，科爾比。大家下午好。我們非常高興能夠參加第三季財報電話會議。與我一同出席的CSX領導團隊成員有：總裁兼執行長史蒂夫·安吉爾；執行副總裁兼營運長麥克·科里；執行副總裁兼首席商務官凱文·布恩；以及執行副總裁兼財務長肖恩·佩爾基。

In the presentation that accompanies this call, which is available on our website, you will find slides with our forward-looking and non-GAAP disclosures. We encourage you to review them.

在本次電話會議的簡報中（可在我們的網站上找到），您將找到包含我們前瞻性和非GAAP揭露資訊的幻燈片。我們建議您查看這些內容。

With that, I'm very happy to turn the call over to Mr. Steve Angel.

接下來，我很高興將電話交給史蒂夫安吉爾先生。

Thank you, Matthew. Hello, everyone. We're happy to have you join our third-quarter call today. First, I want to recognize Joe Henricks. He led this company through some difficult times and worked with this leadership team to make some real progress.

謝謝你，馬修。大家好。我們很高興您今天能參加我們的第三季電話會議。首先，我要稱讚一下喬‧亨里克斯。他帶領公司度過了一些困難時期，並與領導團隊合作取得了一些實質進展。

Now we are all eager to move forward from a solid position. My connection to this industry goes way back. My career started at GE, where I worked directly with locomotives and rail operations, that experience gave me a deep appreciation for railroading that has stayed with me. I spent the last couple of decades leading large industrial companies, specifically industrial gas companies, but the interest in rail never faded. There are some similarities between the industrial gas business and the railroad industry.

現在我們都渴望從堅實的基礎上向前邁進。我與這個行業的淵源由來已久。我的職業生涯始於通用電氣公司，在那裡我直接從事機車和鐵路運營方面的工作，這段經歷讓我對鐵路運輸產生了深深的敬意，這種敬意一直伴隨著我。過去二十年，我一直領導大型工業公司，特別是工業氣體公司，但我對鐵路的興趣從未消退。工業氣體產業和鐵路產業有一些相似之處。

First of all, safety. It isn't just a nice thing to do. It is a sacred responsibility. Everyone must come home safe at the end of each and every workday. Industrial gas and railroads are both capital-intensive businesses.

首先是安全問題。這不僅僅是一件好事。這是一項神聖的責任。每個人每天下班後都必須安全回家。工業氣體和鐵路都是資本密集產業。

Our strategy at Linde was to build network density in targeted geographies. That is how you leverage your infrastructure to generate ever higher returns on capital. That concept applies to the railroad industry as well. I think of pipelines and railway track the same way. own the pipelines provided they were in the right locations, had a strong advantage over their competition. Same for railroad tracks.

林德公司的策略是在目標地區建立網路密度。這就是如何利用基礎設施來獲得更高資本回報的方法。這概念同樣適用於鐵路業。我認為管道和鐵路軌道是一樣的。如果管道位置合適，擁有管道的企業就比競爭對手擁有巨大的優勢。鐵路軌道也是如此。

Another similarity is our vision. At Linde, our vision is to be the best-performing industrial gas company in the world. And we achieved that in some cases, by a large margin over the next best competitor. At CSX, our vision is to be the best-performing railroad in North America. I like that.

另一個相似之處是我們的願景。林德的願景是成為全球業績最佳的工業氣體公司。在某些情況下，我們甚至以遠超過第二名競爭對手的優勢實現了這一目標。CSX 的願景是成為北美業績最好的鐵路公司。我喜歡這個。

And when we say best performing, I'm certainly talking about financial performance, operating margins, return on capital, cash flow, but I'm also talking about safety, customer service, employee engagement integrity and ethics. And I don't see any of these as being mutually exclusive. You can be best in class in all these areas and every important aspect of running a great railroad company. How do you do it? It takes a concerted effort.

當我們說表現最佳時，我當然指的是財務表現、營業利益率、資本回報率、現金流，但我也指的是安全、客戶服務、員工敬業度、誠信和道德。而且我認為這些之間並不互相排斥。你可以在所有這些領域以及經營一家優秀鐵路公司的各個重要方面都做到最好。你是怎麼做到的？這需要大家共同努力。

Sounds trite, but you have to make the most important things, the most important things. Focus, execute, grinded details repeat build a strong, stable foundation and get better every day, and build a disciplined, high-performance culture, and you build a talent pipeline that will sustain the culture long after you're gone.

聽起來很老套，但你必須把最重要的事做好。專注、執行、打磨細節，不斷重複，就能建立起強大而穩定的基礎，並且每天都在進步，還能建立起一種紀律嚴明、高績效的文化，這樣就能建立起人才儲備，在你離開之後，這種文化也能長久地延續下去。

That's enough about me. I'll turn it over to Mike.

關於我的事就到此為止。我把它交給麥克。

Thank you, Steve, and thanks to everyone for joining us today. First, I want to recognize the very good work of our teams across the network. Their dedication and their execution have really led us to deliver one of our strongest operational performances in recent years. And we're building on that great service cost momentum from last quarter, and it's really paying off. We're seeing improvements across the board, but it's really exciting to see the railroad become more efficient and even more responsive to our customers' needs, especially given the current market conditions.

謝謝你，史蒂夫，也謝謝今天所有到場的各位。首先，我要表揚我們整個網路中各個團隊的出色工作。他們的奉獻精神和執行力確實使我們取得了近年來最強勁的營運業績之一。我們延續了上個季度服務成本大幅下降的良好勢頭，而且確實取得了成效。我們看到各方面都有所改進，但尤其令人興奮的是，鐵路部門的效率越來越高，對客戶需求的反應也越來越迅速，尤其是在當前的市場環境下。

We can turn to the next slide. As Steve noted, safety is our largest shared responsibility. Our FRA personal injury frequency rate ticked up slightly from last quarter, but the bigger picture is very positive. Through September, we've seen a solid reduction in moderate and severe injuries with fewer cases requiring employees to miss work. This shows our SAFE CSX program is working.

我們可以翻到下一張投影片了。正如史蒂夫所說，安全是我們最大的共同責任。我們的 FRA 人身傷害發生率較上一季略有上升，但整體而言情況非常樂觀。截至9月份，中度至重度工傷事故已大幅減少，需要員工請假的情況也相應減少。這說明我們的 SAFE CSX 專案正在發揮作用。

Our culture is shifting to be more proactive, data-driven and safety-focused and daily operations. On the train accident front, this quarter was the best since the end of 2023. Human factor accidents are down 16% year-to-date, thanks to targeted efforts, better training and smarter tools that help our people make safer decisions.

我們的文化正在向更加積極主動、數據驅動、以安全為中心的日常營運轉變。在火車事故方面，本季是自 2023 年底以來最好的季度。由於採取了有針對性的措施、加強了培訓以及利用更聰明的工具來幫助我們的員工做出更安全的決策，今年迄今為止，人為因素事故減少了 16%。

Next slide. Now let's take a look at the operational performance. This was our fastest quarter for training velocity since early 2021.

下一張投影片。現在我們來看看營運績效。這是我們自 2021 年初以來訓練速度最快的一個季度。

For all time hit at the lowest point since mid-2023 and average daily cars online were the lowest since 2020, that shows how disciplined the team has been in running a balanced, efficient network, even while major construction continued on the Howard Street Tunnel and Blue Ridge Subdivision. Tip Plan Compliance continued to improve. Intermodal TPC rose to 93% from 90% and carload TPC climbed to 83% from 75%. These are strong gains, a result of the fluidity of the network.

有史以來，網路流量跌至 2023 年中期以來的最低點，平均每日線上車輛數也降至 2020 年以來的最低水平，這表明即使在霍華德街隧道和藍嶺分區的主要建設仍在繼續的情況下，團隊在運營一個平衡、高效的網絡方面仍然保持著高度的紀律性。小費計畫執行情況持續改善。多式聯運 TPC 從 90% 上升到 93%，貨車運輸 TPC 從 75% 上升到 83%。這是網路流動性帶來的顯著效益。

Next slide. I'm proud of how this team has kept momentum on improving asset utilization, with market changes and mix shifts, our ability to be efficient and nimble is extremely important and was evident last quarter. Through disciplined asset and cost management, we reduce train miles and optimized horsepower utilization running efficiently without impacting customers. These improvements show up in our solid fuel productivity and horsepower management. Car month per day also improved, reflecting both faster train velocity and our unwavering focus on our operations.

下一張投影片。我為團隊在提高資產利用率方面保持的勢頭感到自豪。面對市場變化和資產組合調整，我們的效率和靈活性至關重要，這一點在上個季度得到了充分體現。透過嚴格的資產和成本管理，我們減少了列車行駛里程，優化了馬力利用率，實現了高效運行，且不影響客戶。這些改進體現在我們固體燃料生產力和馬力管理。每日汽車月運輸量也有所提高，這不僅反映了列車速度的加快，也反映了我們對營運的堅定不移的關注。

Let's go to the next slide. And finally, I want to highlight two major wins for us, Howard Street Tunnel and the Blue Ridge Subdivision projects, both were extremely complex efforts and finished slightly ahead of schedule, a tremendous accomplishment, and I want to give a big thank you to everyone on our team who is involved to make that happen.

我們來看下一張投影片。最後，我想重點介紹我們取得的兩個重大勝利：霍華德街隧道計畫和藍嶺住宅區計畫。這兩個項目都非常複雜，而且都提前完成了，這是一項巨大的成就。我要衷心感謝我們團隊中所有參與其中的成員，而正是他們的努力使得這一切成為可能。

With these projects complete, we now have full network access, positioning us for greater capacity and resiliency as we go forward. In closing, I couldn't be prouder of the team. The momentum this quarter is real, and we're going to keep it going. We're not done improving, innovating or delivering for our customers and shareholders and each other.

這些項目完成後，我們現在擁有了完整的網路存取權限，這使我們能夠在未來擁有更大的容量和更強的韌性。最後，我為我的團隊感到無比自豪。本季的發展勢頭強勁，我們將繼續保持下去。我們仍在不斷改進、創新，努力為我們的客戶、股東以及彼此創造價值。

So with that, I'll hand it over to Kevin.

那麼，我就把它交給凱文了。

All right. Thank you, Mike. As Mike just mentioned, we are excited that both the Howard Street Tunnel and Blue Ridge projects are complete. As we move forward, customers will see benefits from reduced out-of-route miles that will improve on our best-in-class service levels. Starting in the second quarter of 2026, we begin -- we will begin to capitalize on double-stack clearance through Baltimore that will expand our intermodal service offerings into the Northeast region.

好的。謝謝你，麥克。正如麥克剛才提到的，我們很高興霍華德街隧道和藍嶺項目都已完成。隨著我們不斷推進，客戶將受益於繞路里程的減少，這將進一步提升我們一流的服務水準。從 2026 年第二季開始，我們將開始利用巴爾的摩的雙層貨櫃清關服務，將我們的多式聯運服務擴展到東北地區。

Looking across the markets we serve, business conditions are mixed. Customers face uncertainty and headwinds from shifting trade policies, weak gold commodity prices, unsupportive interest rates in a persistently soft trucking market. Now let's turn to merchandise revenue on slide 8. Revenue and volume was down 1%, with RPU flat, as core pricing gains were offset by lower fuel surcharge and unfavorable mix. On the positive side, minerals volume and revenue were up 8% and 12%, respectively.

綜觀我們所服務的市場，商業環境喜憂參半。客戶面臨貿易政策變化、黃金商品價格疲軟、利率不利以及卡車運輸市場持續疲軟等帶來的不確定性和不利因素。現在讓我們來看看第 8 張投影片上的商品收入。收入和銷售量下降了 1%，每單位收入持平，因為核心定價的成長被較低的燃油附加費和不利的產品組合所抵消。從正面的方面來看，礦產產量和收入分別成長了 8% 和 12%。

The team continues to capitalize on strong demand in aggregates and cement by leveraging our unique footprint into the Southeastern market. Fertilizer volume rebounded due to improved production at a key phosphate producer, which helped drive 7% growth in the quarter. Metals and equipment volume was up 5%, driven by increased wallet share combined with new capacity on our network. Increased automotive production drove 1% higher volume. And moving forward, production levels are expected to remain relatively steady from year-end with minimal anticipated impacts from the aluminum supply challenges.

團隊利用我們在東南市場的獨特優勢，繼續掌握骨材和水泥的強勁需求。由於一家主要磷酸鹽生產商的產量提高，化肥銷量反彈，推動該季度成長 7%。金屬和設備交易量增加了 5%，這主要得益於市場份額的增加以及我們網路新增的容量。汽車產量增加帶動銷量成長1%。展望未來，預計從年底開始，產量水準將保持相對穩定，鋁供應挑戰預計不會造成太大影響。

Broader market softness and tariffs continue to impact our forest products and chemical markets, where we have some customers that have rationalized production for both volume -- for both, volume was down 7% compared to the prior year. A positive core pricing has mitigated revenue declines. Ag and food volume was down 7% as the strong Southeastern crop has provided feed buyers a robust local supply. We've also seen increased competitiveness in the ethanol and weakness in certain food and consumer products. In the fourth quarter, we expect a stronger export market and improving domestic grain trends from the Midwest harvest.

整體市場疲軟和關稅繼續影響我們的林產品和化學品市場，我們的一些客戶已經對產量進行了合理化調整——與前一年相比，這兩個市場的產量均下降了 7%。積極的核心定價策略緩解了收入下滑。由於東南部的作物長得強勁，為飼料買家提供了充足的本地供應，農產品和食品銷售量下降了 7%。我們也看到乙醇市場的競爭加劇，以及某些食品和消費品市場的疲軟。第四季度，我們預期出口市場走強，中西部地區的糧食收成將改善國內糧食市場趨勢。

Now let's turn to slide 9 to review the coal business. Coal revenue declined 11% for the quarter on 3% lower total volume. All in coal RPU declined 9% year-over-year. But as shown in the slide, the headwind from export benchmark pricing continues to diminish as we move into the fourth quarter. Export tonnage was down 11%, largely due to reduced production associated with mine fires we noted earlier in the year, but recent trends have been encouraging.

現在讓我們翻到第 9 張投影片，回顧一下煤炭產業。由於總銷量下降 3%，煤炭收入本季下降了 11%。煤炭產業 RPU 年減 9%。但如幻燈片所示，隨著我們進入第四季度，出口基準價格帶來的不利影響持續減弱。出口噸位下降了 11%，這主要是由於我們年初提到的礦井火災導致產量下降，但最近的趨勢令人鼓舞。

Our operational performance has been very strong, and we are pleased with the recent reopening of a key export mine. Domestic coal business continues to see steady trends through the year. Steel and industrial tonnage was down 15% year-over-year due to softer market fundamentals and reduced domestic steel production. On the other hand, utility coal performed well over the quarter with tonnage up 22% year-over-year. Power demand remained supportive, helped by higher natural gas prices.

我們的營運表現非常強勁，我們對近期一家重要出口礦場的重新開放感到滿意。國內煤炭業務全年持續維持穩定成長趨勢。由於市場基本面疲軟和國內鋼鐵產量下降，鋼鐵和工業噸位較去年同期下降 15%。另一方面，公用事業煤炭在本季度表現良好，噸位年增 22%。受天然氣價格上漲的提振，電力需求維持穩定。

Turning to slide 10. Intermodal performed well despite a soft trucking market and muted pricing Third quarter revenue was up 4% on a 5% increase in volume. Our international inter business benefited from strong growth with key customers. Tariff impacts and general consumer demand remain watch items. Volumes have softened in recent weeks, which looks largely in line with typical seasonality.

翻到第10張投影片。儘管卡車運輸市場疲軟且價格低迷，但多式聯運表現良好。第三季營收成長 4%，貨運量成長 5%。我們的國際業務受益於與主要客戶的強勁成長。關稅影響和整體消費需求仍是需要關注的因素。最近幾週交易量有所放緩，這看起來基本上符合典型的季節性規律。

Domestic volumes grew modestly year-over-year, primarily due to new service offerings. Following a successful bidding season for our IMCs and strong eastbound volumes, we expect continued strength in our domestic business in the near term. As we look ahead to the end of the year and start of 2026, we are excited about the opportunities to leverage the strength of our network performance, win in the marketplace and find ways to create and creatively convert more business to the railroad.

國內業務量年增率不大，主要得益於新服務的推出。繼 IMC 競標季取得成功以及東行貨運量強勁增長之後，我們預計國內業務在短期內將繼續保持強勁勢頭。展望今年年底和 2026 年年初，我們對利用我們強大的網路性能、在市場中贏得勝利以及找到創造和創造性地將更多業務轉移到鐵路的方式的機會感到興奮。

Now let me turn it over to Sean to discuss the financials.

現在我把麥克風交給肖恩，讓他來討論財務狀況。

Thank you, Kevin, and good afternoon. Third quarter reported operating income was $1.1 billion and earnings per share was $0.37. These figures include $164 million and $0.07 per share from impairment of the remaining goodwill related to quality carriers. I'll now speak to adjusted third quarter income statement, excluding the goodwill impairment charge. Revenue was lower by about $30 million or 1% as 1% volume growth and an increase in other revenue were offset by headwinds from unfavorable mix and coal pricing.

謝謝你，凱文，下午好。第三季報告的營業收入為11億美元，每股收益為0.37美元。這些數據包括因優質承運商剩餘商譽減損而產生的1.64億美元和每股0.07美元的減損損失。接下來我將談談調整後的第三季損益表，其中不包括商譽減損費用。由於不利的產品組合和煤炭價格的不利影響，儘管銷量增加了 1%，其他收入也有所增加，但收入卻減少了約 3,000 萬美元，降幅為 1%。

Adjusted expenses increased by 3%, and I'll discuss the details on the next slide. Interest and other expense was $19 million higher compared to the prior year, while income tax expense fell by $46 million on lower pretax earnings and a lower effective rate that was driven by renewable energy and state tax credits.

調整後的費用增加了 3%，我將在下一張投影片中詳細討論。利息和其他支出比前一年增加了 1900 萬美元，而由於稅前利潤下降以及受再生能源和州稅收抵免推動的實際稅率降低，所得稅支出減少了 4,600 萬美元。

As a result, earnings per share fell by $0.02, reflecting a combined $0.02 of discrete unfavorable impacts, $35 million of restructuring, severance and regulatory advisory expenses and approximately $25 million of network disruption costs related to the recently completed Blue Ridge and Howard Street projects. CSX is well positioned in building momentum. Year-over-year headwinds ease into the fourth quarter and strong operational execution and cost control provide a positive setup for improved results.

因此，每股收益下降了 0.02 美元，這反映了 0.02 美元的離散不利影響、3500 萬美元的重組、遣散費和監管諮詢費用，以及與最近完成的 Blue Ridge 和 Howard Street 項目相關的約 2500 萬美元的網路中斷成本。CSX在累積發展勢頭方面處於有利地位。同比不利因素在第四季度有所緩解，強勁的營運執行和成本控制為業績改善提供了積極的條件。

Let's now turn to the next slide for a closer look at expenses. The total expense variance includes the $164 million charge based on impairment testing completed during the quarter. Despite the difficult trucking market, quality carriers has helped drive truck-to-rail conversions, maintained industry-leading share and stable pricing across its end markets.

現在讓我們翻到下一張投影片，仔細看看各項費用。總支出差異包括本季完成的減損測試所產生的 1.64 億美元費用。儘管卡車運輸市場情況嚴峻，但優質承運商仍推動了卡車運輸向鐵路運輸的轉換，並在其終端市場保持了行業領先的市場份額和穩定的價格。

We're working closely with the QC team to aggressively identify additional efficiency opportunities, that will support an improvement in near-term financial results while still positioning quality carriers to fully capture the upside when the trucking market recovers. Expenses, excluding the impairment increased by $71 million or 3%, including approximately $60 million of severance, network disruption and other costs noted on the prior slide. This expense management reflects solid fundamentals and disciplined execution, delivering increased volume with a lower rail headcount and year-over-year efficiency savings across the expense base.

我們正與品質控制團隊緊密合作，積極尋找提高效率的機會，這將有助於改善近期的財務業績，同時確保優質承運商在卡車運輸市場復甦時能夠充分把握機會。不包括減損損失，支出增加了 7,100 萬美元，增幅為 3%，其中包括約 6,000 萬美元的遣散費、網路中斷費以及上一頁投影片中提到的其他費用。這種費用管理體現了堅實的基本面和嚴謹的執行力，在鐵路員工人數減少的情況下實現了貨運量的增長，並在各項費用基礎上實現了逐年提高效率和節省成本。

Turning to the individual expense line items. Labor and fringe was up $9 million year-over-year, including $22 million of management and executive severance. These costs plus the impact of inflation were mostly offset by lower incentive compensation and efficiency savings, reflecting lower rail head count and network-driven improvements in T&E overtime and ancillary costs.

接下來查看各項費用明細。勞動力和福利支出年增 900 萬美元，其中包括 2,200 萬美元的管理階層和高階主管遣散費。這些成本加上通貨膨脹的影響，大部分都被較低的激勵性薪酬和效率提升所抵消，這反映出鐵路員工人數減少以及網絡驅動的差旅加班費和輔助成本的降低。

Headcount will hold stable to slightly lower sequentially in the fourth quarter, while cost per employee will see a normal seasonal increase as the benefit of lapping restructuring. And severance costs will be at least partially offset by higher incentive compensation expense. Purchased services and other costs increased $54 million year-over-year.

第四季員工人數將保持穩定或略有下降，而每位員工的成本將因重組帶來的收益而出現正常的季節性增長。遣散費至少會部分被更高的激勵性薪資支出所抵銷。外購服務及其他成本年增 5,400 萬美元。

This was driven by cycling a prior year favorable inventory adjustment as well as network disruption costs this year. Trucking casualty and freight damage claims and inflation, plus $13 million of restructuring and advisory costs, slightly offset by higher property gains. Importantly, the team delivered significant PS&O efficiency savings which were broad-based.

這主要是由於上一年有利的庫存調整以及今年的網路中斷成本。卡車事故和貨物損壞索賠以及通貨膨脹，加上 1300 萬美元的重組和諮詢費用，被更高的房地產收益略微抵消。重要的是，該團隊實現了廣泛的、顯著的PS&O效率提升。

Continued execution and the easing of network disruption costs will help partially offset the normal sequential increase in PS&O in the fourth quarter despite $5 million to $10 million in regulatory advisory costs. Depreciation was up $8 million due to a larger asset base.

儘管監管諮詢費用為 500 萬至 1000 萬美元，但持續的執行和網路中斷成本的降低將有助於部分抵消第四季度 PS&O 的正常環比增長。由於資產規模擴大，折舊額增加了 800 萬美元。

Fuel cost was up $5 million, driven by additional consumption due to network reroutes and a slightly higher price per gallon, partly offset by improvement in gallons per gross ton mile. Finally, equipment and rents decreased by $5 million year-over-year with higher costs from inflation and the negative impact of re-routes on car cycle times, offset by savings from improved fluidity and increased income generated from company-owned real estate. We're encouraged by the structural cost improvement the team delivered in the third quarter. These efforts position us well to build upon strong resource utilization, and identify additional efficiency opportunities.

燃油成本增加了 500 萬美元，因為網路改道導致消耗量增加以及每加侖油價略有上漲，但每總噸英里油耗的提高部分抵消了這一增長。最後，設備和租金年減了 500 萬美元，通貨膨脹導致成本上升，重新規劃路線對車輛週轉時間產生了負面影響，但流動性改善帶來的節省以及公司自有房地產產生的收入增加抵消了這些損失。團隊在第三季所取得的結構性成本改善成果令我們感到鼓舞。這些努力使我們能夠更好地利用資源，並發現更多提高效率的機會。

Now turning to cash flow and distributions on slide 14. Targeted and efficient investment in the safety, reliability and long-term growth of our railroad is our highest priority use of capital. Property additions are higher year-to-date, including $440 million of spending towards the rebuild project on our Blue Ridge Subdivision.

現在來看第 14 頁的現金流量和分配情況。對鐵路的安全、可靠性和長期發展進行有針對性和高效的投資，是我們資金使用的最高優先事項。今年迄今為止，新增房產數量有所增加，其中包括為藍嶺小區重建計畫投入的 4.4 億美元。

In total, spending to rebuild the Blue Ridge is now expected to exceed $500 million before insurance recoveries. Year-to-date, free cash flow was $1.1 billion, which includes over $850 million of cash outflows for Blue Ridge and previously postponed tax payments. Lastly, CSX remains committed to shareholder distributions and has returned over $2 billion year-to-date.

重建藍嶺山脈的總支出預計在獲得保險賠償之前將超過 5 億美元。今年迄今為止，自由現金流為 11 億美元，其中包括 Blue Ridge 超過 8.5 億美元的現金支出和先前推遲的稅款支付。最後，CSX 仍然致力於向股東派發股息，今年迄今已返還超過 20 億美元。

Now for a review of our guidance. Given solid network momentum, new business wins and expanded service offerings we still expect to deliver volume growth for the full year. Recall that our fourth quarter performance in 2024 (inaudible) made hurricanes. We expect our fourth quarter results to reflect the strong operating performance and cost efficiencies that we have driven through the year. There's no change to our full year CapEx guidance of $2.5 billion, excluding the Blue Ridge.

現在來回顧我們的指導原則。鑑於穩健的網路發展勢頭、新業務的贏得以及服務範圍的擴大，我們仍然預計全年銷售將實現成長。回想一下，我們在 2024 年第四季的表現（聽不清楚）引發了颶風。我們預計第四季度業績將反映出我們全年所取得的強勁營運業績和成本效益。除藍嶺項目外，我們全年資本支出預期仍為 25 億美元。

Finally, we expect to continue our demonstrated long-term track record of powerful cash generation combined with a strong investment grade credit rating that enables value creation through the opportunistic use of share repurchases, while also annually reviewing the dividend with steady increases for over 20 years.

最後，我們期望繼續保持長期以來強勁的現金流生成能力，並憑藉強大的投資級信用評級，透過把握機會進行股票回購來創造價值，同時每年審查股息，並在過去 20 多年中穩步提高股息。

With that, let me turn it back to Steve for his closing remarks.

那麼，現在讓我們把麥克風交還給史蒂夫，讓他做總結發言。

We are encouraged by the progress made this quarter. Our team did a great job at working together and responding effectively to the test faced earlier in the year. The railroad is running well, and we have a strong foundation to drive further improvements. While the underlying economy is mixed, our customer service is strong, and we have excellent relationships with those customers. We are working closely with numerous partners to help accelerate the build-out of industrial capacity on our network.

本季的進展令人鼓舞。我們的團隊在合作方面做得非常出色，有效地應對了年初面臨的考驗。鐵路運營狀況良好，我們擁有堅實的基礎來推動進一步改進。儘管經濟情勢喜憂參半，但我們的客戶服務實力雄厚，我們與客戶保持良好的關係。我們正與眾多合作夥伴緊密合作，以協助加速我們網路上工業產能的建置。

And our commercial team is actively developing new solutions that will help us expand our reach and gain share. We've received quite a few inquiries on strategic opportunities. we will, of course, pursue anything we believe can create compelling value for our shareholders. We are confident in our path forward and energized by our vision to be the best-performing railroad in North America. With that, Matthew, we will open it up for questions.

我們的銷售團隊正在積極開發新的解決方案，以幫助我們擴大業務範圍並贏得市場份額。我們收到了不少戰略機會的問詢。當然，我們會積極尋求任何我們認為能夠為股東創造巨大價值的機會。我們對自己的發展道路充滿信心，並受到成為北美業績最佳鐵路公司的願景的鼓舞。接下來，馬修，我們將開放提問環節。

Thank you, Steve. We will now proceed with the question-and-answer session. To ensure that we maximize everyone's opportunity to participate, we ask that you please limit yourselves to one and only one question. Colby, we are ready to begin.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。現在我們將進入問答環節。為了確保每個人都有最大的參與機會，請務必只提一個問題。科爾比，我們準備開始了。

(Operator Instructions) Brian Ossenbeck, J.P. Morgan.

（操作員說明）Brian Ossenbeck，J.P. Morgan。

So Steve, maybe to start off with the obvious one. You've been through an industry for that had complex M&A, as you mentioned, there are some similarities there to railroad. So stepping into the role realizing you only been there for a couple of weeks. How do you believe the company is positioned versus your peer obviously pursuing a TransCon merger? And do you feel like that's part of the mandate in terms of why you're brought into this position in the first place or that something that interested you given your prior history?

那麼史蒂夫，或許我們應該先從最顯而易見的開始。正如您所提到的，您曾在併購複雜的行業工作過，這與鐵路行業有一些相似之處。所以，當你真正上任時，才意識到自己才待了幾個星期。您認為貴公司與正在尋求與TransCon合併的同業相比，處於怎樣的市場地位？你是否覺得這是你被任命到這個職位的原因之一，或者說這是你之前的經歷讓你感興趣的事情？

Yes, thank you for that question. So if you alluded to my history, and if you go back and look, I ran Praxair for 10 years before we concluded a merger with Linde AG. And so you could say I was very patient. But the way these things work, these strategic opportunities, you got to wait for the right timing. You got to wait for when the conditions are right.

是的，謝謝你的提問。所以，如果你回顧我的過往，你會發現，在與林德集團完成合併之前，我曾執掌普萊克斯公司 10 年。所以可以說我很有耐心。但這類事情，這類戰略機遇，都需要等待適當的時機。你得等到條件合適的時候再行動。

So what you do in the interim, you run the company to the best of your ability every day and you create value that way. And so if and when that time comes, you're going into that discussion from a position of strength. So that's really how I think about it. You've got to run the franchise you have the best your ability to build value that way, keep your eyes open for strategic opportunities. And when they come, you put yourself in a good position to capitalize on it.

所以，在過渡時期，你要做的就是每天盡你所能經營公司，並以此創造價值。因此，如果時機成熟，你就可以站在優勢地位參與討論。這就是我的想法。你必須盡你所能經營好你的加盟店，以此創造價值，並時刻關注策略機會。當機會來臨時，你要讓自己處於有利位置，以便抓住它。

Stephanie Moore, Jefferies.

Stephanie Moore，傑富瑞集團。

I wanted to touch on -- as you think about two things that are happening. One is the completion of your large infrastructure projects. And then two, as was obviously noted some changes from a strategic standpoint in the industry.

我想談談——當你思考正在發生的兩件事時。一是大型基礎建設項目的完成。其次，正如人們明顯注意到的，該行業從戰略角度來看也發生了一些變化。

So maybe, Steve, if you wanted to talk about how you're positioning the company to potentially capitalize on both of those factors. One is directly in your control and then the other might be in response to some of the actions of your peers.

所以，史蒂夫，如果你想談談你如何定位公司，以期從這兩個因素中獲益的話。其中一項完全由你掌控，而另一項則可能是對你同儕某些行為的回應。

You want to take the first question?

你想回答第一個問題嗎？

Sure. Yes. Stephanie, happy. This is Sean. Happy to kind of talk a little bit about Blue Ridge and Howard Street.

當然。是的。史蒂芬妮很高興。這是肖恩。很高興能稍微聊聊藍嶺和霍華德街。

And I think obviously, that sets us up very well as we go into next year. The network recovered really well this year. It's operating about the best that it has in quite some time, which is great, and we're building cost momentum on top of that. Now you've got both our North-South routes that are open it will take us into Q2 next year before we get that double-stack capacity from Howard Street. But that's exciting because it means cost reduction, it also means ability to sell into that.

顯然，我認為這為我們明年的發展奠定了非常好的基礎。今年該網路恢復得非常好。它的運行狀況達到了近段時間以來的最佳水平，這非常好，而且我們還在此基礎上進一步降低了成本。現在我們兩條南北路線都已開通，但要到明年第二季才能從霍華德街獲得雙層貨櫃運輸能力。但這令人興奮，因為這意味著成本降低，也意味著能夠藉此機會進行銷售。

So a well-run network hopefully going into a year next year where we start to see a little bit of momentum build really helps us out. And I think that's something to build on longer term as well.

所以，一個運作良好的網絡，希望在明年能開始累積一些勢頭，這對我們真的很有幫助。而我認為這也是一個值得長期發展的方向。

And I'll take the second part of the question. So as you think about what's taking place strategically in this industry, when you have the prospect for a merger, whether it's this industry or any industry, there are pluses and minuses associated with it. There are risks and opportunities that come out of any type of consolidation within an industry. And so it really behooves us to mitigate those risks and capitalize on those opportunities. I think a lot of it remains to be seen.

接下來我來回答問題的第二部分。因此，當你思考這個產業正在發生的策略性變化時，當你面臨合併的可能性時，無論是在這個產業還是任何產業，合併都有利有弊。任何產業整合都會帶來風險和機會。因此，我們確實應該努力降低這些風險，抓住這些機會。我認為很多事情還有待觀察。

I was interesting enough, I was involved in the industry, though, can generally when the first merger that I remember took place, it was UP and SP. I think it was back in the late '90s. And that in goes so well. That didn't go swimmingly. And I think a lot of what's taken place with the STB in terms of the new standards that are now in place with respect to what's in the public good, demonstrating enhanced competitiveness and what might take place downstream that really came about as a result of that.

我當時挺有趣的，也參與了這個行業，不過，我記得第一次合併發生的時候，是UP和SP合併。我想應該是在上世紀90年代末。而且進展非常順利。事情進展得併不順利。我認為，STB 所取得的許多成就，包括現在實施的新標準，都體現了公共利益，展現了更強的競爭力，以及由此可能產生的下游影響。

So I think it's interesting to watch, obviously as they move forward with their application, and they have to demonstrate the standards that need to be met. We'll have an opportunity to review that what you can rest assured is we're going to make sure that we're competitive no matter what. So I talked about mitigating risk, taking advantage of the opportunities -- but we also want to make sure that we have a chance to present our case in terms of what we need to be competitive going forward. And that's what we'll do.

所以我覺得很有意思，看著他們推進申請流程，並且證明他們符合相關標準，這當然值得關注。我們將有機會進行審查，但您可以放心，無論如何，我們都會確保我們保持競爭力。所以我談到了降低風險、抓住機會——但我們也想確保有機會闡述我們未來保持競爭力所需的條件。這就是我們將要做的。

Chris Wetherbee, Wells Fargo.

克里斯‧韋瑟比，富國銀行。

I guess, maybe a question for Steve and maybe Kevin, I'm kind of curious, as you guys go through this period, Steve, you noted maybe some inbound strategic opportunities I don't know if that's coming from the customer side or maybe other partners in the rail industry. But as you think maybe customer response to what's going on with consolidation in the industry, you think CSX is well positioned to take advantage of that as we go through a period of uncertainty over time? I guess, how do you guys think strategically about the opportunity that's in front of you as a stand-alone right now while we're seeing integration going on in the industry?

我想問史蒂夫和凱文一個問題，我很好奇，史蒂夫，你提到了一些潛在的戰略機遇，我不知道這些機會是來自客戶方面，還是來自鐵路行業的其他合作夥伴。但考慮到客戶對產業整合的反應，您認為CSX已經做好充分準備，能夠在我們經歷一段不確定時期時利用這一趨勢？我想問的是，在產業整合的大趨勢下，你們作為一家獨立公司，是如何從策略角度看待擺在眼前的機會的？

Well, I mean, it all starts with running this business to the best of our ability, and that positions us well from a customer service standpoint, Mike talked about the way the railroad is running today, and we feel very good about that going forward. Yes, I think there's some opportunities.

嗯，我的意思是，這一切都始於我們盡最大努力經營這家企業，這讓我們在客戶服務方面處於有利地位。麥克談到了鐵路目前的運作方式，我們對未來的發展感到非常樂觀。是的，我認為這裡存在一些機會。

You could certainly say that maybe some of these opportunities are coming forward as a result of what might take place from a merger standpoint. But I think the opportunity set has always been there for railroads to work more closely together to take trucks off the road, for example. And so we see those opportunities.

當然可以說，其中一些機會的出現可能是由於併購方面可能發生的事情。但我認為，鐵路一直有機會更緊密地合作，例如，減少公路上的卡車數量。因此，我們看到了這些機會。

We're working on those opportunities. You can look at our numbers and see we've already had some success, and I think that's definitely additive to our base case going forward, and we'll continue to pursue those opportunities.

我們正在努力抓住這些機會。你可以看看我們的數據，就會發現我們已經取得了一些成功，我認為這肯定會對我們未來的發展起到積極作用，我們將繼續追求這些機會。

Ken Hoexter, Bank of America.

Ken Hoexter，美國銀行。

It's Ken Hoexter from BofA. Steve, welcome. Congrats on the new role. It seems like service from Mike Cory's presentation is operating well. It sounds like things are progressing kind of actually very well given the improvements major costs are leaving the network as Sean detailed, and maybe Sean can maybe detail the expenses, where we are now, how quickly they leave.

這是美國銀行的肯‧霍克斯特。史蒂夫，歡迎。恭喜你榮升新職。從 Mike Cory 的演示來看，服務似乎運作良好。聽起來事情進展得相當順利，正如肖恩詳細介紹的那樣，主要成本正在從網絡中移除，也許肖恩可以詳細說明一下費用，我們目前的狀況，以及這些費用移除的速度。

But what do you look at and aim to do is, is it maybe is it selling quality to improve to improve? Is there something on operations that as you went through the process, the interview process that you were focusing on that was not right. Maybe talk to us about what at CSX, you see that need to be changed? Is it the culture operations? What are you brought in and what do you hope to do?

但你所關注和努力的方向是，或許是透過銷售優質產品來提升產品質量，從而不斷改進？在營運方面，您在面試過程中是否發現有什麼地方做得不對？或許您可以跟我們談談，您認為CSX有哪些面向需要改進？是文化運作方面的問題嗎？你被引進的目的是什麼？你希望做什麼？

Well, I think as I said in my remarks, I think the team really responded well to some challenges during the course of the year. And I think they turned into a solid quarter. So I always -- when you come into a situation like this, and I talked a lot about driving productivity, efficiency, best-in-class, best operating margins, all of those things. You do that by building a high-performance culture. And -- but you got to start with stability.

正如我在發言中所說，我認為球隊在這一年中對一些挑戰做出了很好的回應。我認為他們最終取得了不錯的成績。所以，當遇到這種情況時，我總是會談到提高生產力、效率、一流水平、最佳營運利潤率等等。實現這一目標的關鍵在於建立一種高效的企業文化。但是——首先要從穩定開始。

And whether if you're talking about operations, you talk about the company, you must be stable. Because if you're not, you're not going to have a chance to work on continuous improvement every day. So I like what I've seen in the team and the performance with respect to that during the third quarter, but really during most of the year, I think that gives us a good foundation going forward. And from that, you -- it's really working all the profitability levers, efficiency, productivity, price yield, volume, then you get into capital efficiency and all of that. And it's just that's what running a business is all about.

無論是談論營運還是談論公司，都必須保持穩定。因為如果你不這樣做，你就沒有機會每天進行持續改進。所以，我對球隊在第三節的表現以及全年大部分時間的表現都很滿意，我認為這為我們未來的發展奠定了良好的基礎。由此，你——實際上是在運用所有獲利槓桿，效率、生產力、價格收益率、銷量，然後你就會涉及資本效率等等。這就是經營企業的本質。

That's what excites me. And again, it all starts with a solid foundation in a great company and a great industry, and it's about building a high-performance culture and becoming best-in-class.

這就是讓我興奮的地方。再次強調，這一切都始於一家偉大公司和一個偉大產業的堅實基礎，關鍵在於建立高績效文化並成為產業翹楚。

Ari Rosa, Citigroup.

Ari Rosa，花旗集團。

And Steve, let me echo the congratulations on the new role. Just if I could ask kind of two separate but related questions. So following on Ken's point, is there anything that you see doing differently versus what's already been in place? Because we understand that network is running quite well.

史蒂夫，我也要祝賀你榮任新職。我可以問兩個看似獨立但又相關的問題嗎？那麼，接著 Ken 的觀點，您認為與現有做法相比，有哪些不同？因為我們知道網路運作狀況良好。

And then in terms of the opportunity to double stack and some of the opportunities that are opened up by the new projects. Could you speak to -- and maybe this is actually a better question for Kevin, but how much opportunity there is there in terms of actually filling that capacity given the completion of these projects now?

然後，就雙層堆疊的機會以及新專案帶來的一些機會而言。您能否談談——或許這個問題更適合問凱文——鑑於這些項目現在已經完成，在填補這一空缺方面究竟有多少機會？

Yes, let me take the second one. We've been talking about probably double stack. We have people here that have been here for 40 years about opening up the last kind of part of our network that needed that clearance for a long, long time. And so we're very excited about what that creates in terms of market access for us into the Northeast. And you'll see us obviously start to market that during this season.

好的，我選第二個。我們一直在討論可能要採用雙層堆疊的方式。我們這裡有人已經在這裡工作了 40 年，致力於開放我們網路中最後一部分長期以來需要獲得許可的部分。因此，我們對這將為我們進入東北市場帶來的機會感到非常興奮。很明顯，我們會在本季開始推廣這款產品。

In the second quarter, we'll start that -- that service, and we'll grow into it. So it won't be an overnight phenomenon, but we expect to work with customers, and they're very excited about what we can offer there. And then I'll also add to Blue Ridge, it's on us, and it's on the sales team to capitalize on that route. And there's opportunities in the works, too, that we're working on to continue to drive and obviously get a return on that reinvestment that we had to make.

第二季度，我們將啟動這項服務，並逐步發展壯大。所以這不會是一夜之間發生的現象，但我們期待與客戶合作，他們對我們所能提供的服務感到非常興奮。然後我還要補充一點，對 Blue Ridge 來說，這取決於我們，也取決於銷售團隊，我們要充分利用這條路線。此外，我們也正在努力抓住一些機會，繼續推動發展，並顯然要從我們不得不進行的再投資中獲得回報。

And with respect to your first question, the way I would describe my priorities is drive best-in-class performance, and I talked about that and all that, that entails. Build a high-performance culture, develop a strong pipeline of talent and then capitalize on strategic opportunities that can create compelling value for our shareholders. So that's my focus.

至於你的第一個問題，我的工作重點是追求一流的業績，我已經談到了這一點以及它所包含的一切。建立高績效文化，培養強大的人才儲備，然後抓住策略機遇，為股東創造巨大價值。這就是我關注的重點。

Jonathan Chappell, Evercore.

喬納森·查佩爾，Evercore。

Sean, you cleared a lot of the disruption period. It seems like the costs are going to start to melt off really quickly now, but these two big projects are done. You laid out a couple guideposts, so to speak or -- sorry, margin improvement year-over-year in 4Q and also EBIT growth next year with the absence of any type of volume. Can you help us think about the exit rate on some of these important cost line items starting in 4Q and going into '26, you read that PS&O section in your release, and there's just like a litany of things that you can't really tell if they're onetime or not. So just any kind of help you can provide the major cost line items for 4Q in addition to what you've already noted and how we think about the run rate into $26 million.

肖恩，你解決了大部分的干擾期問題。現在看來成本似乎會迅速下降，但這兩個大項目已經完成了。您設定了一些指導方針，或者——抱歉——第四季度利潤率同比增長，以及在沒有任何銷量的情況下明年的息稅前利潤增長。您能否幫助我們思考一下從第四季到 2026 年期間一些重要成本項目的退出率？您在新聞稿中閱讀了 PS&O 部分，其中列出了許多項目，您無法真正判斷它們是一次性的還是長期的。所以，除了您已經提到的內容之外，您能否提供第四季度的主要成本明細，以及我們如何考慮將營運成本控制在 2,600 萬美元以內？

Yes, Jonathan, let me see what I can do there. In terms of Q3 to Q4, so the unique items in this quarter, you had severance and restructuring costs of about $30 million, you got the advisory cost of $5 million. That $30 million is roughly 20-ish in labor, roughly $10 million in PS&O. Then you had the ongoing cost from the network reroutes and so on and so forth. That was 25% in the quarter, about half of that was in PS&O.

是的，喬納森，讓我看看我能做些什麼。就第三季到第四季而言，本季的特殊項目包括約 3,000 萬美元的遣散費和重組費用，以及 500 萬美元的諮詢費用。那 3,000 萬美元中，大約有 2,000 萬美元是勞動成本，大約有 1,000 萬美元是生產、安全和營運成本。然後還有網路改道等持續產生的費用等等。該季度佔 25%，其中約一半來自 PS&O。

We'll have a little bit of that, that lingers into fourth quarter, call it about $10 million with demobilization and sort of some final costs coming through there. So between that, you've got about sort of $45 million of sequential benefits that you'll see from Q3 to Q4. I will note that you saw the other revenue line that was strong this quarter. That probably normalizes back down to kind of $120 million to $130 million. And then incentive comp will likely be a little bit higher, 10% to 20% higher in Q4.

這種情況會持續到第四季度，大概會造成 1,000 萬美元的損失，包括撤離費用和一些最終成本。因此，從第三季度到第四季度，您將看到大約 4500 萬美元的連續收益。我注意到您也看​​到了本季另一個強勁的營收指標。這個數字可能會回落到 1.2 億美元到 1.3 億美元左右。那麼，第四季的激勵薪酬可能會略高一些，高出 10% 到 20%。

So that's how to think about the sequentials. Those items kind of net out when you pull it all together. But at the end of the day, I think underlying all that is strong cost momentum, and we're seeing it in labor with head count down volume up. We'll see that likely continue into Q4. You're seeing PS&O efficiency.

這就是理解序列的方法。把所有因素綜合起來來看，這些因素最終都能得到平衡。但歸根結底，我認為所有這一切的根本原因是強勁的成本成長勢頭，我們在勞動力成本方面也看到了這一點，員工人數減少，產量卻在上升。這種情況很可能會持續到第四季。你看到的是PS&O的效率。

You saw strong gains in fuel efficiency. Car cycle times are better, that's impacting rents. All of that provides a nice setup as we get into next year. And just to tie a bow on that, all of that network disruption and whatnot probably gives us about $100 million out of the gates going into next year of costs that will not repeat.

燃油效率方面取得了顯著提升。汽車週轉時間縮短，對租金產生了影響。所有這些都為我們進入明年奠定了良好的基礎。最後總結一下，所有這些網路中斷等等，可能會讓我們在明年年初就損失約 1 億美元的成本，而這些成本不會再重演。

Scott Group, Wolfe Research.

Scott Group，Wolfe Research。

So Steve, you've said best-in-class multiple times today. And it sounds like, in your mind, that's inclusive of margins. I'm not sure you're like ready to give like all the details yet. But just at a high level, like is when you sort of to your initial look, is this a cost opportunity? Can we get back to a better pricing algorithm? Or are you just thinking more of a volume growth and operating leverage kind of story. I just want to understand like your vision of how you get back to best-in-class.

史蒂夫，你今天已經多次提到「同類最佳」這個詞了。聽起來，在你看來，這其中也包括了利潤空間。我不確定你是否已經準備好透露所有細節。但從宏觀層面來看，例如當你初步審視這個問題時，你會想：這是一個成本方面的機會嗎？我們能否重新採用更好的定價演算法？還是你更關注的是銷售成長和營運槓桿效應？我只是想了解一下您對如何重回一流水平的看法。

But I'm still working on it. I haven't got there yet. But the way I would think about it, Scott, is obviously, price yield as a part of the equation. Volume growth is important to leverage our cost structure and the margins fall through more heavily as we get -- especially as you get the right kind of volume through the system. I think, again, the railroad is running well.

但我仍在努力。我還沒到那裡。但史考特，我的想法是，顯然，價格收益率是等式的一部分。銷售成長對於利用我們的成本結構至關重要，隨著銷售量的成長，利潤率會大幅下降——尤其是在系統達到合適的銷售量之後。我認為，鐵路營運狀況良好。

And so with that as a basis, you can really work on continuous improvement within the railroad system. I think that falls through and those are kind of the levers to profitability. And so that's -- I really think in terms of improving operating margins year-over-year. And I think if you work all three of those levers, you're able to grow your margin some basis points, I haven't put a number on it yet, but some basis points per year, and you can get to best-in-class or if you're not best in class, you're rivaling best-in-class. And so that's really the objective.

因此，以此為基礎，就可以真正致力於鐵路系統的持續改善。我認為這個計劃行不通，而這些正是獲利的關鍵。所以，我認為這確實是關乎逐年提高營業利益率。我認為，如果你能運用這三個槓桿，你的利潤率就能提高幾個基點，我還沒有具體說明，但每年可以提高幾個基點，這樣你就能達到一流水平，或者即使你不是一流水平，你也能與一流水平相媲美。所以，這才是真正的目標。

Brandon Oglenski, Barclays.

Brandon Oglenski，巴克萊銀行。

And welcome to railroad and Steve. I guess I was wondering if you could give us your initial impressions of the commercial strategy at CSX because if you've put that recent history of books for railroads, we can generally see these carriers getting price, you can get some cost efficiencies. But I think what's proved elusive for a lot of CEOs and maybe your predecessor is really converting that highway to rail opportunity. What do you see as maybe potentially limiting volume for the group? And how are you going to pursue that differently?

歡迎來到鐵路和史蒂夫的世界。我想問的是，您能否給我們一些關於 CSX 商業策略的初步印象？因為如果您查閱鐵路公司最近的帳目，我們通常可以看到這些承運商在價格方面有所建樹，從而獲得一些成本效益。但我認為，對許多首席執行官，或許也包括你的前任來說，真正難以實現的是將高速公路改造成鐵路的機會。您認為可能限制該集團業務量的潛在因素是什麼？那你打算如何以不同的方式實現這個目標？

Well, I can't say for sure how I'm going to pursue it differently, but there are some opportunities that are here with or other railroads working together to really take the friction out of the system. And I think it's a fair question why it didn't happen in the past. I think there could be several reasons for that, but it does seem to be a concerted effort working with several of our partners to really take that truck volume off the highway and onto rail. And we're starting to see some of the benefits of that. I think if you look at intermodal numbers this quarter, it looks pretty good.

嗯，我不能確定我會如何以不同的方式推進這件事，但這裡存在一些機會，我們可以與其他鐵路公司合作，真正消除系統中的摩擦。我認為，為什麼​​過去沒有發生這樣的事情，這是一個很合理的問題。我認為這可能有多種原因，但看起來確實是我們與幾個合作夥伴共同努力，真正將公路上的卡車運輸量轉移到鐵路上的成果。我們開始看到其中的一些好處。我認為，如果看本季的多式聯運數據，情況相當不錯。

And I think the projection going forward looks pretty positive. So I'm optimistic based on what I've seen. I understand it really has -- if you go back historically, we really haven't had this level of cooperation as we're seeing today. I've seen a lot of people in this building that are from the other railroads, and I think we're clearly working together to make this happen. So I think there's reimproptimism.

我認為未來的前景相當樂觀。根據我目前所看到的，我持樂觀態度。我明白確實如此——回顧歷史，我們從未像今天這樣擁有如此高水準的合作。我看到這棟大樓裡有很多來自其他鐵路公司的人，我認為我們顯然正在共同努力實現這個目標。所以我認為存在著重新樂觀情緒。

Tom Wadewitz, UBS.

瑞銀集團的湯姆·瓦德維茨。

Yes. So I guess, Kevin, you're not getting as much airtime as you normally too, so maybe I'll give you one. How do you think about markets and just kind of where you think they may go? I mean you've got fairly considerable weakness chemicals, metals forest products. Is there any kind of reason for optimism near term?

是的。所以我想，凱文，你的出鏡時間也沒有平常那麼多了，所以也許我會給你一次機會。您如何看待市場，以及您認為市場未來的走向？我的意思是，你們在化學品、金屬和林產品方面有相當大的弱點。短期內有任何樂觀的理由嗎？

Any signs of improvement or kind of things that you may be move beyond? And I guess, as you look at it, maybe into '26, do you think carload can kind of rebound? Or should we be thinking more about intermodal as the growth driver?

是否有任何好轉跡象，或者你正在克服某些困難？我想，從長遠來看，到 2026 年，你認為汽車載貨量會反彈嗎？或者我們應該更多地考慮將多式聯運作為成長動力？

Thanks, Tom. I have gotten a little less airtime. But look, there's -- I think in my opening comments, I talked about a lot of -- it's a mixed bag. The team has done an incredible job on the aggregate side and cement side, and we're continuing to capitalize on our -- not only our footprint but just some of the strategic things we're able to achieve over the last year, and that's really showing a lot of momentum. And I think that can continue.

謝謝你，湯姆。我的出鏡時間稍微減少了一些。但你看，情況是——我想我在開場白中談到了很多——情況好壞參半。團隊在骨材和水泥方面都做得非常出色，我們正在繼續利用我們的——不僅是我們的市場份額，還有我們在過去一年中取得的一些戰略成就，這確實展現出了很大的發展勢頭。我認為這種情況可以繼續下去。

There's a lot of confidence there. We've had some unique items that have really impacted us this year. We've had a few closures on us that I mentioned, pretty concentrated in the forest products area, which everybody is familiar with some of the consolidation that's happened in that market. I do think that market with a little bit of bump from the economy could come back for us. I'm not predicting that at this point, but some of these markets that are very low in terms of the cycle where they are.

那裡充滿了自信。今年我們遇到了一些非常獨特的商品，它們對我們產生了很大的影響。正如我之前提到的，我們這裡也出現了一些企業倒閉的情況，主要集中在林產品領域，大家都知道這個市場已經發生了一些整合。我認為，只要經濟稍有好轉，市場就有可能回升。我現在還不能做出這樣的預測，但有些市場目前處於週期的低潮。

Chemicals has been one of those that we've highlighted all year long that have faced a lot of pressure from tariffs and other things. And I think just more certainty around where everything lands in terms of what the tariffs look like, what the new rules going forward will create some certainty around investments and other things that will be helpful to our business. The metal side, the team has done an excellent job of going after some market opportunities with the EFs and scrap opportunities there. So I think we're controlling what we can control. Some of these markets undoubtedly have been hit over the last couple of years, and we've been able to offset them.

化學工業是我們今年一直重點關注的行業之一，該行業面臨來自關稅和其他方面的巨大壓力。我認為，如果能更清楚地了解關稅的具體情況以及未來的新規，就能為投資和其他方面帶來確定性，這對我們的業務將有所幫助。在金屬方面，團隊在開拓EF和廢料市場方面做得非常出色。所以我覺得我們正在控制我們能控制的事情。過去幾年，其中一些市場無疑受到了衝擊，但我們已經能夠抵消這些衝擊。

I think the one thing that's probably surprised us this year is some of the temporary closures. We've had a number of outages, temporary outages on our network, whether it's in the coal side with two mines or on the chemical side, we've really faced some challenges. And the hope there is that we'll see some better performance as we move into next year. So not here to call the cycle. We had a -- we had one of our customers, obviously, talk about trucking capacity starting to come out.

我認為今年最讓我們感到驚訝的一件事可能是某些場所的臨時關閉。我們的網路出現了一些暫時性的停電，無論是煤炭方面的兩個煤礦還是化工方面，我們都面臨著一些挑戰。希望明年我們能看到更好的表現。所以，我不是來預測週期的。我們的一位客戶談到了卡車運力開始下降的問題。

That's good to hear. We'll see if that materializes in the next year. That would be extremely helpful for a lot of our markets where we compete against truck. We've been probably the longest down cycle that all of us have seen in a long, long time.

聽到這個消息真好。我們拭目以待，看看明年能否實現。這將對我們許多與卡車競爭的市場非常有幫助。我們可能經歷了很長一段時間以來最長的經濟下行週期。

So on the domestic coal side, that story was a challenge a year or two ago, and I think there's a lot more optimism on what we can do there in terms of utilization of the plants we serve today. So A lot of great work by the team, a lot of strategic thinking. We'll continue to lean into where we find opportunities. And to Steve's point, we'll continue to work with all of our partners to create opportunities. The good thing is, I think overall, the rail industry is performing pretty well versus where we've been in the last few years, and that gives us all the opportunity to lean into those opportunities to convert mortal share across the network.

所以，就國內煤炭方面而言，一兩年前這還是一個挑戰，但我認為，就我們目前服務的電廠的利用而言，我們現在對此抱持更大的樂觀態度。所以，團隊做了很多出色的工作，也進行了很多戰略思考。我們將繼續抓住一切機會。正如史蒂夫所說，我們將繼續與所有合作夥伴共同努力，創造機會。好消息是，我認為總體而言，鐵路行業的表現與過去幾年相比相當不錯，這讓我們有機會抓住這些機會，在整個網路中贏得更多市場份額。

Walter Spracklin, RBC Capital.

沃爾特‧斯普拉克林 (Walter Spracklin)，加拿大皇家銀行資本 (RBC Capital)。

Yes, Walter Spracklin here. My question here is for Mike. Like Steve mentioned best-in-class and Kevin indicated that sort of the capacity improvements might take maybe in the midyear next year. But is it unreasonable to think that operations can perhaps reestablish a little quicker than that? Would you say whether there's anything stopping you getting continued improvement through fourth quarter and perhaps being in a position to run the railroad at a fairly optimal performance level from an operational standpoint through 2026?

是的，我是華特‧史普拉克林。我的問題想問麥克。正如史蒂夫所提到的，這是同類最佳，凱文也表示，這種產能提升可能要等到明年年中才能實現。但是，認為營運恢復速度或許可以比這更快一些，這種想法是否不合理呢？您認為在第四季度之前，是否存在任何因素阻礙您繼續改進，並可能使您在 2026 年之前從營運角度以相當最佳的績效水平運營鐵路？

Thanks for the question, Walter. To get it to optimal, we're running very well right now. I'll just go back. It's our fastest quarter for doing velocity since 2021. Our cars online at the lowest in five years.

謝謝你的提問，沃特。為了達到最佳狀態，我們目前運行得非常好。我還是回去吧。這是我們自 2021 年以來季度銷量成長最快的一次。我們的汽車在線價格為五年來最低。

Our dwell is down about as low as it's ever been. We expect improvement on each and every one of those. Now these projects are going to give us capacity, but really resiliency as well. We've suffered the first quarter with two of those two routes out. We may normally only handle 20% of our volume that could have handled about 40% at that time with what we were infected with between Cincinnati and Birmingham.

我們的停留時間已降至歷史最低。我們希望在每一項方面都能有所改進。這些項目不僅能提升我們的產能，還能增強我們的韌性。第一節比賽我們遭遇了重創，這兩條進攻路線中有兩條都失效了。當時，由於辛辛那提和伯明罕之間的疫情，我們原本可以處理大約 40% 的業務量，但現在我們可能只能處理 20% 的業務量。

So our focus is always going to be to execute, grind, sweep the corners, continue to improve on every one of those things, but it's all that together. So Walter, expect to continue to improve, like we got -- still have weather coming up against the storm season is not over, and we have winter, but we learned a lot that capacity will essentially not just get its resiliency, but it gets us table. And that's where we've been this last two months. And as Steve said, that's the basis for us to improve on. So that's it.

所以我們始終會專注於執行、努力、認真對待每一個細節，不斷改進所有這些方面，但所有這些都是相互關聯的。所以沃爾特，預計情況會繼續好轉，就像我們之前那樣——儘管天氣狀況仍然會受到影響，風暴季節還沒有結束，而且我們還有冬天，但我們學到了很多，容量實際上不僅會增強其韌性，而且還會讓我們站穩腳跟。這就是我們過去兩個月所處的環境。正如史蒂夫所說，這是我們需要改進的基礎。就是這樣。

Ravi Shanker, Morgan Stanley.

拉維‧香克爾，摩根士丹利。

Just a clarification on an earlier comment that you made in response to M&A question. Did you say that you're already seeing opportunities because of the merger? If you can just clarify that or expand a little bit? And also, how far at once do customers think of their rail sourcing or rail versus truck shift or intra-rail kind of share shift? Is that something that is kind of done pretty practically on a year-forward basis? Or is that something that can be long-term planning as well?

我在此澄清一下您之前在回答併購問題時所作的評論。您剛才說您已經看到合併帶來的機會了嗎？您能否解釋一下或再詳細解釋一下？此外，客戶在多大程度上會考慮他們的鐵路採購、鐵路與公路運輸的轉變或鐵路內部的份額變化？這種做法通常是按年進行的嗎？或者，這也可以算是長期規劃的一部分嗎？

Yes. In terms of what you've seen in the market, these are things that the team consistently has been working on for the last few years. I think some of them have materialized, obviously, in the short term, but we have a very strategic thinking team that has had these ideas. I think some of them probably haven't materialized because the industry had to get to a place where we're thinking about growth from an operations standpoint. A lot of struggles, obviously, through COVID and digging ourselves out of the hole with the workforce.

是的。就你在市場上看到的情況而言，這些都是團隊在過去幾年裡一直在努力的方向。我認為其中一些想法顯然在短期內已經實現，但我們有一個非常有策略性思考的團隊，他們一直都有這些想法。我認為其中一些可能還沒有實現，因為這個行業必須發展到從營運角度考慮成長的階段。顯然，我們在應對新冠疫情和勞動力短缺問題上遇到了許多困難。

And I think this is a natural progression out of that, that we're now as an industry leaning into that. And I think we have a team that's forward leaning on that is bringing ideas to the table and really working with every partner that can benefit and grow the business for the CSX franchise. So a lot of opportunities there. I'm trying to understand the second question, but maybe I'll pass on that one.

我認為這是自然而然的發展趨勢，我們現在作為一個行業正在朝著這個方向發展。我認為我們擁有一支積極進取的團隊，他們不斷提出想法，並與所有能夠使 CSX 特許經營業務受益和發展的合作夥伴密切合作。所以那裡有很多機會。我正在努力理解第二個問題，但也許我會放棄答案。

Richa Hernain, Deutsche Bank.

Richa Hernain，德意志銀行。

I want to go back to your Investor Day some time ago, you shared some pretty exciting stats regarding the growth outlook, particularly in intermodal the ability to grow maybe above GDP. Just as we fast forward from then to today and considering how will your service metrics have improved despite some of the headwinds that you've undertaken and all of that?

我想回顧一下您前段時間的投資者日活動，您當時分享了一些關於成長前景的非常令人興奮的數據，特別是多式聯運方面，其增長能力可能超過 GDP。就像我們從那時快轉到今天，思考一下儘管你克服了一些不利因素等等，你的服務指標會有怎樣的改善？

I mean, how should we think about those growth projections? I mean, could they be stronger? And I know, Kevin, you said that they're going to be selling Howard Street Tunnel during this bid season and potential to sell in Q2 of next year. But any inkling from customers as far as how they're feeling about that product. And again, that ability to sort of grow stronger than maybe you thought a couple of quarters ago?

我的意思是，我們應該如何看待這些成長預測？我的意思是，他們還能更強嗎？我知道，凱文，你說過他們會在本招標季出售霍華德街隧道，並有可能在明年第二季出售。但任何來自顧客的關於他們對該產品感受的蛛絲馬跡。再次強調，這種能力可能會比你幾季前預想的更強？

We did lay out some of the benefits that we expected to see from the Howard Street Tunnel in that presentation. So I think we're on track. And now it's up to the team to deliver on that. In terms of -- we have a great service right now, and it all begins with the service team, and we're able to dynamically go after these opportunities as they come along. And we're always talking to customers about markets and where they see the opportunity.

我們在那場報告中闡述了我們預期霍華德街隧道帶來的一些好處。所以我覺得我們一切進展順利。現在就看球隊能否做到這一點了。就目前而言——我們擁有非常優質的服務，這一切都始於服務團隊，而且我們能夠根據實際情況靈活地抓住這些機會。我們經常與客戶交流市場狀況，了解他們認為哪些地方有機會。

And we got one particular customer that's highlighted that within the East that they see a huge conversion opportunity and we're highly interested in that. We're highly interested in working with everyone to convert that. Obviously, it's got to have a return. It's got to be attractive to all parties make the investments that might be required to go after it. But there's a lot of work being done.

我們有一位客戶特別指出，他們在東部地區看到了巨大的轉換機會，我們對此非常感興趣。我們非常希望與大家合作，共同實現這個目標。顯然，它必須要有回報。它必須對各方都具有吸引力，才能促使各方進行必要的投資。但目前正在進行大量工作。

I think we have the best team up against it to understand where those opportunities are, and you're seeing a lot of momentum. That's playing out in our weekly volumes.

我認為我們擁有最優秀的團隊去應對挑戰，他們能夠找到這些機會，你們也看到了我們目前的發展動能。這一點已經體現在我們每週的交易量中。

Jason Seidl, TD Cowen.

Jason Seidl，TD Cowen。

Steve, congratulations on the new role there, definitely exciting for you. I'm going to turn it back over to give some time there to Kevin. Kevin, can you talk a little bit about the marketing agreement with the BNSF and sort of how we should think about the build as you move through '26? And then I guess, are you guys looking to tie that freight up longer than the normal sort of 1-ish year on a domestic intermodal front in terms of contracts, given that you might have a competitor coming out after that?

史蒂夫，祝賀你獲得新職位，這肯定讓你很興奮。我打算把那塊地交還給凱文，讓他待一會兒。凱文，你能談談與BNSF的行銷協議，以及隨著2026年的推進，我們應該如何考慮建設嗎？那麼，考慮到之後可能會有競爭對手出現，你們是否打算在國內多式聯運方面，透過合約將貨運期限延長至比通常的1年左右更長？

And I guess a follow-up on the coal you mentioned, I think you've seen a little bit more positive the positivity on the coal due to sort of increased demand for domestic coal and data centers? Or is it something else?

我想就您提到的煤炭問題做個後續討論，我認為由於國內煤炭需求和數據中心建設的增加，人們對煤炭的看法變得更加積極了？還是另有隱情？

All right. Let me handle the coal one first. I think you've clearly seen a shift in just the political environment, the regulatory environment there. And I think that provides opportunities for better utilization in some of the -- obviously, the utilities that we serve. Data center is a hot topic right now everywhere, and that's certainly one of the demand pulls on electricity demand right now.

好的。讓我先處理煤炭那邊。我認為你已經清楚地看到了那裡的政治環境和監管環境的變化。我認為這為更好地利用某些資源提供了機會——顯然，這指的是我們所服務的公用事業。資料中心目前是各地的熱門話題，這無疑是目前電力需求成長的主要驅動因素之一。

So we're very positive on that market. Weather does impact that one. So we always look for a cold winter in the South. That's always helpful. So normal weather is a good thing.

所以我們非常看好這個市場。天氣確實會對那方面產生影響。所以我們總是盼望南方能有個寒冷的冬天。那總是很有幫助的。所以，正常的天氣是好事。

And we kind of -- that played out this year. And so we continue to work with the plants that we serve, they advantage them in the market to take more capacity there. So a lot of success, a lot of good work by the team to really go after that opportunity. The intermodal side, again, some of the things that we've announced recently have been in the works for a long, long time. Team has been constantly having discussions with partners around how we can create the best-in-class service and more options for our customers to reach markets in a more efficient way.

今年我們在某種程度上就經歷了這種情況。因此，我們繼續與我們服務的工廠合作，使他們在市場上獲得優勢，從而增加產能。所以，團隊付出了很多努力，並且取得了巨大的成功，真正抓住了這個機會。在多式聯運方面，我們最近宣布的一些舉措其實已經醞釀很久了。團隊一直在與合作夥伴討論如何創造一流的服務，並為我們的客戶提供更多選擇，以更有效率的方式開拓市場。

And so I think that's an outcome of not something that we recently started, but things that we started last year and that have really materialized here recently. We've got a lot of other ideas. We're continuing to work on those things. I think the velocity of those things maybe to Steve's point and our ability to execute them quickly is maybe improved with basically the industry in a better position to grow with the service, and we lead the way with our best-in-class service in the East. So you'll continue to see things where there's opportunities for us to go and capitalize on.

所以我認為這並非我們最近開始做的事情的結果，而是我們去年開始做的事情，而這些事情最近才真正實現的。我們還有很多其他想法。我們正在繼續推進這些工作。我認為，正如史蒂夫所說，這些事情的速度以及我們快速執行這些事情的能力可能有所提高，因為整個行業在服務發展方面處於更有利的地位，而我們在東部地區憑藉一流的服務引領潮流。所以你會看到很多機會，我們可以抓住這些機會並從中獲利。

Jordan Alliger, Goldman Sachs.

喬丹·阿利格，高盛。

Just sort of curious, I know you've only been in the seat for a couple of weeks or so. I'm sure I would imagine some customers, maybe some larger customers have been calling to CLO and what have you. I'm wondering, given what's going on with UNP and Norfolk Southern, any read from folks you might be speaking to externally in terms of giving you thoughts on what might be good from a competitive standpoint for you guys?

我只是有點好奇，我知道你才上任兩週左右。我估計有些客戶，特別是某些大客戶，可能已經打電話給首席聯絡官之類的部門了。鑑於 UNP 和 Norfolk Southern 目前的情況，我想知道您是否從外部人士那裡了解到，他們是否就如何從競爭角度對您有利提出了一些建議？

I would say, since I've been here, we haven't had that kind of discussion.

我想說，自從我來到這裡以來，我們還沒有進行過這類討論。

Your next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Kauffman from Vertical Research.

你的下一個問題來自 Vertical Research 的 Jeffrey Kauffman。

Steve, welcome aboard. Best of luck to you. And I figured I'd ask question, Sean here. just based on the idea that you're not going to have the Blue Ridge expenditures next year and you're not going to have these congestion costs and there are some things you're excited about. It looks like cash flow could double if the world goes right, maybe up 50% to 70% if it doesn't.

史蒂夫，歡迎加入。祝你好運。我想問個問題，肖恩。因為明年你們不會有藍嶺地區的支出，也不會有交通擁堵費用，所以你們對一些事情感到興奮。如果一切順利，現金流可能會翻倍；如果情況不妙，可能會成長 50% 到 70%。

Not that you've spent it before you earned it, but can you tell me about cash priorities for 2026? Are there projects that you haven't been able to get to there at the top of the list, you want to bring debt down to a certain level? Or would more of that free cash flow probably be aimed at shareholder capital return?

倒不是說你還沒賺到錢就花掉了，但你能跟我說說你2026年的現金優先事項嗎？是否有一些你尚未完成的項目，是你最想優先考慮的，並且你想把債務降低到一定水平？或者，這些自由現金流中的更多部分可能會用於股東資本回報？

Jeff, I appreciate the question. As you can probably imagine, we're working through our plans for next year as we speak. We'll give you an update certainly on that as we move along here. But just stepping back, I think the good news is we don't have any major construction projects that are planned for next year with the Howard Street and the Blue Ridge complete there's nothing anywhere close to that scale that's on the horizon for us in 2026. So we will continue to maintain capital discipline focused that capital on safety and reliability and then look for projects that help drive strong returns and support the growth that we're looking to deliver.

傑夫，感謝你的提問。正如你可能想像的那樣，我們現在正在製定明年的計劃。我們會隨時向您報告最新進展。但退一步講，我認為好消息是，明年我們沒有任何大型建設項目計劃。隨著霍華德街和藍嶺的完工，2026 年我們也不會有任何接近如此規模的項目。因此，我們將繼續保持資本紀律，將資本集中用於安全性和可靠性，然後尋找能夠帶來強勁回報並支持我們所期望實現的成長的項目。

So it will be more of the same on that without the significant spend on those big projects. And then after that, we've been fairly consistent in our approach here, strategic and opportunistic use of cash flow to lean in when it's possible on share repurchases, and we've looked on an annual basis at the dividend and raised it modestly for 20-plus years. So you'll see more of the same from that, I think, from our perspective.

因此，在沒有大量資金投入那些大型專案的情況下，情況還會和以前大不相同。此後，我們一直採取相當一致的做法，即策略性地、機會性地利用現金流，在條件允許的情況下加大股票回購力度，並且我們每年都會審視股息，並在過去的 20 多年裡適度提高股息。所以我認為，從我們的角度來看，你會看到更多類似的情況。

David Vernon, Bernstein.

大衛‧佛農，伯恩斯坦。

So Steve, I wanted to ask you and maybe in the broader team, a bigger picture question around the industrial logic on end-to-end railroad mergers. How do you view that? And do you think it's possible to recreate those economics through partnership arrangements like you guys have been doing with the airline deals with BN and CN?

所以史蒂夫，我想問你，或許也可以問更廣泛的團隊，一個關於鐵路端到端合併的產業邏輯的更宏觀的問題。你對此有何看法？你認為有可能透過像你們與 BN 和 CN 這樣的航空公司合作安排來重現這些經濟模式嗎？

One of the other passions that come out and obviously said they're not very interested in the merger and they're asking customers to object. I'm trying to get a sense for kind of where you shake out on the topic of whether or not the end-to-end railroad merger is actually a good thing to pursue.

另一些人則明確表示他們對合併不太感興趣，並呼籲顧客反對。我想了解一下，對於「鐵路全面合併是否真的是一件值得追求的事情」這個問題，你的看法是什麼。

So the way I think about it is, and I was reading your entire question here is that we have -- the whole focus is really performing well as a stand-alone company. And then we talked about some of these opportunities. We've talked about it several times through the course of this that I think are very interesting to us, see a good bit of potential and provided economics are favorable. We'll continue to pursue that.

所以我的想法是，而且我仔細閱讀了你的整個問題，我們——我們所有的重點都是作為一家獨立公司真正取得好成績。然後我們討論了一些機會。我們已經多次討論過這個問題，我認為它對我們來說非常有趣，我們看到了很大的潛力，前提是經濟條件有利。我們將繼續努力。

So I think that's how we'll drive shareholder value. Now if there's a better path to drive shareholder value, downstream, we'll certainly pursue that. But it's kind of hard to really say, standing here today, how all this is going to shake out because there's a lot of it that hasn't been determined yet.

所以我認為這就是我們提升股東價值的方式。如果下游有更好的方法來提升股東價值，我們當然會去追求。但今天站在這裡，很難說這一切最終會如何發展，因為還有很多事情尚未確定。

There is a very rigorous approval process that two parties are going to have to go through. And when I read the language of the evaluation criteria from the STB, it's pretty onerous. So I think there's a lot -- I think it's really too early to address some of which you've got up there. But I can say right now, we can improve the performance of the base business, capitalize on the opportunities in front of us, and if there's a better path to shareholder value that presents itself later on, we will 100% pursue that.

雙方都需要經過非常嚴格的審批程序。當我閱讀STB的評估標準時，感覺要求相當苛刻。所以我覺得有很多問題——我覺得現在討論你上面提到的一些問題還為時過早。但我現在可以肯定地說，我們可以改善基礎業務的業績，抓住眼前的機會，如果以後出現更好的提升股東價值的途徑，我們一定會百分之百地去追求。

Bascome Majors, Susquehanna.

巴斯科姆少校，薩斯奎哈納。

Steve, when you think about your philosophy on incentivizing your team, what do you think the right annual and long-term incentive structures are for senior management, the railroad industry and really CSX specifically?

史蒂夫，當你思考如何激勵你的團隊時，你認為對於高階管理層、鐵路行業以及CSX公司而言，合適的年度和長期激勵機制是什麼？

Well, I think if you go back to my earlier comments, obviously, profitability, operating margins, I mentioned that. I think if you -- I think growth is important to this industry. And if you're able to get the right kind of volume, the right kind of growth, there's tremendous leverage down the P&L statement. Those are metrics that matter. An industry like this, you always have to have safety.

嗯，我想如果你回顧我之前的評論，很明顯，盈利能力、營業利潤率，我都提到了。我認為——我認為成長對這個行業很重要。如果你能夠獲得合適的銷售量和合適的成長，那麼在損益表上就會產生巨大的槓桿作用。這些都是重要的指標。在這個行業，安全永遠是第一位的。

I don't think you should ever take that for granted. I think calling that out and having 1,000 or so people, at least from a management level compensated based on safety performance is a very important metric. Customer service has not been the hallmark of this industry historically. So therefore, having -- calling that out as a metric that's important I think is a good idea, and that's what we have here today. I think long term because this is a capital-intensive industry, a return on capital metric makes the most sense to me.

我認為你永遠不應該把這一切視為理所當然。我認為，明確指出這一點，並至少從管理層開始，對大約 1000 名員工進行基於安全績效的薪酬調整，是一個非常重要的衡量標準。從歷史上看，客戶服務並非該行業的標誌。所以，我認為把這一點當作一個重要的指標來討論是個好主意，而這正是我們今天在這裡所做的。我認為從長遠來看，因為這是一個資本密集產業，資本回報率指標對我來說最有意義。

That's what I'm familiar with, and that's what we utilized in my past life, and I used to say that return on capital is the truth serum. It kind of encapsulates all the decisions you've made in the past plus the decisions you're making going forward and how well -- and what kind of returns you're earning on your capital base. So I, for one, like return on capital for an industry like this.

我熟悉的就是這個，我以前也用過這個方法，我常說資本報酬率是吐真劑。它概括了你過去所做的所有決定，以及你將來要做出的決定，以及這些決定做得如何——以及你的資本基礎獲得了什麼樣的回報。所以，就我個人而言，我喜歡這類產業的資本報酬率。

This concludes today's question-and-answer session as well. This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

今天的問答環節到此結束。今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線了。