From the editor: Jefferies to succeed Hamberger at AAR

By Pat Foran, Editor

Last month, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) named Ian Jefferies to serve as the organization’s next president and chief executive officer. Currently AAR’s senior vice president of government affairs, he will take the reins Jan. 1, following the retirement of current President and CEO Ed Hamberger.

“For years, we have known that Ian understands both the policy and priorities of the rail industry, and he has been a proven advocate for our issues,” said AAR Chairman Jim Squires, who is Norfolk Southern Corp.’s chairman, president and CEO, in a Sept. 18 press release. “Ian will extend a legacy of vision, leadership and energy to write an exciting new chapter for the AAR while ensuring that it remains a clear and trusted voice in Washington.”

Jefferies has helped amplify that voice and sharpen the messaging since signing on with AAR in 2013, association officials said. Leading the industry’s advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C., he has worked on a bipartisan basis to build consensus and broad coalitions in support of railroads’ policy priorities before Congress and the administration, AAR officials said.

As head of AAR’s government relations department, Jefferies helped secure significant legislative victories, including managing advocacy surrounding the Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act of 2015, securing tank-car safety enhancements in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act and defeating multiple efforts to increase truck size and weight limits.

Prior to joining the association, Jefferies worked for more than a decade in government, including as a senior policy adviser to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. He also worked for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Government Accountability Office before working on Capitol Hill.

“I am honored to work for a bedrock industry that delivers every day for the economy, and I appreciate the confidence placed in me to guide the AAR as we work to build an even stronger future for rail,” Jefferies said.

He already has earned his AAR colleagues’ confidence, and trust: Word that Jefferies would be the next president and CEO “was very well received here,” Hamberger told me during a Sept. 18 interview at AAR headquarters in D.C. “On a personal level, I’m really pleased. Ian’s going to do a great job.”

Continuity, too, is key at this rail moment in time, I think. And speaking of great jobs and honoring same: Next month, we’ll present Hamberger with our Railroad Innovator Award, which recognizes an individual’s outstanding achievement in the rail industry.

We’ll honor Ed at RailTrends 2018, which will be held Nov. 29-30 in New York City. I’ll also wax a bit about Ed — his life, his rail career, his many contributions — in a story that’ll appear in our November issue.