Rising Stars 2024: Cory De Kruyf

Cory De Kruyf, 33
Leasing manager
The Greenbrier Cos.

Nominator’s quote: “Cory fosters collaboration and progress with a dedication to creating a more efficient and sustainable future for Greenbrier and, in turn, the rail industry as a whole. Cory has accomplished more at his age than many people over many years, and Greenbrier is fortunate to have him on board.” — Jack Isselmann, The Greenbrier Cos.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in finance and MBA with a focus on data analytics, Oregon State University.

Job responsibilities: As leasing manager, primarily works on Greenbrier’s existing car portfolio including renewals, reassignments, lease returns and secondary market acquisitions and fleet sales.

Career path: I started as a fleet coordinator at Greenbrier, handling the logistics and storage of our existing car fleet. I then moved to our leasing team as an analyst, and most recently as our leasing manager.

How did you end up in the rail industry? I more or less fell into the industry. I was finishing up an internship where my work location overlooked the rail yard in Portland, Oregon. One of my coworkers previously worked at Greenbrier and suggested I look for my next role there. He talked highly of the company and the industry, and I have been here ever since.

What’s the best advice that you’ve received in your career? Embrace a curious mindset to understand fully the problems those around you are facing.

What advice would you give someone just starting out in a rail career? Ask questions, there is a lot of knowledge out there and people are very open to share about their jobs and experiences in the industry.

What was your first job? I worked in a family business installing glass, windows and mirrors.

Share a fun fact about yourself. I really enjoy fishing and was able to do my dream trip to Alaska a few years ago for halibut and salmon. It is one of the things I look forward to sharing with my two kids as they get old enough.

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be? Nate Bargatze. From his standup, to the Nateland podcast, his style of humor and joke delivery would make for a very entertaining dinner.

Who has had the most influence on your career? I have been very blessed to have a lot of different people, both inside and outside of work, influence and guide my career. First, my wife and kids are my drivers each day to do my best. Second, I have had great managers at Greenbrier who have taught me the ins and outs of leasing, logistics and about the rail industry in general. I would not be where I am today without the patience and encouragement of the leaders here.

Describe a major obstacle in your career and how you surmounted it. Early on in my career, I was managing a project where we were scrapping over 450 rail cars that were spread out in storage yards across the nation. I had to set up agreements with more than 10 short lines to get the cars we bought out of storage, coordinate with mobile crews to get the cars repaired and safe to move, and then work with the railroads to deliver them to the scrappers.

It really taught me the power of building strong relationships across this industry to complete this task and the need for great team members to support a project.

What is the biggest challenge facing the rail industry today??One of the big challenges is the rollout and modernization of rail through telematics. With the number of railcars out there and even more miles to equip, this is a big lift by all the industry to apply new technologies. Its great to see the industry pull together to tackle this task through ventures like Railpulse to outfit and modernize the industry.