Rising Stars 2024: Andrew Davis

Andrew Davis, 38
President
DavRail Inc.

Nominator’s quote: “By delivering innovative solutions at a fair price to countries around the globe, Andrew is set to change the world, one railway at a time.” — Jesus Lopez, DavMarketing Solutions

Education: Army basic training and advanced infantry training; Army Airborne School (paratrooper); Machine Gun Leaders School; Radio Operator Training Academy; Close Quarters Combat Training Academy; Advanced Rifleman Training Academy; Master Breacher School; Naval Special Warfare Sniper Emplacement and Deployment Program; aerospace engineering, spaceflight and spacecraft design, University of Texas at Austin

Job responsibilities: Manage the development and establishment of all facets of this division of our parent company DavOil Inc. Assembled a team to build DavRail programs for real estate, insurance, accounting, treasury, safety, operations, shipping and legal, both domestic and international.

Career path: In my 20s I was an airborne infantryman in the U.S. Army, where, among other things, I deployed to Wardak Province, Afghanistan, with the 173rd Parachute Infantry Regiment as a part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

After the Army, I was lucky enough to work in various roles across the railroad. I spent time on a regional track/spike MOW gang; I apprenticed as a road master and track inspector, certified as a conductor and apprenticed in a locomotive mechanical and maintenance shop.

After graduating college, I was even luckier to have transitioned into the contracts department of the Fort Worth & Western Railroad (FWWR), then laterally into the cybersecurity department. My last job before starting DavRail, was as the government affairs liaison for the FWWR.

The transition to DavRail began when we identified a niche in the MOW market that we felt we could fill based off of our historical experience as a company at large.

Why did you get into the rail industry? Being a railroader has been a romantic notion for me since before I was able to grasp, truly, what that meant. Railroaders, and railroads, have forged our nation into what it is today, and being able to tell someone that that’s what I do is a powerful motivator.

When my wife and I decided that it was time for me to leave the Army, I needed a job. And being a sniper section sergeant doesn’t particularly have a lot of civilian carry-over. I was able to strike a sweetheart deal with the FWWR where I would be able to intern in the various operational departments, and a full-time position was then contingent on my graduating with a degree in aerospace engineering and astrodynamics.

What’s the best advice that you’ve received in your career? Integrity above profit.

What advice would you share with someone just starting a career in rail? Never lie, work hard, be on time and in the right uniform. This tends to be universally appropriate, but the railroading culture is particularly attuned to these simple truths.

What was your very first job? I worked at a Barnes & Noble bookstore.

Share a fun fact about yourself. I worked for a time on developing a nuclear-powered artillery gun for the Moon.

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be and why? Medal of Honor recipient Earl Plumlee. Medal of Honor awardees are real life superheroes and meeting that man would be a real treat.

Who has had the most influence on your career? My grandfather encouraged me to both join the military and pursue a career in railroading. He is at once intimidating and inspiring, and capable of motivating men and women to seek greatness. He aims to change the world, and what better example is there to follow than that?

Describe a major obstacle in your career and how you surmounted it. Getting an engineering degree was a prerequisite to my continued employment at the FWWR, [and] it’s far and away the most difficult hurdle I’ve had. Getting a technically challenging degree after the Army was no small feat, considering that in the beginning I had to take my shoes off and use my toes if I wanted to count past 10.

What is the biggest challenge facing the rail industry today? Hiring is a big concern. Entry level jobs in railroading are physically and mentally demanding. This clashes with a general trend in America toward post-COVID expectations of remote work and flexible schedules.

Without the shared dream of what railroading represents, a foundational element of our daily lives, it can be hard to find folks who are still willing to take that leap into what we all consider to be a fantastic industry.