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The New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Co. (NOPB) has signed an agreement to use GE Transportation's software applications for railroad transportation management and rail-car repair and maintenance functions. Under the agreement, GE's Optimization Solutions will provide RailConnect® Transportation Management System to support NOPB's daily rail operations, increase automation and drive productivity, according to a press release. GE's RailConnect Car Hire System will manage accounting payables to automate car hiring processing. NOPB also will use ExpressYard® software to manage car repair and maintenance.

American Railcar Industries Inc.'s (ARI) fourth-quarter net income rose to $24.4 million, or $1.14 per share, from $5 million, or 24 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Total revenue increased to $207.7 million from $196.8 million, while earnings from operations soared to $41.3 million from $14.5 million in the previous year. Shipments of tank cars remained strong during the quarter, and the company received orders for 1,430 cars, resulting in a backlog of 7,060 cars, said President and Chief ExecutiveOfficer James Cowan in a press release. For the 12-month period, net income soared to $63.8 million, or $2.99 per share, from $4.3 million, or 20 cents per share in 2011. Total revenue climbed to $711.7 million from $519.4 million and earnings from operations grew to $121.4 million from $32.7 million. In 2012, ARI shipped 7,880 cars, including 2,100 to leasing customers, which was 51 percent higher than in 2011.

Gulf Intermodal Services (GIS) recently promoted the following: Linda Johnson, to regional vice president for the New Orleans office; Jim Gillis, to regional VP for the Houston office; and Saul Ramirez, to safety and recruiting supervisor for the Houston office. Prior to their promotions, Johnson held various roles, including director of sales/customer care and regional director; Gillis served various roles in the intermodal industry, most recently as regional manager of GIS; and Ramirez was operations manager/integrated accounts for IKON North America and transportation manager for Gulf Coast Presort.

Moffatt & Nichol received an "Engineering Excellence Honors" award in the transportation category from the American Council of Engineering Companies of North Carolina for the Capital Yard Maintenance Facility-Phase I project in Raleigh, N.C. The firm was the lead engineer for various facility improvements to support three daily routes through central North Carolina and an additional round trip service between Raleigh and Charlotte.

Parsons Brinckerhoff has appointed Lane Fernandes a senior principal technical specialist in the San Diego office, where he will provide operations and service planning support for commuter and light-rail programs. Fernandes served 17 years at the North County Transit District, most recently as chief operations officer. Parsons Brinckerhoff also named Brett Wallace a senior supervising planner in the Charlotte, N.C., office, where he will serve as a transit practice lead. He is a transit planner/engineer with broad multi-modal transportation experience. Prior to joining the firm, he worked at other national consulting firms for 15 years.

Auto Truck Group named Lisa Morales regional fleet sales manager. In her new role, she will be responsible for selling specialized truck equipment and uplifting services to existing and prospective customers in the Northeast region. She most recently served as parts manager with Peterbilt of Baltimore. Auto Truck Group also named Sean Otterberg special project manager. He will play a key role in the ongoing development of Auto Truck's specialized applications sector and other initiatives, according to a press release. Otterberg has more than 15 years of experience and spent the past nine years with Leggett & Platt Commercial Vehicle Products in various roles.