Rail supplier news from the NRC, Harsco, Wabtec, TransRail, HNTB, CloudMoyo and NFI (Feb. 13)

The National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association (NRC) and Chambers, Conlon & Hartwell LLC (CCH) today announced Matt Bell will lead the NRC. An associate at CCH, he most recently was the association's executive vice president and chief operating officer. From April 2015 to February 2018, Bell served as the NRC's VP of operations. In affiliation with Don Norden, CCH's senior partner, Bell will continue to manage NRC staff members Chana Elgin and Mike McGonagle, and represent the association. CCH plans to continue its long-standing relationship with the NRC. "We look forward to continuing our association's successes with our new staff leadership team," said NRC Chairman Mike Choat in a press release.

Harsco Corp. has appointed Cope Willis to the newly created position of vice president-sustainability and environmental solutions. He reports to Harsco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Nick Grasberger. Willis is responsible for driving Harsco's environmental and corporate sustainability initiatives, and will lead efforts to integrate and embed sustainability throughout the company. He will serve as an adviser, subject matter expert and key influencer in business development efforts, Harsco officials said in a press release. Willis most recently was director of sustainability services at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Wabtec Corp. yesterday announced Chief Operating Officer Stephane Rambaud-Measson resigned to pursue other interests. He also had served as a board member. Rambaud-Measson was president and chief executive officer of Faiveley Transport when Wabtec acquired it in 2016. During his tenure there, he helped develop Faiveley into a global transit technology and market leader, Wabtec officials said in a press release. "Since [the] acquisition, Stephane has played an important role in the successful integration and growth of our transit business. We thank him for his valuable contributions … and wish him well in his future endeavors," said Wabtec Executive Chairman Albert Neupaver.

TransRail Innovation Group will receive CA$1.85 million from the Canadian government to develop an electronic sensor to measure the volume of a commodity inside a tank car. The device would help eliminate workers' exposure to hazardous vapors and reduce the risk of spills while tank cars are filled. Part of nearly CA$13 million distributed through Sustainable Development Technology Canada, the funds will enable TransRail to commercialize its technology for the global market, said Rob Tasker, the company's president and chief executive officer, in a press release. "[We are] introducing Internet of Things technology to the rail industry. Our technology makes crude by rail safer, more efficient and more environmentally friendly," he said.

HNTB Corp. has named Cheryle Tyson a national transit/rail consultant. She will be based in the firm's Plano, Texas, office, and be charged with growing the company’s transit business and providing strategic advice to clients nationwide. Tyson has more than 30 years of design, project and program management experience, and spent the previous 22 years with the Federal Transit Administration Region 6 in Fort Worth, Texas, as a regional engineer. There, her responsibilities included engineering review of grants, grant management, and oversight of numerous complex projects and capital investment grant projects.

CloudMoyo has appointed Sanjay Rajashekar president of services and solutions; Rajeev Kak, vice president of marketing and pre-sales; and Maria Berardo, senior director of human resources and operations. Rajashekar previously held various senior positions at Microsoft, Infosys and Teleca. Kak has extensive enterprise marketing leadership experience, while Berardo is a former Microsoft leader with previous experience at Amazon AWS and Kaiser Permanente. A Seattle-based software firm, CloudMoyo is noting rapid industry adoption of its software-as-a-service transportation management solutions targeted at freight and passenger railroads, company officials said in a press release. The firm’s customers include Kansas City Southern.

Supply chain services provider NFI has acquired SCR, an intermodal-focused brokerage company. Based in Seattle, SCR specializes in non-asset truckload, less than truckload (LTL), intermodal, air freight and flatbed services, and is active in the food and grocery sector. NFI has more than 40,000 partner carriers and moves more than 300,000 shipments annually, including intermodal, dry truckload, LTL, refrigerated, flatbed and over-dimensional loads. "SCR will expand [our] intermodal solutions, particularly within the refrigerated sector, and increase our presence in the Pacific Northwest," said NFI Chief Executive Officer Sid Brown in a press release.