Norfolk Southern announces two marketing leadership roles

Norfolk Southern Corporation today announced the addition of two vice president positions within its Marketing division. Beginning April 2, Yannik Thomas will serve as Vice President Intermodal and Automotive Operations, while Stefan Loeb will assume the role of Vice President First and Final Mile Markets.

"At Norfolk Southern, our goal is to safely deliver profitable and industry-leading growth as a customer-centric, operations-driven service organization," said Chief Marketing Officer Ed Elkins. "With that growth in mind, I'm pleased to welcome these two proven leaders to our talented team."

Thomas and Loeb will report to Elkins, joining the company's current Marketing leadership alongside Vice President Industrial Products Leggett Kitchin, Vice President Intermodal and Automotive Marketing Shawn Tureman, and Vice President Business Development and Real Estate Kathleen Smith.

"They each bring unique and valuable skillsets to an outstanding group," Elkins added. "By adding their growth-oriented leadership, we can fully leverage the great work happening across our Intermodal and Automotive and Industrial Products franchises to grow business even further. Together, we'll safely and reliably execute our ambitious intermodal strategy, capturing a greater market share of flexible freight, and innovate first- and last-mile solutions that expand our service beyond the railhead."

Thomas will move to the position from within the company, previously serving as Norfolk Southern's Assistant Vice President Financial Planning and Analysis since 2020. The focus of his new role will be delivering a high-quality customer experience, efficient and proactive management of terminal and equipment services, development and implementation of system design engineering solutions and alignment with enterprise commercial and operating strategies.

Loeb comes to Norfolk Southern from Watco — a single-source transportation and supply chain services company owning and operating a diverse network of short line railroads, terminals, and ports — where he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. His new role prioritizes innovation around first- and final-mile products and processes key to short and long-term development.