When most executives talk about "understanding the business from the ground up," it's often metaphorical. For Claude Edward Elkins Jr, it's literally true. His journey from working as a brakeman on railroad tracks to becoming Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Norfolk Southern Corporation represents one of the most compelling leadership stories in American corporate history. His career demonstrates that authentic leadership isn't just about degrees and connections it's about dedication, learning, and never forgetting where you started.
Early Life and Education
Claude Edward Elkins Jr's formative years laid the groundwork for a career defined by hard work and perseverance. Growing up in a period when the American railroad industry was undergoing significant transformation, Elkins developed an early appreciation for the transportation sector's vital role in the national economy.
His educational background combined practical learning with formal business acumen. Rather than following a conventional path straight from university to executive offices, Elkins chose a route that would give him unparalleled insight into every aspect of railroad operations. This decision would prove instrumental in shaping his leadership philosophy and strategic thinking throughout his career.
The values instilled during his early years integrity, commitment to excellence, and respect for frontline workers would become hallmarks of his management style decades later.
Starting from the Ground Up
In an era when most C-suite executives begin their careers with MBA programs and management trainee positions, Claude Edward Elkins Jr took a drastically different approach. He started his Norfolk Southern career as a brakeman, one of the most physically demanding and operationally critical roles in railroad operations.
As a brakeman, Elkins worked directly on trains, responsible for coupling and uncoupling cars, inspecting equipment, and ensuring safe operations. This wasn't a symbolic gesture or a brief rotation it was genuine frontline work that exposed him to the realities of railroad operations, safety challenges, weather conditions, and the daily concerns of the workforce.
This hands-on experience provided Elkins with something no executive training program could offer: credibility. When he later made strategic decisions affecting operations, he understood the practical implications because he had lived them. He knew the challenges faced by crews, the importance of equipment maintenance, and the operational complexities that affect service reliability.
Career Growth and Key Milestones
Claude Edward Elkins Jr's ascent through Norfolk Southern's ranks represents a methodical progression built on performance and deepening expertise:
Early Operations Roles (1980s-1990s): After his time as a brakeman, Elkins moved into various operational supervisory positions, where he demonstrated leadership capabilities and operational excellence.
Commercial Development (Late 1990s-2000s): Recognizing his potential beyond operations, Norfolk Southern moved Elkins into commercial roles where he could apply his operational knowledge to customer-facing strategies and business development.
Senior Leadership (2000s-2010s): Elkins progressed through increasingly senior commercial positions, including Vice President roles overseeing specific market segments and customer groups.
Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer: In this role, Elkins oversees Norfolk Southern's entire commercial organization, including intermodal, merchandise, and automotive business units representing billions in annual revenue.
Each promotion reflected not just tenure but demonstrated value creation and strategic leadership.
Role as EVP & Chief Commercial Officer
As Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Claude Edward Elkins Jr holds one of the most strategically important positions at Norfolk Southern. His responsibilities encompass the entire commercial organization, making him directly accountable for revenue generation, customer relationships, and market strategy.
His role oversees three critical business divisions. The intermodal division handles container and trailer traffic, representing one of the fastest-growing segments in rail transportation. The merchandise division manages diverse freight including chemicals, agriculture, metals, and construction materials. The automotive division serves automobile manufacturers and parts suppliers, requiring precise logistics coordination.
In this capacity, Elkins develops pricing strategies, negotiates major customer contracts, identifies growth opportunities, and ensures service quality meets customer expectations. His operational background proves invaluable when aligning commercial commitments with operational capabilities—a balance many railroads struggle to achieve.
Leadership Philosophy and Management Style
Claude Edward Elkins Jr's leadership approach distinguishes him from typical corporate executives. His philosophy centers on several core principles that reflect his unique career trajectory.
First, he maintains genuine respect for frontline employees. Having worked those jobs himself, Elkins understands the challenges, risks, and skills required at every operational level. This creates authentic connections with the workforce that pure management-track executives rarely achieve.
Second, his decision-making balances commercial ambition with operational reality. He doesn't make promises to customers that operations cannot deliver, nor does he impose operational constraints that unnecessarily limit commercial opportunities. This balance comes from understanding both sides of the business intimately.
Third, Elkins emphasizes long-term customer relationships over short-term transactions. In an industry where service reliability determines customer loyalty, he recognizes that sustainable business growth requires consistent performance, not just competitive pricing.
His management style is characterized by accessibility, straight talk, and accountability. Leaders who've worked with Elkins describe him as someone who listens carefully, asks probing questions, and makes decisions decisively once he has sufficient information.
Business Impact at Norfolk Southern
Under Claude Edward Elkins Jr's commercial leadership, Norfolk Southern has achieved significant business development milestones and strengthened its competitive position in key markets.
His strategic initiatives have focused on several areas. In intermodal services, he has pushed for improved service consistency and transit times, recognizing that intermodal growth depends on competing effectively with trucking. In the merchandise sector, he has emphasized customized solutions for industrial customers, understanding that different commodities require different service approaches. For automotive customers, he has prioritized precision and reliability, knowing that production schedules leave no room for transportation delays.
Elkins has also championed technology adoption in commercial processes, implementing systems that give customers better visibility into shipment status and improve communication between commercial and operational teams.
Perhaps most significantly, his leadership has helped Norfolk Southern navigate periods of industry volatility, maintaining customer relationships during challenging economic conditions and positioning the company for growth when markets recover.
Industry Influence and Board Memberships
Beyond his responsibilities at Norfolk Southern, Claude Edward Elkins Jr has contributed to the broader transportation and logistics industry through various external roles and associations.
His participation in industry organizations has allowed him to advocate for policies supporting rail transportation's growth and sustainability. As someone who understands both the operational and commercial sides of railroading, his perspectives carry weight in industry discussions about regulation, infrastructure investment, and competitive dynamics.
Elkins has also served in advisory capacities that allow him to share insights from his unique career journey, helping shape thinking about leadership development, operational excellence, and customer service in capital-intensive industries.
Lessons from Claude Edward Elkins Jr's Career
Claude Edward Elkins Jr's professional journey offers valuable lessons for aspiring leaders and executives at any career stage:
Deep knowledge creates credibility: His willingness to start at the bottom gave him knowledge that became a competitive advantage in leadership. Understanding your business's fundamentals truly understanding them creates authority that cannot be faked.
Patience builds careers: Elkins didn't rush to the executive suite. He spent time in each role, mastering its challenges before moving forward. This patience created a foundation that supports his current responsibilities.
Respect is earned, not commanded: His respect for frontline employees comes from having been one. This creates loyalty and engagement that positional authority alone cannot achieve.
Balance competing priorities: His ability to balance commercial ambition with operational reality reflects understanding both perspectives deeply. Leaders often favor one dimension over another; great leaders integrate them.
Character matters: Throughout his career, Elkins has maintained a reputation for integrity and straight dealing. In business, reputation compounds over time protecting it is a strategic decision.
Challenges and Strategic Decisions
Claude Edward Elkins Jr's career has spanned periods of significant industry challenge and transformation. The railroad industry has faced regulatory changes, economic recessions, competitive pressures from trucking, and technological disruption.
One consistent challenge has been balancing service levels with operational efficiency. Railroads operate as networks where individual decisions create system-wide effects. Elkins has had to make difficult choices about which markets to prioritize, how to price services that reflect true costs, and when to invest in capacity versus maximizing returns on existing assets.
Another ongoing challenge involves managing customer expectations in an industry with physical and operational constraints that limit flexibility. Unlike trucking, railroads cannot simply add capacity quickly or route around problems easily. Elkins has navigated these limitations by setting realistic expectations and then consistently meeting them a more sustainable approach than overpromising and underdelivering.
His strategic decisions have consistently reflected long-term thinking over short-term opportunism, a approach that has served both Norfolk Southern and its customers well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Claude Edward Elkins Jr?
Claude Edward Elkins Jr is the Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Norfolk Southern Corporation, one of North America's major freight railroads. He oversees all commercial operations including intermodal, merchandise, and automotive business segments.
How did Claude Elkins rise from brakeman to executive?
Elkins began his career as a brakeman at Norfolk Southern, performing frontline railroad operations. Through demonstrated performance, leadership ability, and deepening expertise, he progressed through operational and commercial roles over several decades, eventually reaching executive leadership. His advancement reflects merit-based promotion and long-term commitment to the organization.
What is his role at Norfolk Southern?
As Chief Commercial Officer, Elkins leads Norfolk Southern's revenue-generating organization. He is responsible for customer relationships, pricing strategy, market development, and ensuring commercial objectives align with operational capabilities across all business segments.
Why is Claude Elkins considered an influential leader?
Elkins is respected for his unique career path that gave him genuine understanding of railroad operations from the ground up. His leadership combines operational credibility with commercial acumen, creating balanced decision-making that serves both customers and the company effectively. His journey from brakeman to C-suite executive represents authentic leadership development.
Conclusion
Claude Edward Elkins Jr's career stands as a testament to the power of dedication, continuous learning, and authentic leadership. In an era when many executives follow predictable paths through prestigious schools and consulting firms, his journey from brakeman to Chief Commercial Officer represents something increasingly rare: leadership built on genuine expertise and hard-won credibility.
His impact at Norfolk Southern extends beyond commercial results. He has demonstrated that respecting frontline workers isn't just good culture—it's good strategy. He has shown that patient career development creates deeper capabilities than rapid advancement. And he has proven that understanding your business fundamentally, not superficially, creates sustainable competitive advantage.
For professionals at any career stage, Elkins' story offers encouragement and direction. Success doesn't require starting at the top or following conventional paths. It requires commitment to excellence, willingness to learn continuously, and integrity in all dealings. These timeless principles, embodied throughout Claude Edward Elkins Jr's distinguished career, remain as relevant today as ever for those aspiring to meaningful leadership impact.