Changing industries, Ford Motor Co. vet to become CEO of Jacksonville rail giant CSX Corp.

A veteran Ford Motor Co. executive will become the next CEO of Jacksonville-based railroad giant CSX Corp., replacing retiring executive James M. Foote late this month, the company said Thursday.

Joseph R. Hinrichs will start his tenure Sept. 26, two years after he abruptly resigned as president of Ford’s automotive division following nearly 20 years at the company.

“Leadership is all about service. We are ready to serve!” Hinrichs wrote when he announced his new position on LinkedIn. “I can’t wait to get out in the field and see our rail operations and great people!”

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Learning about those people and their jobs will be essential, but it’s rare for an executive to become CEO of a major railroad without experience in that industry.

“That’s almost unknown. We’re all kind of scratching our heads,” said Terry Allen, who teaches logistics at the University of North Florida following a 32-year CSX career that started as a brakeman.

Allen said he’s optimistic about Hinrichs because the executive’s career reflects an engineering background whose “nuts-and-bolts” approach will help him absorb the workings of an unfamiliar industry.

Hinrichs will take over as CEO Sept. 26, but Foote, who had been CEO since 2017 will remain as an advisor through the end of March to help with the leadership transition, CSX said.

“This appointment is the result of a long and deliberate process, in which we identified the strongest candidate to lead CSX through its next phase of growth and transformation,” CSX Chairman John J. Zillmer said in a release about the transition. “… The Board believes that Joe is a seasoned leader with the relevant experience to lead CSX forward with our full support.”

Joseph Hinrichs' climb at Ford Motor Co.

Hinrichs, 56, was an electrical engineer who became a plant manager at both General Motors and Ford facilities before further climbing Ford’s corporate ranks.

During his years with Ford, he was quoted as stressing the importance of coordinating work by employees throughout the company.

"This is like a big orchestra and everybody has to come together to make the music beautiful," Hinrichs once told the Detroit Free Press during a tour of a truck plant in Kentucky. "This is not an easy environment. The whole blue-collar, white-collar thing we do? It's wrong. We rely on these people to solve our problems all day long."

In the CSX release, Foote praised Hinrichs’ background of “operational excellence,” saying he “enabled Ford to execute world-class manufacturing on a global scale. … In addition to leading complex businesses over his 30-year career, he has proven that he understands how to prioritize safety and efficiency in an industry with dynamics that are similar to those we are navigating today in rail.”

In the company’s release, Hinrichs pledged to continue the direction CSX leaders were already pursuing.

“My focus on day one will be to continue to execute on the strategy the team has identified: leveraging CSX’s proven operating model as a leader in the railroad industry, to drive growth through innovation, harness transformative technology and build a one-team workforce,” he said.

CSX has had executives from other industries flourish there before.

In 2003, Oscar Munoz became the company’s chief financial officer after holding a similar position at AT&T Consumer Services, and 12 years later he became president. He left a few months later to take the top position at United Airlines.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Ex-Ford Motor Co. president named new CEO for Jacksonville's CSX Corp.