Norfolk Southern Performance Excellence, with Vice President Transportation Joe Gioe

As Norfolk Southern Vice President Transportation, Joe Gioe is
responsible for leading a culture of safe, predictable and
consistent service by empowering transportation team members to
meet the needs of NS customers. He also leads the Performance
Excellence (PE) group, which is responsible for establishing
operating processes and measuring performance. The group partners
closely with Operations leaders and their teams, including
Transportation, Advanced Train Control, Engineering and Safety.
PE’s mission is standardizing NS’s needs to achieve its performance
mission. The PE team does this through standardizing process. At
the ballast line, the PE team works to integrate processes,
regardless of craft, from multiple disciplines so NS can provide
the best service and grow. PE is housed in the Operations
department but touches many different teams throughout NS. The team
is focused on safety first, followed by supporting operational
excellence. The team cascades best practices throughout the network
to increase information delivery speed. PE also provides daily
tactical support to departments throughout Operations. The team is
working on standardizing best practices and getting standard
operating procedures embedded throughout Operations, laying the
bedrock for safety. The team is also focused on enhancing and
refining technology to deliver reliable, resilient service. PE’s
long-term goal are to position Norfolk Southern as the leader in
continuous improvement, to standardize and then optimize, to be a
constant learning organization, and to be proactive with adapting.
Appointed Vice President Transportation in 2023, Joe Gioe has 19
years of experience in the rail industry. He joined Norfolk
Southern in 2021 as Assistant Vice President Network Optimization.
Previously, he was at BNSF Railway, where he held roles of
increasing responsibility in Transportation and Service Design. A
third-generation railroader whose family roots go back to the
Central Railroad of New Jersey and Conrail, Gioe began his career
as a conductor and locomotive engineer. He earned a Bachelor of
Applied Science from Colorado State University Global.