Tim Befort Email & Phone Number

Overland Park, Kansas, United States

Working to implement industry-changing technology within the rail industry through telematics.

Overland Park, Kansas, United States

WATCO is one of the largest short line railroad holding companies in the U.S. with 62 short line and industrial contract switching railroads operating on more than 6000 miles of track. The Terminal and Port Services division currently manages more than 76 terminals providing storage, transloading, stevedoring and transloading services. • Led team of 6 transportation professionals to achieve pricing increases 22.2% above industry benchmark indices generating $27M in incremental revenue. Productivity increased 25% while lowering department cost 16%.• Created and implemented Cost & Profitability system within the rail division to establish company-wide profitability measures and trends on a customer, railroad, equipment type, and operating lane basis• Implemented OpenText contract renewal process for the Terminal and Port Services division identifying and communicating escalation dates and key terms across 2762 contracts, generating incremental profitability of $1.8M through expedited rate escalation improvement.• Worked with Sales & Operations on rail profitability studies to address business development, operational routing proposals, underperforming accounts and areas for cost improvement.• Implemented measurement and reporting tools identifying rail storage product availability which generated an incremental $13.4M during the Covid pandemic.

Greater Chicago Area

Great Lakes Basin Transportation, Inc. is a company dedicated to improving reliability, capacity, velocity, value, and safety for regional and national scope transportation and logistics projects including railroads, toll roads, airports, waterways, ports, and related supporting services.Our current project is to build the Great Lakes Basin Railroad, a 261 mile long route to go around the Chicago Region from Pinola, IN and Milton, WI providing 24 points of connection to six class one railroads and four shortline railroads. The GLBR will provide access to the Ports of Burns Harbor, IN, Port of Chicago, and Port of Milwaukee. We are in the process of completing an Environmental Impact Statement under the supervision of the Surface Transportation Board.

Kansas City, Mo

Professional, successful leader that identifies yield opportunities and effectively implements solutions to improve revenue, decrease cost or optimize efficiencies to achieve significant profit increases.• Led yield initiatives contributing to improve KCS’ operating ratio to 67.1% in 2014 from 81.9% in 2009, an operating income increase of $579M with $1.1B in incremental revenue.• Restructured KCS’ Mexico fuel surcharge program achieving significant incremental revenue when measured against the former process. • Managed pricing for KCS’ Automotive & Intermodal business units in the US and Mexico as well as its Top 100 customer base. Auto/Intermodal annual sales grew 223% to $634M from 2009 to 2014. • Oversaw total company “same store sales” pricing results which led the Class 1 rail industry from 2009-2014 with a 4.4% average annual increase. • Implemented KCS’ equipment prioritization process to direct Fleet Management in the allocation and equipment distribution (boxcars, multi-levels, gondolas, coil cars, etc.)• Successfully implemented the SAS & Eyeris cost and profitability systems within the US and Mexico franchise, markedly improving the direct application of costs to all operational movements (empty and loaded) throughout the network.• Published quarterly Profitability Book which measured contribution and yield trends on a business unit, customer, equipment and operating subdivision basis. Successfully addressed and improved contributions associated with underperforming accounts which yielded low margins.

Kansas City, Missouri Area

• Created KCS'​ first Long Range Plan which served as the backbone for KCS'​ inaugural Analyst Day, attended by 44 Wall Street analysts as well as presented an overview of KCS' newly implemented cost and profitability system• Provided extensive modeling and ROI analysis supporting lease vs buy rail car and locomotive equipment initiatives, long-term investment / implementation of major corporate strategies pertaining to customer growth, line rehabilitation, asset acquisition and cost reduction / performance improvement. • Negotiated marketing terms of $300M joint venture with a partner Class I railroad, giving KCS advantageous terms regarding train balance, slot utilization, and yearly escalation.• Served as expert witness representing KCS in corporate litigation, successfully resulting in over $600,000 in damage claim revenue for locomotive lost opportunity cost.

Education record

Master Of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Operations Management

Bachelor’S Degree, Economics

Activities and Societies: Sigma Chi Fraternity, A&O Board, Special Olympics General Co-Chair

Education record