In addition to having its headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla., CSX Transportation operates more than 2,000 miles of train track in the state, moving freight through numerous communities. It is O'Malley's job to interact with those communities and to work with the state government, especially the Florida Department of Transportation.
Florida has a business friendly government and a "pretty good" economy, says O'Malley. Additionally, its infrastructure is helped by being newer than that of many states and devoid of cold weather problems. "Florida's roads are in good shape and the government is investing quite a bit in port infrastructure," he says. "Enhancing connectivity between modes is the biggest challenge for Florida. Certainly we need to invest in seaports, but it is equally important to invest in connections from those ports to trucking and rail hubs, and improving modal connections so that we have seamless connectivity."
O'Malley notes that the rail infrastructure, which is almost all CSX in Florida, is privately owned and maintained. This year alone, CSX will invest more than $2bn in its national network, including "quite a bit" in Florida, he says.
Current projects in the state include a new intermodal container transfer facility at the Port of Jacksonville, a rail to pipeline project serving Tampa and central Florida, and an intermodal rail terminal near Winterhaven that will transfer containers from rail to truck for delivery to population centers around Orlando, Tampa and possibly south Florida.
O'Malley is one of 12 CSX employees focused on government and regulatory activity in 23 states and two Canadian provinces. "It is important to encourage states to look at their regulations and taxation policies to create an attractive environment where businesses want to operate," he says. Working with states to attract new business is a win/win situation because it develops new customers for the railroad and creates economic growth for the local economy, he says.
O'Malley says that Florida is well positioned to take advantage of growing trade with Latin America and the increased volume of freight expected to result from expansion of the Panama Canal. "We see real opportunity for Florida in terms of international trade," he says.
