Three appointments to marketing leadership posts at The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) were announced today by John Lanigan, BNSF's executive vice president and Chief Marketing Officer.
Fritz Draper has been named vice president, Business Development.
Steve Bobb has been named vice president, Business Unit Operations and Support, succeeding Draper.
Kevin Kaufman will join BNSF March 22 as group vice president, Agricultural Products, succeeding Bobb. Kaufman is currently senior vice president of the Louis Dreyfus Corporation (LDC), one of the world's premier commodities trading organizations and a significant BNSF customer.
Draper's responsibilities include Economic Development, eBusiness, Mexico Business Unit, Supply Chain Solutions, Customer Solutions and corporate support for BNSF Logistics. He began his railroad career in 1980 and has held various management positions, becoming assistant vice president - Intermodal Operations in 1992 and BNSF vice president, Intermodal Operations, in late 1996. He became vice president, Business Unit Operations and Support, in June 1999.
In his new role, Bobb will lead Intermodal and Automotive Hub Operations and Planning; Freight Car Planning and Distribution; and the Demurrage, Storage and Extended Services Team, and will coordinate Marketing capital and expenses. He will have a dual reporting relationship to Lanigan and Carl Ice, BNSF's executive vice president and Chief Operations Officer.
Bobb's railroad career began in 1987 in information systems. Early in his career, he held a number of positions in planning and yield management. He became a BNSF vice president in 1996, first heading the Minerals Business Unit and later that year the Chemicals Business Unit. He was named group vice president, Agricultural Products, in June 1999.
Kaufman has had a 25-year career with LDC in a variety of roles including international assignments. As LDC's senior vice president and North America Region Managing Director, Kaufman is responsible for all trading, transportation and operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Peru.
