Cover story:
2022 Railroad Innovator Award — Watco’s Rick Webb
In April, Progressive Railroading and RailTrends® named Watco Executive Chairman Rick Webb the 2022 recipient of the Railroad Innovator Award, which recognizes an individual's outstanding achievement in the rail industry. In 1984, Webb joined Watco and learned the business by working alongside his father Dick Webb, who founded the company in 1983 with a single locomotive. The ever-acquisitive Watco now owns and operates 44 short lines in the United States and Canada, as well as a few terminals, ports and mechanical shops.
"Dick Webb instilled a 'customer first' focus in Rick, and under Rick’s watch, the Watco team sharpened that focus," says Progressive Railroading Editor Pat Foran. "And by listening to customers, Webb and his team have kept the company's entrepreneurial spirit alive as Watco continues to enter new business ventures and take new routes to revenue growth."
Adds RailTrends Program Consultant Tony Hatch: "While being one of the best wheeler-dealers in railroading, Rick is also one of the nicest guys — a rare combination. He has expanded the parameters by which we judge 'short lines,' and even 'short line holding companies', by including services, logistics, ports and switching among other categories and attributes."
This month, Foran chats with Webb about his 38-year career and talks with other rail industry officials about Webb’s contributions to the transportation world.
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