Senior Rail Operations Coordinator

Position Summary

The Senior Rail Operations Coordinator will execute the railcar fleet and positioning strategy for Methanex North America Marketing & Logistics. Proactive management of the railcar fleet is essential to delivering security of supply to customers during standard operations and contingency events.

Position Responsibilities

• Fleet Strategy
• Develop short and medium-term fleet plans to meet demand requirements at all ship points
• Understand Methanex supply chain and proactively anticipate impact of shifting supply and demand
• Understand customer requirements to anticipate and mitigate potential supply impacts
• Manage fleet positioning during contingency events to ensure 100% customer supply
• Control costs through fleet repositioning and understanding of contractual rights and obligations
• Proactively manage empty railcar pipelines to ensure plant loading requirements are met to avoid production impact
• Monitor railcar location and schedule, communicating to Customer Service as necessary
• Manage railcar movements in and out of storage according to demand patterns
• Optimize fleet to minimize demurrage and lease track expenses
• Monitor and actively communicate to stakeholders, any impacts to orders arising from rail disruptions
• Prepare and distribute report on cars at terminals vs open order to ensure that customers can be covered
• Follow ISO (Corporate and Regional) and Responsible Care procedures
• Rail Operations
• Manage relationship with Rail System provider, ensuring adequate fleet and railroad performance
• Identify opportunities to enhance processes with our Rail System provider
• Manage railcar onboarding and offboarding or at start and end lease terms, respectively
• Review specifications on proposed cars to ensure they meet Methanex requirements
• Manage rail fleet related communications to Sales and Customer Service teams
• Support development of customer messaging regarding transit times, delays, or rail requirements
• Cook with lessors to ensure all rail cars adhere to Methanex’s technical specifications (gaskets, o-rings, etc)
• Manage billing patterns
• Procure placards, seals and other materials required by terminal locations
• Manage and track off-lease periods, ensuring all credits due are captured
• Coordinate with outsourcing rail party to troubleshoot any rail delays
• Collaborate with railroads and Rail System provider to expedite shipments as required
• Communicate with Customer Service & Logistics team if transit time needs to be updated due to weather related delays, new routes or deviations
• Cook with outsourcing rail partner the actual billing of the cars to different locations
• Cook with Customer Supply Specialists when customer needs to return empty cars
• Maintenance and Responsible Care
• Support the implementation and execution of the Responsible Care plan
• Contribute to the development Responsible Care procedures
• Share best practices in industry with customers and suppliers and initiate implementation at Methanex
• Obtain and maintain hazmat certification as required
• Lead the fleet preventive maintenance plan and report monthly performance metrics
• Lead Non-Accidental Releases (NAR) investigations and evaluate trends to avoid NARs
• Perform root cause analysis for railcar related incidents (derailments, customer issues, plant issues, etc)
• Ensure railcars meet Methanex and regulatory standards, lead correction of any deficiencies
• Manage relationships with railcar material suppliers
• Ensure only approved suppliers perform work on Methanex railcars
• Coordinate new supplier review as needed
• Approve actions taken by 3rd party rail software and transactional support companies regarding:
• Railcar Preventative Maintenance program per Methanex Standards
• Repair work (Shop and mobile repair units)
• Maintenance of cars including related Railtrac data maintenance
• Regulatory data – umler, railink, OT57, OTMA
• Re-qualifications
• Invoice auditing & Approval of work / quotes
• Reporting and analysis on shop spending – budgeting improvement

Position Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in logistics or supply chain is preferred or equivalent work experience required
• Minimum 7 years of experience in a rail related supply chain or logistics role
• Working knowledge of 3rd party freight (rail) beneficial
• Rail related hazmat training beneficial
• Excellent communication, written and verbal, and relationship building skills
• Multi-tasking and problem solving in a timely manner is essential
• Capacity to learn and adapt to new systems quickly and efficiently
• MS Office Suite medium proficiency required, specifically Outlook and Excel
• QTS or any other rail tracking system is beneficial