Senior Rail Operations Coordinator

Methanex•Houston, TX

About The Position

The Senior Rail Operations Coordinator will be primarily responsible for executing the railcar fleet and positioning strategy for Methanex North America Marketing & Logistics. Proactive management of our railcar fleet by the incumbent is essential to delivering security of supply to our customers during standard operations as well as contingency events, including but not limited to natural disasters, weather related issues, demand shifts and planned and unplanned plant outages. This role is also responsible for freight repositioning and ancillary cost management associated with the Methanex railcar fleet, ensuring adherence to Methanex Preventative Maintenance program, and supporting Responsible Care related initiatives. Additionally, the rail coordinator oversees our rail management software (QTS). The coordinator will work with QTS daily to adjust rail routing and to expedite rail cars where necessary. This position will also be responsible for creating/maintaining internal and external KPIs related to the movement of the rail fleet utilizing the QTS software. In addition, the rail coordinator will be responsible for validating and troubleshooting billing related to the maintenance and upkeep of the railcar fleet. The incumbent will provide periodic back-up support for the Senior Rail Analyst for day-to-day requirements as needed.

Requirements

Minimum 7 years of experience in a rail related supply chain or logistics role
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

Nice To Haves

Thorough knowledge of rail operations or processes is preferred
Working knowledge of 3rd party freight (rail) beneficial
Rail related hazmat training beneficial
QTS or any other rail tracking system is beneficial

Responsibilities

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 (weather related, railroad strikes, contingency events, railroad schedule outages, derailments, route blockades, etc)
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.
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
Coordinate inspections of new cars with receiving locations, address discrepancies as required
Work with lessors to ensure all rail cars adhere to Methanex’s technical specifications (gaskets, O-rings, etc.)
Ensure that lease contract data is maintained (rider details, car ID, rate, expiration, etc.)
Ensure robust understanding of contractual rights and obligations in lease agreements, for effective cost control.
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
Coordinate with the outsourcing rail partner the actual billing of the cars to different locations
Coordinate with Customer Supply Specialists when customer needs to return empty cars
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: a. Railcar Preventative Maintenance program per Methanex Standards b. Repair work (Shop and mobile repair units) c. Maintenance of cars including related Railtrac data maintenance d. Regulatory data - umler, railink, OT57, OTMA e. Re-qualifications h. Invoice auditing & Approval of work / quotes i. Reporting and analysis on shop spending - budgeting improvement