Norfolk Southern Corporation

Greetings. Welcome to Norfolk Southern Corporation's fourth quarter 2021 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero from your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Megan Akamasi, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Thank you, Ms. Akamasi. You may begin.

Thank you, Operator, and good morning, everyone. Please note that during today's call, we will make certain forward-looking statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties and may differ materially from actual results. Please refer to our annual and quarterly reports filed with the SEC for a full discussion of those risks and uncertainties we view as most important. Our presentation slides are available at nscorp.com in the Investors section, along with our reconciliation of non-GAAP measures used today to the comparable gap measures. Along those lines, recall two adjustments during 2020, including a non-cash charge in the first quarter of 2020 related to the sale of 703 locomotives for $385 million and a $99 million impairment charge in the third quarter of 2020 related to an equity method investment. We will speak to full-year comparisons excluding those charges from 2020. A full transcript and download will be posted after the call. It is now my pleasure to introduce Norfolk Southern's Chairman and CEO, Jim Squires.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Norfolk Southern's fourth quarter 2021 earnings call. I'm pleased to be joined by Alan Shaw, President, Cindy Sanborn, Chief Operating Officer, Ed Elkins, Chief Marketing Officer, and Mark George, Chief Financial Officer. Let me start by acknowledging and thanking the entire NS team for the tremendous effort that's gone into the fulfillment of our financial targets established in our three-year strategic plan. 2021 serves as the pinnacle of the plan and is marked by the achievement of our 60% full-year operating ratio and record productivity levels across our operation. Through a multi-year effort, we delivered on our commitments, overcoming significant headwinds associated with first, a freight recession, and then a global pandemic over the course of our plan. In the past three years, we've produced industry-leading total shareholder return. We've grown EPS by 27%, reduced our operating ratio by 530 basis points, and returned nearly $10 billion back to our shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends. We met and exceeded our goals, albeit with a very different formula than originally anticipated, given the volume headwinds, demonstrating our ability to adapt and innovate, and our dedication to deliver upon our commitments. I'm so proud to be a part of this team and humbled to serve as its leader. We're poised to build upon our momentum and write a new record book. The company is in rock-solid position, and we have the right team to guide our next chapter of success. With that, I welcome Ed to his new role as Chief Marketing Officer and congratulate Alan on his appointment as President. It's my pleasure now to turn the discussion over to Alan for a detailed look at the fourth quarter and full year results. Alan?