Pete Carpenter, former head of CSX, dies at 77
Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
David C. Lester
The Florida Times-Union reports that Pete Carpenter, the president and chief executive officer of CSX Transportation from 1992 to 1999, has died at the age of 77. During his career at CSX, he rose from brakeman to CEO, and vice-chairman of CSX Corp., the railroad’s parent company, until his retirement in 2001.
Carpenter commented on the amount of change he had seen in the industry when he retired and pointed out that perhaps best change he had seen was multiple mergers of smaller railroads into big ones, with CSX being one of the remaining giant roads serving the eastern United States.
Carpenter’s friend and public relations director, Mike Tolbert, said that safety on the railroad was a prime concern for Carpenter, and that he didn’t want workers to die doing their jobs.
Carpenter created a more relaxed culture for the company, and he relaxed the dress code. For years, CSX required business dress (suits, coats, ties, high heels), but then adopted a dress code one that included neatly pressed pants and golf shirts.
“He was a button-down corporate-driven leader, but he also had a soul and a very big heart and he gave much more than he received,” Tolbert said. “He was a wonderful human being.”
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