Emily Stock described herself as working on the “outskirts” of freight when she enrolled in the Freight Academy in 2012. At the time, she was the Manager of Rail Planning for the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT), and the most elemental skill she gained from her experience in the Freight Academy was immersion in all things freight. She spent valuable time absorbing the workings of a busy port, observing how all modes of transportation and freight interacted. It proved to be transformative.
“This is where I learned the language of freight, the terminology and the jargon, and it helped me feel comfortable talking to freight professionals in Virginia, specifically the freight rail operators that are our DOT partners,” she said. “I learned to understand their pressures, and there are many commonalities with the pressures they feel. We have bottlenecks in common, both literally and figuratively, and I started to see beyond my own place.”
Through her interactions with others who spoke about their projects in New York and New Jersey, she gained new perspectives on the implications of infrastructure projects going up in her own region. Seeing how others managed their rail, port, or trucking challenges helped her understand how to compare scenarios to her own.
“When you see the comparisons, you understand how to frame it more effectively on your own local level,” she said. “Nothing happens in a vacuum. We are all competing for freight, and we’re all trying to make environments as optimal as possible for citizens. We are public employees, and we want to improve the quality of life in our state. Seeing the Port of New York/New Jersey up close gives you perspective on where your own state’s freight system fits in relation to bigger, global systems.”
Until she attended the Freight Academy, Emily’s experience with freight had been in economic development for the state. She had listened to industries and companies that were thinking of expanding to Virginia, and had a tour of the Port of Virginia, but limited freight experience outside of Virginia.
At the Freight Academy, she learned more about the history of rail development on the east coast, and how that relates to current conditions in Virginia. Her perspective changed far beyond rail, which helped her in her planning role. A field trip to visit the Raritan Valley Rail Line in New Jersey, a short line railroad that serves multiple businesses in an industrial park, continues to be helpful to her.
“That was a great example of a shortline facility meeting the needs of industry in a unique way, which was eye opening for me,” she said.
A particularly memorable part of her week at the Freight Academy was a trip to the Macy’s Day Parade warehouse, as well as going through the customs of the Port of New York and New Jersey.
“It’s been years, but I still remember all this so well,” she said.
Since her time at the Freight Academy in 2012, she was promoted to Chief of Rail Transportation for the Virginia DRPT. This expanded her role from overseeing rail planning to also manage the state’s freight rail grant programs. Her purview includes more freight activities, and she believes her experience at the Freight Academy gave her the confidence to take that on.
“Now I’m managing the freight rail grant programs as well; that’s part of what my team does,” she said. “I feel well equipped to handle it.”
When she applied for her current position, her management certainly considered her completion of the Freight Academy as a significant asset.
“It’s mostly about having more confidence to speak intelligently about freight, because some industries are more visible to the layperson than others,” she explained. “Freight isn’t always like that. An experience like the Freight Academy can help you come from the outside like I did, and get immersed and up-to-speed quickly. I gained the confidence to talk about freight issues, and if you don’t know, you at least know how to research the issue, or find the contacts you need to talk about things.”
For Emily, the investment was challenging, but certainly worth the time and effort. She feels more confident professionally, technically, and she has grown in her leadership skills.
“It was also a lot of fun,” she said. “I’m still drawing from the experience and benefiting from having done it.”
