All About the Railway Supply Chain with Trish Slivinski

27/01/2025 52 min Episodio 3
All About the Railway Supply Chain with Trish Slivinski

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Episode Synopsis


Host Bryndis Whitson welcomes railway expert Trish Slivinski to the show. Trish works for railways and companies that are clients of railways and has experience in a wide array of different jobs relating to train travel. She shares how she got involved with rail and what she’s learned from it as well as how the different aspects of rail travel can affect the supply chain. Trish explains all the intricacies of rail transport including train schedules, loading, finance, operations, and a host of disciplines that keep railways functional. She has experience working in a great many of them and that knowledge gives her insight into how the supply chain is impacted and enhanced by the specifics of railways. Trish and Bryndis discuss everything from how rail is a greener mode of transport than trucks and what it takes to get a train moving to how strikes affect rail transport and the potential for worker accidents. Trish has advice for anyone curious about a career in railways and shares the challenges and rewards of such a choice.About Trish Slivinski:Trish Slivinski was born in the small Northern Ontario City of Thunder Bay. She grew up the oldest of 4 siblings with a stay-at-home mother and an entrepreneur father. Her mother was from a broken family and both parents taught her the value of hard work and personal success at an early age. These deep-rooted values motivated Trish to leave the small Northern Ontario City to pursue post-secondary education.During her second year at university, she found a summer job in transportation at CP Rail which led to a successful long-term career in Transportation. She graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and then she worked on a Business Admin degree before being transferred to Vancouver BC.During her railway career, she has relocated to pursue promotions in Vancouver and Calgary, at the CP Head Office. Trish has an accomplished career in rail that has spanned a variety of departments including; Intermodal, Finance, Contingency Planning, Operations Business Performance, Service Design, and Bulk Train Planning. She has attained a variety of skills throughout her career; Process Improvement, Six Sigma, Lean Management, Financial and Operational Analysis, Performance Measurement, KPI Metrics, and Project Management. She was also trained as a Train Conductor.The crude oil decline in Alberta in 2016 resulted in a major career change for Trish when she was laid off from CP and found herself, for the first time in her life, unemployed. She has seized this opportunity to start a new career in a different industry, Road Construction. She worked for the last 2 years as the Supply and Logistics Coordinator for Western Canada with (Colas) McAsphalt Industries. She is a single mother of twin boys, a hockey enthusiast, and can be seen in the summer riding her motorcycle (Lily).Resources discussed in this episode:Sheldon Nagy accident story—Contact Bryndis Whitson: Website: ZebrasToApples.com Instagram: @ZebrasToApplesLinkedInContact Trish Slivinski: Trish Slivinski on LinkedIn