Karen Burchfield

Karen Burchfield

Project Manager

Karen Burchfield is a distinguished rail industry leader with 30 years of comprehensive experience in supply chain management and transportation operations. Her proven track record includes leading transformational change initiatives, driving market share growth, optimizing rail operations, and advancing diversity and inclusion across large organizations. She has consistently delivered exceptional results by managing multi-billion-dollar portfolios.

As a recognized supply chain and rail transportation expert, Karen specializes in strategic market development, operational excellence, and profitable growth initiatives. She brings exceptional depth in rail industry operations, having managed portfolios exceeding $1.4 billion and led teams through complex organizational transformations.

Karen’s rail operations expertise encompasses virtually every aspect of the industry, spanning grain and coal transportation, intermodal services, and industrial products. Throughout her career, she has held critical operational roles including General Superintendent of Transportation overseeing network operations control centers, General Director of Grain Operations managing fleet velocity and capacity optimization, and Director of Demurrage, Storage and Extended Services focusing on fleet utilization improvements. Her comprehensive understanding of rail operations includes asset management, crew scheduling, network optimization, customer service delivery, and regulatory compliance across multiple commodity sectors.

Throughout her distinguished career at BNSF Railway, Karen has consistently delivered outstanding results by developing and implementing innovative strategies across all major business segments. Her leadership has been instrumental in securing competitive contracts valued at over $4.9 billion, growing market share in mature markets, and achieving record-breaking operational performance metrics. Notable achievements include securing 2 points of market share growth and 92,000 additional units in her first 12 months as AVP Industrial Products, winning a competitive “house account” worth 65 million tons and $585 million from Union Pacific, and implementing innovative pricing strategies indexed to natural gas prices that extended plant life and improved profitability.

Karen’s expertise spans the full spectrum of supply chain operations, from fleet optimization and asset utilization to strategic pricing and customer relationship management. She has successfully led cross-functional teams of up to 240+ professionals, implementing culture change initiatives that improved operational efficiency and employee engagement. Her commitment to advancing diversity and inclusion in the rail industry is evident through her groundbreaking roles as the only woman to hold several key positions, including General Superintendent of Transportation and General Director of Grain Operations, where she successfully addressed diversity challenges and created more inclusive work environments.

Karen holds a Master’s degree in Supply Chain Management from Penn State University, a Graduate Certificate in Supply Chain Management from Penn State University, and a Bachelor’s degree in International Business from Texas Wesleyan University. She is an accomplished public speaker and trainer, having presented at women’s conferences, BNSF leadership training programs, and industry panels. Karen is actively involved in community leadership, serving on the Board of Trustees for Texas Wesleyan University, and as a Board member for the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.