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Alabama doesn't discriminate against railroads by requiring them to pay a 4% diesel fuel sales tax while their competitors — trucking and barge companies — are exempt, a federal judge ruled this week.

CSX Corp. appointed E. Hunter Harrison to its CEO post and, based on his success at other railroads, analysts predict he will turn the sprawling, underperforming, historic Class I railroad into one that is faster and more punctual, with better service and higher rates.

CSX has finished the layoffs it announced more than two weeks ago. The final numbers: 800 employees lost their jobs, including 500 in Jacksonville, Fla..

Is superstar railroad executive Hunter Harrison worth a $200 million pay package? For that matter, is any CEO worth that?

CSX Corp. may install Hunter Harrison as chief executive officer as early as the week of March 6 as the railroad and an activist shareholder move closer to ending an impasse over Harrison’s pay package, people familiar with the matter said.

A month ago, few people in Jacksonville, Florida, probably ever heard of Hunter Harrison. But the 72-year-old Tennessee native has been almost a legend in the railroad world where he’s spent more than 50 years.

CSX Corp. CEO Michael Ward and President Clarence Gooden will retire May 31, and the company will lay off 1,000 managers by the end of March as it decides whether to hire former Canadian Pacific Railway CEO E. Hunter Harrison to take the reins at the Class I railroad.

The shakeup at CSX Corp. took another twist Feb. 21 when current CEO Michael Ward and President Clarence Gooden announced they're leaving the railroad at the end of May, another wrinkle that could affect the push from private investor Paul Hilal to install former Canadian Pacific CEO Hunter Harrison as CSX’s top executive. The company also announced 1,000 layoffs.

CSX Corp. is expected to restart talks to install Hunter Harrison as CEO after an activist investor allied with the railroad turnaround veteran softened his demand for board representation, a Citigroup Inc. analyst said.

CSX Corp. shareholders are likely to approve turnaround veteran Hunter Harrison’s demand for a $300 million pay package that the railroad derided as “exceptionally unusual,” according to analysts.