ARCI: Freight car market slowing down
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefFirst-quarter 2016 freight car reporting statistics from the Railway Supply Institute (RSI) American Railway Car Institute (ARCI) Committee show that car orders are down, and the backlog (cars ordered but not delivered) is decreasing, as are deliveries.
Freight car manufacturers took orders for 6,646 cars in first-quarter 2016, compared to 15,952 in the year-ago period. Orders peaked in second-quarter 2015 at 19,766 units, then plummeted to 7,374 in the following quarter. Total orders for 2015 were 51,246, compared to 138,234 in 2014—a whopping increase from both 2013 (66,659) and 2012 (55,046).
Covered hopers led all first-quarter orders with 3,355 units, with large-cube cars (5,500 cubic feet or higher) accounting for 1,225 units and medium-cube (3,500-5,500 cubic feet) accounting for 2,020.
There were 917 tank cars ordered in first-quarter 2015, and 5,885 were delivered. The tank car backlog stood at 25,550.
The backlog has been on a steady downward slope since it peaked at 135,805 units in 2015’s second quarter: 122,591 (3Q15) and 111,019 (4Q15). It now (1Q16) stands at 95,038 units.
Deliveries as of first-quarter 2016 stood at 16,834 units, compared to 19,996 in the year-ago period.
Download a PDF of ARCI’s summary at the link below.
