ARCI: 2Q21 Railcar Orders, Deliveries, Backlog Grow
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive EditorSecond-quarter 2021 freight car reporting statistics from the Railway Supply Institute’s (RSI) American Railway Car Institute Committee (ARCI) show sequential boosts in orders, deliveries and backlog since fourth-quarter 2020.
Carbuilders took orders for 9,466 cars in second-quarter 2021, up 52.02% compared with 6,227 in first-quarter 2021; and up 178.68% from fourth-quarter 2020’s 3,397 cars. Second-quarter 2021 orders increased 392.25% from second-quarter 2020’s 1,923 cars. Pre-pandemic levels averaged at about 9,300 railcars per quarter in 2019, according to ARCI.
The second-quarter 2021 backlog of 37,470 cars was up 7.58% from 34,829 at the end of first-quarter 2021; and up 8.30% from 34,598 at the end of fourth-quarter 2021, “where it hit the lowest point since 2010,” according to ARCI. Backlog for second-quarter 2021 was virtually flat compared with the end of third-quarter 2020 (37,417).
Deliveries during second-quarter 2021 were 6,825 cars, rising 13.83% compared with the previous quarter’s 5,996; and increasing 9.80% vs. fourth-quarter 2020’s 6,216. Second-quarter 2021 deliveries fell 19.11% from 8,441 in second-quarter 2020.
