The total size of the North American rail equipment fleet was up slightly during the third quarter of 2017. The total equipment count was 2,072,490, compared to 2,066,516 in the second quarter, for an increase of 0.3 percent.
The three largest segments during the quarter were covered hoppers (28 percent), tank cars (21 percent) and gondolas (11 percent).
Four car groups increased from the last quarter, led by covered hoppers, up 1.2 percent, and flat cars, up 1.1 percent. Declines during the quarter were led by hoppers, which were down 1.2 percent, and gondolas and box cars, both of which were down 0.7 percent.
The total count of equipment in the revenue-earning fleet currently stands at about 1.639 million, up by 0.1 percent from the previous quarter. Covered hoppers and flat cars led gains at 0.8 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively, while gondolas decreased the most (0.7 percent).
The revenue-earning fleet is a subset of the North American rail fleet that is largely composed of freight cars that can be used in interchange service and against which an interline waybill can be placed. The revenue-earning fleet of freight cars is made up of six sub-fleets: box cars, covered hoppers, flats, gondolas, open hoppers and tank cars. It excludes locomotives, intermodal trailers and containers, maintenance-of-way equipment and end-of-train devices.
Data Source: Railinc Umler® System. Data represents all equipment units on file, including pre-registered, restricted and scrap units.
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