The total size of the North American rail equipment fleet was up slightly during the fourth quarter of 2017. The total equipment count was 2,080,707, compared to 2,072,490 in the third quarter of 2017, for an increase of 0.4 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 flat cars, up 2 percent, and covered hoppers, up 1.5 percent. Miscellaneous equipment was up 1.4 percent, and locomotives increased by 0.3 percent. Tanks were unchanged. Declines during the quarter were led by EOTs, down 1 percent, and intermodal, down 0.8 percent.
The total count of equipment in the revenue-earning fleet currently stands at about 1.64 million, up by 0.3 percent from the previous quarter. Covered hoppers and flats led gains at 1.1 percent and 0.4 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 files, including pre-registered, restricted and scrap units.
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