The total size of the North American rail equipment fleet was down slightly during the second quarter of 2020. The total equipment count was 2,109,081 for a decrease of 0.9 percent.

The three largest segments during the quarter were Covered Hoppers (29 percent), Tank Cars (22 percent) and Gondolas (10 percent).

All but one car group decreased from the last quarter, the exception being Tanks, up 0.1 percent. Intermodal led declines, down 5.0 percent, followed by Hoppers, down 1.7 percent. Box Cars and Miscellaneous decreased 1.5 and 1.1 percent, respectively.

The total count of equipment in the revenue-earning fleet currently stands at about 1.66 million, down by 0.1 percent from the previous quarter. Tanks was the sole gain, up 0.5 percent. Box Cars decreased the most (1.3 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.

Image
Q2 2020 Umler Index Graphic

Data Source: Railinc Umler System. Data represents all equipment units on files, including pre-registered, restricted and scrap units.

Copyright 2020 Railinc Corp. All Rights Reserved. Use of this information without written permission is prohibited. Railinc publishes this information as a service to the North American Rail Industry.