The North American rail equipment fleet decreased its total size during the fourth quarter of 2024. The total equipment count was 2,108,025, for a change of about 0.24 percent, or just over 5,000 cars.
The four largest segments during the quarter were Covered Hoppers (29 percent), Tank Cars (22 percent) and Gondolas and Intermodal (10 percent).
EOTDs and Tanks were the only gains, up 1.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively. Box Cars led declines, down 1.5 percent.
The total count of equipment in the revenue-earning fleet stands at about 1.64 million, remaining flat from the previous quarter. Flats increased 0.7 percent, and Box Cars declined by 1.6 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.
Data Source: Railinc Umler® System. Data represents all equipment units on files, including pre-registered, restricted and scrap units.
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