The North American rail equipment fleet slightly decreased its total size during the fourth quarter of 2023. The total equipment count was 2,104,804, for a change of about 0.4 percent.

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

EOTs led gains, up 3.6 percent, followed by Misc. which increased 3.2 percent. Intermodal led declines, down 3.5 percent.

The total count of equipment in the revenue-earning fleet stands at about 1.64 million, up by 0.2 percent from the previous quarter. Hoppers increased 0.5 percent, and Flats showed a slight decline at 0.02 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.

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Umler Index Q4 '23

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

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