The total size of the North American rail equipment fleet increased slightly during the first quarter of 2016. The total equipment count was 2,082,010, compared to 2,065,495 during the fourth quarter of 2015, resulting in a 0.8 percent increase.
The three largest segments this quarter were covered hoppers (26 percent), tank cars (21 percent) and gondolas (12 percent).
Group increases over the previous quarter were led by box cars, up 2.5 percent, followed by tank cars at 2.4 percent. Locomotives and intermodal flats were up by 1.1 percent and 1 percent, respectively. Declines this quarter were led by hoppers, down 1 percent. The miscellaneous group was down 0.4 percent from the previous quarter, and intermodal and gondolas were both down 0.3 percent.
The total count of equipment in the revenue-earning fleet currently stands at 1.622 million, up 0.6 percent from the previous quarter. 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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