The total size of the North American rail equipment fleet held steady during the first quarter of 2015. The total equipment count was 2,028,883 compared to 2,012,323 during the fourth quarter of 2014, resulting in a 1 percent increase from the previous quarter.
The three largest segments once again were Covered Hoppers (26 percent), Tank Cars (20 percent) and Gondolas (12 percent).
Group increases over the previous quarter were led by Tank Cars, up 3 percent, along with Box Cars, Covered Hoppers, and Intermodal, each up 1 percent. Declines this quarter were led by Flats and Hoppers, each down 1 percent.
The total count of equipment in the revenue-earning fleet currently stands at nearly 1.57 million. 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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