GLG News by Rail Car Leasing Experts

Railcar builder Freightcar America reported a quarterly loss of $0.08/share due to high material costs impacting fixed price contracts and the need to restrain prices in a very slow market for coal cars. Management expressed confidence that demand for coal cars will remain strong in the future, especially...

Trinity Industries (TRN) reported earnings growth and increasing orders and deliveries in an otherwise declining market for new railcars, a feat that will probably elude the other railcar builders. Its 6,580 deliveries during the second quarter represented a 44% market share for the entire industry,...

CSX and NS have both announced significant increases in quarterly profits while at the same time reporting declining traffic levels, a feat they have performed more than once in recent months. Overall railroad traffic was down about 2% for both carriers compared to last year, although up around 3.5%...

The recent reports about the crop problems in Iowa and the flood problems for the railroads operating in the region have greatly exaggerated their impact on railroad profits in 2008. The news media might be excused for inflating reports of local problems into national importance in order to garner more...

A second container vessel will make weekly stops at CN’s container terminal in Prince Rupert BC potentially bringing 1000 more containers per week to CN for movement to the Midwest and possibly raising the terminal’s inbound volume to over 2,000 containers per week.  At that volume, more than one...

On June 30, 2008, the STB ruled that CSX was charging excessively high rates to Dupont for several movements of chemical products and ordered the railroad to reduce them and pay reparations to Dupont . Several weeks ago, the STB ruled that UP had overcharged a Kansas Utility and ordered them to reduce...

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported that the Midwest Floods “continued to negatively impact rail freight traffic” during last week, a statement easily verified by a quick check of the weekly carloads of the UP RR which showed at 10% drop in carload for the week ending June 21. However,...

The recent announcements of major cutbacks in US light vehicle production will definitely have a negative impact on both railroad traffic volumes and railroad profits. While this traffic only accounts for only 5% of all US carload shipments, its hefty margins contribute much more to the bottom line...

Overlooking the author’s tendency for hyperbole and his greatly distorted timeline of history, his conclusion that demand for new coal cars will soon return is right on target. He is also right in highlighting the current danger to those builders who might be exposed to fixed price contracts and escalating...

The in Forbes article about the large number of surplus railcars, the author incorrectly blames the railroad companies for stocking up on ethanol cars until the “ethanol bubble burst” and they realized they had built too many cars. In truth, railcar leasing companies ordered the cars after hearing requests...