Newly released data by the Railway Supply Institute (RSI) American Railway Car Institute Committee (ARCI) shows decreases in railcar orders, deliveries and backlog in 2023’s third-quarter.
The data includes information on covered hoppers (over 5,500 c/f, 3,500-5,500 c/f, under 3,500 c/f); open top hoppers (steel, aluminum); gondolas (GB steel, GT steel, GT aluminum); flat cars (non-intermodal, intermodal); non-articulated/articulated (five-unit platforms, other platforms); and tank cars.
In third-quarter 2023, railcar orders dropped 73% to 9,346 from second-quarter 2023’s 16,194; deliveries were down 13% to 10,545 from the prior quarter’s 11,919; and backlog was down 2% to 58,680 from the prior quarter’s 59,878.
Railcar orders, deliveries and backlog for third-quarter 2023 also showed losses over third-quarter 2022: orders were down 62% from the 25,075 posted the same period last year; deliveries were down 2% from the 10,821 logged in third-quarter 2022; and backlog was down 4% from the 61,415 logged for the same period last year.
