Hardly a hopping market

摘要

Two trends in the covered hopper car market are troubling to builders: demand for new cars is decreasing and surpluses for all car sizes are increasing. The outlook for total covered hopper car production this year isn't any better. After hovering around the 20,000 mark the past few years, production in 2008 will fall to about 14,000 cars, according to Rail Theory Forecasts L.L.C., which monitors the freight-car market. Deliveries of small, large and jumbo covered hoppers are projected to total 2,000, 5,000 and 7,000 units, respectively.