Last month, Railway Age's Rail Insights conference in Chicago covered a broad range of rail related topics, such as congestion in Chicago and the significant efforts being put forth by Class I railroads to improve customer service. No conference seeking to discuss the current state of the railroad industry is complete without a discussion of the market for equipment and leasing. Barbara Wilson, President of First Union Rail, and Jason Kuehn, Vice President at Oliver Wyman, tackled all things equipment related during a robust conversation. One point discussed was the current state of equipment values and the "indecisiveness" of railcar demand today. Succinctly, both speakers observed that the market for many equipment types and the commodities they carry has softened from even as recently as first-quarter 20IS (a point also noted by NRE President and Rail Insights speaker Steven Beal). Coal, scrap steel and steel products, crude, sand, lumber-almost every product moved by railcar, other than inter modal containers, has seen year over year decreases in loadings. This has had an impact on railcar leasing and railcar values.
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