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Well readers, as we put this month's column to bed, we-the rail industry-are seeing a bit of a renaissance in leasing railcars and locomotives. While the locos are most likely "surge" power for the grain season and the coming winter, the pickup in railcar leasing seems real. There are a number of things behind this increase, and we thought we'd share a few witii you (in no particular order of importance):
* Increased new car prices, leading to modest increases in rental rates, leading to activity on the part of lessees seeking to "get into" the market for rental cars (which they feel they will need as the economy heats up) sooner rather than later.
* A good grain season with enough "oomph" to it to get most jumbo and nonjumbo cars that were in storage out working. (Exceptions are bad orders that would cost too much to put into sendee.)
* A bump up in steel industry activity that has put most of North America's remaining parked steel coal cars into service moving foundry coke and taconite.
* A continuing hot housing market that, together with exports, has seen the price of plywood jump and the availability of center beams off lease shrink to nonexistence.
* A pickup in coal moving on...