The Greenbrier Companies completed production on its 100,000th intermodal double stack unit in January. This milestone achievement began more than 32 years ago at Greenbrier’s flagship production and design facility, Gunderson, based in Portland, OR.

“Gunderson has been a pioneer in railcar design since Greenbrier’s 1985 acquisition of this legendary manufacturing facility in operation since 1919. Building 100,000 intermodal double stack units is a significant achievement for Greenbrier.  It is the result of years of hard work and dedication provided by our American workforce at Gunderson, which includes many employees who have worked in this facility in Portland for multiple decades,” said William A. Furman, chairman and CEO. “Greenbrier’s manufacturing history began with the intermodal double stack railcar at Gunderson in 1985.  Greenbrier is proud to build intermodal double stack railcars in America – work that supports more than 1,000 highly-skilled jobs in Portland.”

Greenbrier spearheaded the design of double stack railcars which were introduced in North America in the mid-1980s to haul intermodal containers. Double stack technology revolutionized long distance freight transportation by railroads. Using double stack technology, a freight train of a given length can carry roughly twice as many containers, sharply reducing costs per container. These cars are used for nearly 70% of all U.S. intermodal shipments.

Greenbrier produces nearly twice the number of intermodal double stack railcars than its closest competitor and has built approximately 50% of all intermodal double stack railcars operating globally.

“This is a rewarding milestone for Greenbrier and the hard-working team here at Gunderson,” said Mark Eitzen, senior vice president and general manager at Gunderson. “I am proud of all our team members and appreciate the continued support of our suppliers and customers.”

Greenbrier, headquartered in Lake Oswego, OR, is an international supplier of equipment and services to the freight rail transportation markets.