The Greenbrier Companies reported new railcar orders of 6,300 units valued at $685 million for its first fiscal quarter ending Nov. 30, 2021. These orders increased the company’s backlog to 28,000 units valued at $3 billion. In addition, Greenbrier reported new orders totaling 2,900 units valued at $345 million during December and January, the first two months of its second fiscal quarter that began on Dec. 1, 2021. The new railcar orders reflect a range of railcar types, including gondolas, tanks, covered hoppers and automobile-carrying units.

On Jan. 31, the Railway Supply Institute’s American Railway Car Institute Committee released data showing a 50% increase in North American freight railcar orders in Q4/21 compared with Q3/21. The 13,277 railcars ordered represent the highest quarterly order number since Q4/18. The American Railway Car Institute Committee also reported total industry backlog of 42,993 railcars, up from 37,779 railcars in Q3/21. Industry book-to-bill now stands at 1.7x, significantly above the Q3/21 ratio of 1x.

“Railcar orders received during the first two months of the second fiscal quarter demonstrate Greenbrier’s strength in our core North American rail business,” William A. Furman, chairman and CEO of Greenbrier, said. “Almost all orders announced today originated from North America, where we have scaled our flexible manufacturing footprint to address the increasing levels of demand that we began preparing for months ago. Order activity for Greenbrier and industry-wide validates our recent investments in working capital to support the early stage of an extended recovery cycle for new railcar demand.”