The Freight Car Situation and Prospects

Agriculture, and especially grain producers and shippers, have a particular interest in the adequacy of rail transport services. Newspaper headlines of grain and lumber being stored on the ground in the Great Plains and Northwest; testimony of railroad executives, shipper representatives and government officials before Congressional committees in 1965 and 1966; and recent actions by widely scattered shippers, railroads, and government agencies all attest to the fact that there are shortages of railroad freight cars at the present time. In 1964 and 1965, U.S. Class I railroads spent almost $2.5 billion on equipment, yet such expenditures added only 2.7 percent to the carrying capacity of the nation's freight car supply. If shippers' demand for cars continues at recent levels, increases in equipment may not be sufficient to satisfy fully the needs for freight cars during the grain harvests of 1967. This article will present some of the factors which have brought about the current shortages of freight cars; some of the measures already taken that have helped to keep the situation from becoming even more desperate; and a few prospects as to changes in the situation in the immediate years ahead.