Rail Theory Forecasts™ LLC

Annual Publication

North American Rail Car Market

Products & Services

Rail Theory Forecasts is a consulting company specializing in North American rail freight traffic and freight car demand forecasting. Publisher of the annual North American Freight Car Market

Rail Theory Forecasts (RFT) was founded in 2001 to advance the art and science of predicting future developments and trends in the railroad industry, especially with regard to the demand and supply of railcars. The basic premise which has guided the company’s efforts is that current developments can only be understood and evaluated within an historical context, and that forecasts and projections of future developments must be soundly based on the interplay of the factors that have most influenced past events

Reports & Publications:

RFT publishes a yearly survey of the North American Freight Car Market in January of each year, including a six month updated supplement in the following July and quarterly new car delivery summaries in April and October. Price: $4,000 per year. A CD containing an Excel workbook with all the data for the Charts and Graphs and a PDF file of the entire book is also included.

The " Mid-Year Update to the North American Freight Car Market” is 100 pages long and has hundreds of charts covering the products and commodities transported by rail  as well as updated information on car deliveries, orders, and builder backlogs. The forecasts made last fall are updated and non-model, early car delivery projections for next year are included for the first time. The price of the report is $1000. Please contact us by E-mail or phone.

RFT has taken its railroad and railcar industry forecasts to the company level and now provides guidance on the freight volumes of each publically owned railroad and and railcar deliveries of each publically owned railcar builder. Quarterly reports for all companies are available for an annual subscription.

Studies:

Individual Chapters in the North American Freight Car Market   may be purchased seperately (See the synopsis for details.)

Railcar Valuations: