Profile: The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (GBX)

The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (Greenbrier) is a designer, manufacturer and marketer of railroad freight car equipment in North America and Europe, and a manufacturer and marketer of ocean-going marine barges in North America. The Company also provides ailcar refurbishment and parts, leasing and other services to the railroad and related transportation industries in North America. The Company operates an integrated business model in North America that combines freight car manufacturing, repair and refurbishment, component parts reconditioning, leasing and fleet management services to provide customers with a set of freight car solutions. The Company operates in three business segments: manufacturing, refurbishment and parts, and leasing and services.

Manufacturing

The Company manufactures an array of railcar types in North America. The Company is a North American manufacturer of intermodal railcars. The Company manufactures a range of intermodal railcars. Its intermodal product is the articulated double-stack railcar. The double-stack railcar is designed to transport containers stacked two-high on a single platform. An articulated double-stack railcar is consists of up to five platforms each, of which is linked by a common set of wheels and axles. The Company’s line of articulated and non-articulated double-stack intermodal railcars offers varying load capacities and configurations. The Company produces a range of boxcars, which are used in forest products, automotive, perishables, general merchandise applications and the transport of commodities. It also produces a variety of covered hopper cars for the grain and cement industries, as well as gondolas for the steel and metals markets, and various other conventional railcar types, including the Auto-Max car. The Company’s flat car products include center partition cars for the forest products industry, bulkhead flat cars, flat cars for automotive transportation and solid waste service flat cars.

The Company produces a line of tank car products for the North American market. The Company produces a 30,000-gallon non-coiled, non-insulated tank car, which will be used to transport ethanol, methanol and more than 60 other commodities. It also produces a 16,500 gallon coiled, insulated tank car for use in caustic soda service. The Company’s European manufacturing operation produces a variety of railcar (wagon) types, including a line of pressurized tank cars for liquid petroleum gas and ammonia and non-pressurized tank cars for light oil, chemicals and other products. In addition, the Company produces flat cars, coil cars for the steel and metals market, coal cars for both the continental European and United Kingdom markets, gondolas, sliding wall cars and automobile transporter cars. The Company manufactures a range of ocean-going barges, including conventional deck barges, double-hull tank barges, railcar/deck barges, barges for aggregates, and other heavy industrial products and dump barges.

Refurbishment and Parts

The Company operates repair, refurbishment, wheel services and component parts networks in North America, operating in 38 locations. The Company’s network of railcar repair and refurbishment shops, operating in 22 locations, performs railcar repair and refurbishment, as well as routine railcar maintenance. The Company is engaged in the repair and refurbishment of railcars for third-parties, as well as of its own leased and managed fleet. Its wheel shops, operating in 11 locations, provide wheel services, including reconditioning of wheels, axles and roller bearings, as well as new axle machining and finishing, and axle downsizing. Its component parts facilities, operating in five locations, recondition railcar cushioning units, couplers, yokes, side frames, bolsters and various other parts. It also produces roofs, doors and associated parts for boxcars.

Leasing and Services

The Company offers financing programs, including traditional direct finance leases, operating leases and by the mile leases to its customers. As equipment owner, the Company participates in the operating lease segment of the market. The majority of its leases are full service leases where the Company is responsible for maintenance and administration. The Company’s management services business offers a range of services that include railcar maintenance management, railcar accounting services, such as billing and revenue collection, car hire receivable and payable administration, total fleet management, including railcar tracking, administration and railcar remarketing. The Company owns or provides management services for a fleet of approximately 226,000 railcars in North America for railroads, shippers, carriers, institutional investors, and other leasing and transportation companies.