For those that don’t understand the concern:
Shortage of tank cars as crude-by-rail picks up
http://www.smartbrief.com/news/aar/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=ECA30740-C76E-4DF2-B544-4B823B41ED51©id=8569468E-95CF-41CF-B014-A1E84D5C415D&brief=aar&sb_code=rss&&campaign=rss
02/22/2013
In 2009, Canadian Pacific moved 500 tank cars of petroleum products. In 2012, it moved 13,000 and could soon be moving as many as 70,000 tank cars. That’s one reason the tank car backlog has reached about 48,000. “There has been a shortage of cars ever since crude on rail picked up,” said Jean-Jacques Ruest, chief marketing officer at Canadian National. “There will be a shortage of cars in 2013; there will probably be a shortage of cars in 2014. After that we will see.”
Since you commented on Buffet on the other thread, I thought you would want to see this. He gets a second benefit beyond just moving the oil tanker cars, he sells them too.
Buffett Like Icahn Reaping Tank Car Boom From Shale Oil
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-03/buffett-like-icahn-reaping-tank-car-boom-from-shale-oil.html
Warren Buffett and Carl Icahn are reaping the benefits of surging demand for railroad tank cars to haul shale oil from beyond the reach of existing pipelines.
Buffett’s Union Tank Car Co. is working at full capacity and Icahn’s American Railcar Industries Inc. (ARII) has a backlog through 2014. Trinity Industries Inc. (TRN), the biggest railcar producer, began converting wind-tower factories last year to help meet demand for train cars that can transport the petroleum product.
All three are getting a boost from a shale-oil boom that’s poised to make the U.S. the world’s largest crude producer by 2020. Rail carloads of crude tripled last year to more than 200,000, and demand for tanks designed for it soared, helping both Trinity and American Railcar outstrip the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
Just a few years ago, tank cars could be leased for $500 per month or about $1 per bbl of capacity. There were a half dozen brokerages that would take your unneeded cars and sublease them to others if your need evaporated for a short period.
Now, they’re as scare as hen’s teeth (or something like that.)