Rail supplier news from Greenbrier, Gross & Janes, FS Solutions, Danella and WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff (Sept. 12)

Greenbrier Management Services LLC has expanded its rail-car asset management business with the launch of a new group that offers regulatory, engineering, process consulting and advocacy support to the tank car and petrochemical rail shipper community. Petrochemical shippers and other tank car users make up a rail user group that offers "substantial growth in demand for discrete, unique and value-added asset management services," company officials said in a press release. James Rader will lead the new group as vice president of regulatory services. He previously worked for Watco Cos. LLC, as well as GBW Railcar Services, the rail-car repair joint venture between Greenbrier and Watco.

Gross & Janes Co. has received a U.S. patent for its two-step borate pre-treatment dipping process and related equipment aimed at increasing the life of wood crossties. The two-step method is an environmentally friendly pre-treatment of "green" crossties prior to air-drying, company officials said in a press release. Following the air-drying process, the ties then are treated with the traditional creosote or copper napthenate. Gross & Janes uses the two-step method in the production of its Tuff-Tie™ borate pre-treated crossties at its plant in Camden, Ark. Receiving the patent "validates decades of effort to incorporate borate as an additional component in treating a railroad tie," said Gross & Janes President Mike Pourney.

Ten FS Solutions centers in the United States now provide rentals of Vactor HXX, Guzzler and Westech vacuum trucks, Federal Signal Corp.'s Environmental Solutions Group announced. The move is part of Federal Signal's commitment to increasing rental, product, service and training offerings to industrial cleaning contractors and other industry professionals across the country, company officials said in a news release. The rental offering will expand to all 12 FS Solutions locations in the near future, company officials said. Federal Signal's recent acquisition of Joe Johnson Equipment, a Canadian-based distributor of maintenance equipment for municipal and industrial markets, has allowed FS Solutions to offer a range of truck rentals to customers for short- and long-term contracts.

Danella Rental Systems has hired Matthew Harbison as business development manager for the company's western North America territory. Harbison is a 13-year veteran of the rail industry and most recently served as a sales representative for a hi-rail manufacturer. He's a member of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association and is active on Committee 27, the association's maintenance-of-way work equipment group.

WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff has appointed Richard Driggs president of the firm's program management sector. He is responsible for building a program management organization across all of the company's U.S. and Latin American markets, including buildings, industrial and energy, environment and transportation. Driggs has more than two decades of experience in the architecture, engineering, construction and real estate industries. He previously served as president and chief executive officer of Heery International, which is an architecture, interior design, engineering, construction management and program management firm.