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The Greenbrier Cos. and GE Equipment Services, Rail Services recently reached an agreement under which Greenbrier will build 11,900 tank cars and covered hoppers for the freight-car lessor over an eight-year period.

The pact — which marks Greenbrier's entry into the North American tank-car manufacturing market — also calls for the builder to install GE's VeriWise™ RAIL fleet management system on the new cars. The system is designed to monitor car location and load condition.

Greenbrier will deliver the first 3,400 cars in third-quarter 2008 and complete deliveries in first-half 2011. The agreement allows GE Rail Services to change the order's car type mix pending market needs and fluctuations.

As a new tank-car builder, Greenbrier plans to initially produce 30,000-gallon non-coiled, non-insulated tank cars designed for transporting ethanol, methanol and more than 60 other commodities. Greenbrier eventually will develop and build other general-purpose tank cars.

"Our recently formed joint venture facility, Greenbrier-GIMSA, is expected to provide low capital cost access to competitive tank-car production," said Greenbrier President and Chief Executive Officer William Furman in a prepared statement. "We intend to capitalize both on our prior experience in building tank cars in Europe and Canada, and on GE Rail Services' vast knowledge of tank cars, to help ensure the smooth start-up of this new product line."