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Rail-car orders tumbled in the third quarter, falling to a four-digit total for the first time in several years. Orders totaled 8,121 units, a 30 percent decrease compared with the second quarter's 11,595 units and 62 percent plunge compared with third-quarter 2006's 21,466 units, according to data released by the American Railway Car Institute Committee (ARCI) of the Railway Supply Institute.

Third-quarter car deliveries, which totaled 15,032 units, also declined on both a quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year basis. Deliveries dropped 7 percent compared with the second quarter's 16,143 units and 21 percent compared with third-quarter 2006's 19,008 units.

Meanwhile, the rail-car backlog, which has been declining since third-quarter 2006, decreased a tad more in the third quarter, according to ARCI. On Oct. 1, the backlog stood at 67,000 units compared with 73,911 units on July 1, 79,038 units on April 1 and 85,826 units on Dec. 31, 2006.