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Rail-car orders and deliveries continued to slide in the first quarter. Orders totaled 2,637 compared with 3,221 in the last quarter and 8,413 in first-quarter 2001; and deliveries, 3,855, compared with 7,020 in the last quarter and 11,070 in 2001's first quarter, according to American Railway Car Institute Committee (ARCI) of Railway Progress Institute.
"While it's too early to speculate on 2002 total orders and deliveries, if this trend continues, 2002 will be the worst year for freight-car builders since the mid-1980s," said ARCI spokesman Thomas Simpson in a prepared statement.
Meanwhile, the rail-car order backlog plummeted, too. Cars on order as of March 31 totaled 6,443 — representing an industry output rate of five months of production, ARCI said — dropping 25 percent compared with a Dec. 31 car-order backlog of 8,089.