CHICAGO — Car manufacturing and leasing company FreightCar America has announced a joint venture with a Mexican heavy equipment manufacturer to build railroad cars in Castaños, Mexico.
The agreement is with Fabricaciones y Servicios de Mexico, known as Fasemex, which also manufactures railroad cars and has operations in both Mexico and the United States.
Moving manufacturing to Mexico is a cost-cutting move stemming from lower freight volume and the dampening effects of precision scheduled railroading on freight car demand, FreightCar America officials say.
“We are making great progress in our material and fixed cost reduction efforts, and now, with the addition of this partnership in Castaños, we will become even more competitive in certain railcar types that weren’t economically feasible previously,” says FreightCar America CEO Jim Meyer.
FreightCar America has been phasing out its manufacturing plant in the former Norfolk & Western East End Shops in Roanoke, Va., eliminating some 200 jobs.
The company is building a new plant in Muscle Shoals, Ala., slated to begin operation in mid-2020, officials say.
Other FreightCar America facilities are in Cherokee, Ala.; Grand Island, Neb.; Johnstown, Pa.; and Shangai, China.
In addition to leasing and supplying railcar parts, FreightCar America builds coal, bulk commodity, covered hopper, mill gondola, and coil steel cars along with boxcars and intermodal and non-intermodal flatcars.
Founded in 1996, Fasemex does engineering, procurement, production, and assembly and provides contract maintenance services for mining and transportation industries including railroading.
Jesus Gil, co-owner of Fasemex, says the joint venture with FreightCar America stems from more than a year of effort and “We are excited about the growth that this represents for our company.”
