Greenbrier announces new regional hub in Dallas-Fort Worth area

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., May 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX) announced today the opening of a new regional hub in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with a lease of nearly 6,000 square feet of office space in Colleyville, Texas. The hub positions Greenbrier closer to the bulk of its customer base and North American operations, as well as the important Gulf Coast and Midwest energy and downstream markets.    

In June, eight employees focused on product development, engineering and retrofit design work for tank cars will occupy the center.  Over the next year, Greenbrier will hire additional employees based at Colleyville in engineering or commercial roles, adding to Greenbrier's talent base located in Oregon, and elsewhere in North America and Europe.

"Our Dallas-Fort Worth hub positions Greenbrier at the center of the burgeoning energy markets that we expect will be a major driver of our business for years to come," said William A. Furman, Chairman and CEO. "The new location allows Greenbrier easier access to the energy, petrochemical and plastics markets, and to key customers including Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway and most of our North American operations. More than 20 of Greenbrier's 37 sites in our wheels, repair and parts network are located in the Midwest and southern U.S., including three of Greenbrier's four shops certified to perform tank car repair and maintenance. In addition, Greenbrier builds new railcars at three facilities in nearby Mexico."

"Our Colleyville staff has product development expertise and strength in engineering that adds to our talented team around the world.  Together we will aggressively pursue retrofit opportunities for tank cars, design work for new railcars and other opportunities presented by the dynamic rail transportation and energy markets we serve,"  Furman concluded.

Greenbrier employs nearly 500 people across the Gulf Coast region including Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida.  The Colleyville location increases Greenbrier's full-time employment in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to more than 230 employees, including employees of Greenbrier Leasing Company in Fort Worth and Greenbrier Repair Services facility in Cleburne.  Greenbrier's total U.S. workforce exceeds 2,500 employees out of more than 9,000 employees worldwide.

Greenbrier, (www.gbrx.com), headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon, is a leading supplier of transportation equipment and services to the railroad industry. Greenbrier builds new railroad freight cars in its four manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and Mexico and marine barges at its U.S. facility. It also repairs and refurbishes freight cars and provides wheels and railcar parts at 37 locations across North America. Greenbrier builds new railroad freight cars and refurbishes freight cars for the European market through both its operations in Poland and various subcontractor facilities throughout Europe. Greenbrier owns approximately 8,800 railcars, and performs management services for approximately 234,000 railcars. 

"SAFE HARBOR" STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995:  This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding expected new railcar production volumes and schedules, expected customer demand for the Company's products and services, plans to increase manufacturing capacity, restructuring plans, new railcar delivery volumes and schedules, growth in demand for the Company's railcar services and parts business, and the Company's future financial performance. Greenbrier uses words such as "anticipates," "believes," "forecast," "potential," "goal," "contemplates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "hopes," "seeks," "estimates," "strategy," "could," "would," "should," "likely," "will," "may," "can," "designed to," "future," "foreseeable future" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from in the results contemplated by the forward-looking statements.  Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, reported backlog is not indicative of our financial results; turmoil in the credit markets and financial services industry; high levels of indebtedness and compliance with the terms of our indebtedness; write-downs of goodwill, intangibles and other assets in future periods; sufficient availability of borrowing capacity; fluctuations in demand for newly manufactured railcars or failure to obtain orders as anticipated in developing forecasts; loss of one or more significant customers; customer payment defaults or related issues; actual future costs and the availability of materials and a trained workforce; failure to design or manufacture new products or technologies or to achieve certification or market acceptance of new products or technologies; steel or specialty component price fluctuations and availability and scrap surcharges; changes in product mix and the mix between segments; labor disputes, energy shortages or operating difficulties that might disrupt manufacturing operations or the flow of cargo; production difficulties and product delivery delays as a result of, among other matters, inefficiencies associated with expansion or start-up of production lines or increased production rates, changing technologies, transfer of production between facilities or non-performance of alliance partners, subcontractors or suppliers; ability to obtain suitable contracts for the sale of leased equipment and risks related to car hire and residual values; integration of current or future acquisitions; succession planning; discovery of defects in railcars or services resulting in increased warranty costs or litigation; physical damage or product or service liability claims that exceed our insurance coverage; train derailments or other accidents or claims that could subject us to legal claims; actions by various regulatory agencies including potential environmental remediation obligations or changing tank car or other rail car regulation; and interruption of our manufacturing operations as a result of lease termination or expiration; all as may be discussed in more detail under the headings "Risk Factors" and "Forward Looking Statements" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2013, and our other reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management's opinions only as of the date hereof.  Except as otherwise required by law, we do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

SOURCE The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (GBX)