The Energy Transport Insider - Powered by FTR, is a product designed to provide transparency into the Tank Car leasing market. Here are some frequently asked questions that may be helpful.
Q. Where does FTR source the lease rate data?
A. The data is captured every two weeks from industry participants and includes major shippers, brokers, and rail lessors.
Q. How many cars comprise the transactions captured in the product?
A. The data is anonymized on the backend to protect the market participants. Every two weeks, data is captured from market participants, including shippers, brokers, and lessors, that provide the highest rates paid/received and the lowest rates paid/received during the current assessment period. The FTR data team then aggregates and provides an output to show the highest, lowest, and average rates by car type.
Q. Is historical data available?
A. Not in the standard product. If you want access to the historical data, our Tailored Solutions team can provide the historical data through a custom data pull with a small charge. The data pull would be for the most common car type for pressure and general purpose tank cars at the most liquid term.
Q. What is the process for data capture? How do I know that I'm getting the most recent data?
A. Every two weeks, a Lease Activity Tracker is sent out to our rate-providing participants. The spreadsheet is returned, and our data team updates the database and then provides the updated product to our clients by the close of business on Friday of the week the assessment was made.
Q. What are the advantages of this product if I'm a shipper?
A. Pricing transparency in an open marketplace gives you negotiation leverage and protection to pay what your competitors are paying. When you negotiate better on the front end, economies of scale begin to work to your advantage, as you'll save on each car's lease each month.
Q. What are the advantages of this product if I'm a lessor?
A. The ability to benchmark your transactions accurately against the market ensures that you're not leaving money on the table with missed profits to pricing too low or lost deals to your competition.
Q. What are the advantages of providing our captured/paid lease rates?
A. There are many -
- As a data provider, you receive the product back to you free of charge.
- The data is anonymous to the marketplace, so you won't be tipping your hand to your competition regarding your rate history.
- You'll be helping build a more transparent marketplace and level playing field.
- You'll receive bi-monthly updates of how the market is behaving, aiding in your ability to benchmark your own business more accurately.