Small-Cube Covered Hoppers Available for Salt Service — Lease with Purchase Options
RTEX is now marketing a fleet of 3,285 cubic foot steel covered hoppers into salt and other dense dry bulk service. The cars are available on lease, and we are prepared to structure those leases with purchase options for shippers who would rather build equity than rent indefinitely.
Why small cube is the right car for salt
Salt is heavy. Rock salt, solar salt, and water softener grades all load out at densities where a standard 4,750 CF covered hopper reaches its weight limit long before the car is full — you pay to move air, and the excess cube does nothing but add tare weight and maintenance surface.
A 3,285 CF covered hopper sized for dense lading is a better match. The commodity reaches the load limit and the cube behind it, which means fewer wasted pounds of car per pound of freight and a cleaner fit for deicing, water treatment, and chemical-grade salt programs.
That same logic applies well beyond salt. These cars are equally suited to frac and industrial sand, cement, lime, fly ash handled by gravity, aggregates, and mineral products — any commodity that weighs out rather than cubes out.
Car specifications
| Type | Covered hopper, small cube, 2-bay |
| Capacity | 3,285 cubic feet (1,642 CF per hopper) |
| Build material | Steel — ASTM A572 GR50 / GR65 |
| Year built | 2016 |
| Gross rail load | 286,000 lb |
| Load limit | Approximately 225,400 lb (light weight approximately 60,600 lb) |
| Loading | Top loading — three 30" round hatches |
| Unloading | Two gravity outlet gates; vibrators may be used to assist |
| Trucks | 100-ton Barber HD-9C with constant contact side bearings |
| Clearance | AAR Plate C |
| Dimensions | 42′ 2-1/2" over couplers; 14′ 10-1/2" maximum height |
Light weight varies slightly car to car, so net lading capacity does as well. RTEX will confirm exact light weights on the specific cars assigned to your program.
Gravity discharge and top loading
Two bottom outlet gates handle unloading, and the cars are equipped for vibrator assist where the commodity needs it.
Loading is from overhead through three 30-inch round hatch covers, with a full-length running board between them.
These cars are coming out of sand and cement service. RTEX arranges cleaning to whatever standard your commodity requires before placement, and we will document that condition for you in advance of loading.
Lease structures — including purchase options
Most shippers come to us wanting one of three things: predictable monthly cost, the shortest workable commitment, or a path to ownership. This fleet can support all three, using the same structures we offer across our railcar leasing programs.
- Full-service lease. RTEX handles maintenance, running repairs, and mileage administration. You get one number per car per month and no mechanical department to staff.
- Net lease. You take on maintenance responsibility at a lower monthly rate — typically the better economics if you already run a fleet.
- Lease with purchase option. Lease the cars, run them, and hold the right to buy them at a defined price. It is the lowest-risk way to test a car type against your actual loading and unloading operation before committing capital, and it puts the lease payments to work toward an asset rather than into pure expense.
- Outright purchase. If ownership is the goal from the start, we will quote it directly.
Placement across North America
RTEX manages railcars across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and works with Class I carriers and short lines alike to get equipment where it needs to be. If your loading facility is served by a short line, we will work the interchange and routing question with you rather than leave it as your problem to solve. And because deicing demand is seasonal, we can arrange railcar storage for cars sitting idle between loading seasons.
Request a quote
If you are sourcing salt cars for the coming season — or evaluating whether a smaller cube fits your dense dry bulk program better than what you run today — we can put numbers in front of you quickly.
Or reach us directly at sa***@******il.com or +1 (904) 241-4176.
RTEX Railcar Leasing & Sales, LLC manages, leases, and sells freight railcars across North America. Learn more about covered hopper leasing and sales, or browse covered hoppers available now →