RETIREMENT PLANS

Retirement Plans

The Company has three retirement plans that cover its hourly and salaried employees in the United States: one defined benefit plan, which is frozen, and two defined contribution plans. Employees are eligible to participate in the appropriate plan based on employment classification. The Company’s contributions to the defined benefit and defined contribution plans are governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) and the Company’s policy and investment guidelines applicable to each respective plan. The Company’s policy is to contribute at least the minimum in accordance with the funding standards of ERISA.

The Company’s subsidiary, L.B. Foster Rail Technologies, Inc. (“Rail Technologies”), maintains two defined contribution plans for its employees in Canada, as well as a post-retirement benefit plan. In the United Kingdom, Rail Technologies maintains two defined contribution plans and a defined benefit plan.

United States Defined Benefit Plan

Net periodic pension costs for the United States defined benefit pension plan for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 are as follows:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2018			2017
Interest cost	$	155		$	171
Expected return on plan assets	(213		)	(178		)
Recognized net actuarial loss	24			33
Net periodic pension (income) cost	$	(34	)	$	26

The Company does not expect to contribute to its United States defined benefit plan in 2018.

United Kingdom Defined Benefit Plan

Net periodic pension costs for the United Kingdom defined benefit pension plan for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 are as follows:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2018			2017
Interest cost	$	53		$	55
Expected return on plan assets	(72		)	(65		)
Amortization of prior service costs and transition amount	5			4
Recognized net actuarial loss	49			69
Net periodic pension cost	$	35		$	63

United Kingdom regulations require trustees to adopt a prudent approach to funding required contributions to defined benefit pension plans. Employer contributions of approximately $262 are anticipated to the United Kingdom Rail Technologies pension plan during 2018. For the three months ended March 31, 2018, the Company contributed approximately $65 to the plan.

Defined Contribution Plans

The Company sponsors six defined contribution plans for hourly and salaried employees across our domestic and international facilities. The following table summarizes the expense associated with the contributions made to these plans.



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2018		2017
United States	$	544	$	451
Canada	33		59
United Kingdom	117		115
	$	694	$	625