Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Accounting Changes and Error Corrections [Abstract]

Change in Accounting Estimate, Description

Change in Accounting EstimateDuring the first quarter of 2014, we completed a review of the estimated useful lives used for our North American railcar fleet and determined that the economic service life of many of our railcars differed from the useful life currently used to calculate depreciation. As a result, effective January 1, 2014, we revised the estimated useful lives from a range of 30-38 years to a range of 27-42 years. In aggregate, the average depreciable life of the fleet increased approximately 2.2 years. The impact of these implemented changes on depreciation expense for affected assets in the first quarter of 2014 is a net decrease in depreciation expense of approximately $5.5 million and an increase in net income of $3.5 million, or $0.08 per diluted share. The full year impact for 2014 for affected assets is expected to be a decrease in depreciation expense of approximately $21.9 million and an increase in net income of $14.0 million, or approximately $0.30 per diluted share.

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation

We prepared the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements in accordance with US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, our unaudited consolidated financial statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required for complete financial statements. We have included all of the normal recurring adjustments that we deemed necessary for a fair presentation.

Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2014, are not necessarily indicative of the results we may achieve for the entire year ending December 31, 2014. In particular, ASC's fleet is inactive for a significant portion of the first quarter of each year due to winter conditions on the Great Lakes. In addition, asset remarketing income does not occur evenly throughout the year. For more information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013.

Change in Accounting Estimate

During the first quarter of 2014, we completed a review of the estimated useful lives used for our North American railcar fleet and determined that the economic service life of many of our railcars differed from the useful life currently used to calculate depreciation. As a result, effective January 1, 2014, we revised the estimated useful lives from a range of 30-38 years to a range of 27-42 years. In aggregate, the average depreciable life of the fleet increased approximately 2.2 years. The impact of these implemented changes on depreciation expense for affected assets in the first quarter of 2014 is a net decrease in depreciation expense of approximately $5.5 million and an increase in net income of $3.5 million, or $0.08 per diluted share. The full year impact for 2014 for affected assets is expected to be a decrease in depreciation expense of approximately $21.9 million and an increase in net income of $14.0 million, or approximately $0.30 per diluted share.