Accounts Receivable

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Accounts Receivable, Net [Abstract]

Accounts Receivable [Text Block]

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE:

Accounts receivable consisted of the following as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 (dollars in thousands):

	March 31, 2015			December 31, 2014
Accounts receivable - trade	$	358,580		$	304,087
Accounts receivable - grants from outside parties	20,271			32,076
Accounts receivable - insurance and other third-party claims	22,576			26,941
Total accounts receivable	401,427			363,104
Less: Allowance for doubtful accounts	(7,295		)	(5,826		)
Accounts receivable, net	$	394,132		$	357,278

Accounts receivable as of March 31, 2015 included $75.3 million, representing the net realizable value, of accounts receivable acquired in the Freightliner acquisition.

Grants from Outside Parties

The Company periodically receives grants for the upgrade and construction of rail lines and the upgrade of locomotives from federal, provincial, state and local agencies in the United States, Australia and provinces in Canada in which the Company operates. These grants typically reimburse the Company for 50% to 100% of the actual cost of specific projects. In total, the Company received grant proceeds of $16.4 million and $12.8 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, from such grant programs. The proceeds were presented as cash inflows from investing activities within each of the applicable periods.

None of the Company's grants represent a future liability of the Company unless the Company abandons the rehabilitated or new track structure within a specified period of time or fails to maintain the upgraded or new track to certain standards, fails to make certain minimum capital improvements or ceases use of the locomotives within the specified geographic area and time period, in each case as required in the applicable grant agreement. As the Company intends to comply with the requirements of these agreements, the Company has recorded additions to track property and locomotives and has deferred the amount of the grants. The amortization of deferred grants is a non-cash offset to depreciation expense over the useful lives of the related assets. During the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company recorded offsets to depreciation expense from grant amortization of $2.8 million and $2.7 million, respectively.

Insurance and Third-Party Claims

Accounts receivable from insurance and other third-party claims at March 31, 2015 included $13.5 million from the Company's North American & European Operations and $9.0 million from the Company's Australian Operations. The balance from the Company's North American & European Operations resulted predominately from the Company's anticipated insurance recoveries associated with a derailment in Alabama (the Aliceville Derailment) in November 2013. The balance from the Company's Australian Operations resulted primarily from the Company's anticipated insurance recoveries associated with derailments in Australia in 2012. The Company received proceeds from insurance totaling $1.4 million and $0.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.