Retirement Plans

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

RETIREMENT PLANS

RETIREMENT PLANS

13. RETIREMENT PLANS

Retirement Plans

With the acquisition of Portec Rail, the Company has six plans which cover its hourly and salaried employees in the United States; three defined benefit plans (one active/two frozen) and three defined contribution plans.  Employees are eligible to participate in the appropriate plan based on employment classification.  Funding for the Company's domestic defined benefit and defined contribution plans are governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), applicable plan policy and investment guidelines.  The Company policy is to contribute at least the minimum funding standards of ERISA.

Portec Rail maintains two defined contribution plans for its employees in Canada, as well as a post-retirement benefit plan.  In the United Kingdom, Portec Rail maintains both a defined contribution plan and a defined benefit plan.  These plans are discussed in further detail below.

United States Defined Benefit Plans

Net periodic pension costs for both plans for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 are as follows:

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
	2011			2010			2011			2010
	In thousands
Service cost	$	8		$	7		$	23		$	20
Interest cost		200			203			600			610
Expected return on plan assets		(191	)		(233	)		(574	)		(697	)
Recognized net actuarial loss		28			75			84			223
Net periodic benefit cost	$	45		$	52		$	133		$	156

The Company expects to contribute approximately $1,048,000 to its United States defined benefit plans in 2011.  For the nine months ended September 30, 2011, the Company contributed approximately $858,000 to these plans.

United Kingdom Defined Benefit Plans

Net periodic pension costs for the United Kingdom defined benefit pension plans are as follows for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2011:

	Three Months Ended			Nine Months Ended
	September 30, 2011			September 30, 2011
	In thousands
Interest cost	$	66		$	201
Expected return on plan assets		(72	)		(220	)
Amortization of transition amount		(12	)		(36	)
Recognized net actuarial loss		29			85
Net periodic benefit cost	$	11		$	30

United Kingdom regulations require trustees to adopt a prudent approach to funding required contributions to defined benefit pension plans. The Company anticipates making contributions of $227,000 to the Portec Rail pension plan during 2011.  For the nine months ended September 30, 2011, the Company contributed approximately $170,000 to the Portec Rail Plan.

Defined Contribution Plans

The Company has a defined contribution plan that covers all non-union hourly and all salaried employees. This plan permits both pretax and after-tax employee contributions. Participants can contribute, subject to statutory limitations, between 1% and 75% of eligible pre-tax pay and between 1% and 100% of eligible after-tax pay.  The Company's employer match is 100% of the first 1% of deferred eligible compensation and up to 50% of the next 6%, based on years of service, of deferred eligible compensation, for a total maximum potential match of 4%.  The Company may also make discretionary contributions to the Plan.  The expense associated with this plan for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011 was $518,000 and $1,375,000, respectively.  The expense associated with this plan for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010 was $327,000 and $1,109,000, respectively.

The Company also has a defined contribution plan for union hourly employees with contributions made by both the participants and the Company based on various formulas.  The expense associated with this active plan for the three months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 was $17,000 and $8,000, respectively.  The expense associated with this active plan for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 was $45,000 and $25,000, respectively.

The Company also maintains several defined contribution benefit plans for its domestic and foreign employees of its wholly-owned subsidiary Portec Rail.  Portec Rail's expense associated with these benefit plans for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011 was $165,000 and $458,000, respectively.