RETIREMENT PLANS

Retirement Plans

The Company has seven retirement plans that cover its hourly and salaried employees in the United States: three defined benefit plans, all of which are frozen, and four 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 Plans

Net periodic pension costs for the United States defined benefit pension plans for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 are as follows:



	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2017			2016			2017			2016
Service cost	$	—		$	9		$	—		$	27
Interest cost	171			186			513			559
Expected return on plan assets	(178		)	(179		)	(533		)	(538		)
Recognized net actuarial loss	33			69			98			207
Net periodic pension cost	$	26		$	85		$	78		$	255

The Company does not expect to contribute to its United States defined benefit plans in 2017.

United Kingdom Defined Benefit Plans

Net periodic pension costs for the United Kingdom defined benefit pension plan for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 are as follows:



	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2017			2016			2017			2016
Interest cost	$	56		$	73		$	168		$	223
Expected return on plan assets	(67		)	(82		)	(201		)	(250		)
Amortization of prior service costs and transition amount	4			5			12			15
Recognized net actuarial loss	72			38			216			116
Net periodic pension cost	$	65		$	34		$	195		$	104

United Kingdom regulations require trustees to adopt a prudent approach to funding required contributions to defined benefit pension plans. Employer contributions of approximately $251 are anticipated to the United Kingdom Rail Technologies pension plan during 2017. For the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the Company contributed approximately $188 to the plan.

Defined Contribution Plans

The Company sponsors eight 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 September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2017		2016		2017		2016
United States	$	415	$	152	$	1,276	$	1,289
Canada	53		46		167		164
United Kingdom	93		64		306		281
	$	561	$	262	$	1,749	$	1,734