Last year, we articulated our strategy centered on continuing safe operation of our facilities as critical supply infrastructure under U.S. Presidential policy number 21, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Transportation.
Jorge worked in the paint department at our Greenbrier Sahagun, otherwise known as plant 2 facility in Mexico.
At the end of the third quarter of 2020, we announced we achieved liquidity target of $1 billion despite some challenging quarters.
Liquidity is important during a steep recovery cycle of these steep cycle, remembering that this is a 100 year pandemic that everyone has had to navigate.
The results in the third quarter reflect both a steady recovery in our markets as well as Greenbrier's ability to manage through some of the most challenging quarters in the company's history and in fact, in the -- over the last 100 years.
Through May, North American rail traffic was up 12.1%.
Overall, system velocity has slowed approximately 2 miles per hour due to robust rail freight recovery.
These fleets are almost fully deployed with over 95% utilization.
Total North American railcar utilization is nearly 80% as of June 1st.
Since the peak last year, over a 160,000 cars have been taken out of storage in North America, bringing the number of storage cars to approximately 360,000 units.
We are also seeing robust activity in the railcar conversion market with the recent 1,000 tank car conversion order.
In the fiscal quarter -- third fiscal quarter, Greenbrier won orders for 3,800 railcars totaling $400 million and our backlog as of May 31st was 24,800 units valued at $2.6 billion.
Subsequent to quarter end, the commercial team has booked nearly 3,000 additional orders for intermodal, automotive, covered hoppers and gondolas.
One thing we've learned over the last 18 months is the resiliency and flexibility are vital in an ever evolving pandemic setting.
We delivered 3,300 units in the quarter, including 500 units in Brazil.
Our Q3 deliveries increased 57% from the second quarter.
This strong performance is against the backdrop of adding almost a 1,000 employees.
GBX Leasing was formed and $130 million of the initial $200 million railcar portfolio was contributed to the joint venture.
This activity was levered 75% or 3:1, so about $100 million was funded from the non-recourse warehouse credit facility.
Our capital market team, also part of leasing and services, syndicated 200 units in the quarter and yielded valuable operating leverage.
At the end of Q3, Greenbrier was providing management services on 445,000 railcars or about 26% of the total North American fleet.
Given the strong performance in Q3 and continuing into Q4, we expect to exit the year with gross margins in the teens and further decisive actions taken over the last 15 months, Greenbrier is a stronger and leaner organization and is well positioned to benefit from the emerging economic recovery.
Our revenues of $450 million which increased over 50% from Q2.
Book-to-bill of 1.2 times made up of deliveries of 3,300 units, which included 500 units from Brazil and orders of 3,800 new units.
This is the second consecutive quarter that book-to-bill exceeded 1 times.
Aggregate gross margin of nearly 16.7%.
Selling and administrative expense of $49 million increased sequentially, reflecting start-up costs from the formation of GBX Leasing and higher employee-related costs.
Adjusted net earnings attributable to Greenbrier of $23.3 million or $0.69 per share excludes $3.6 million or $0.10 per share of debt extinguishment losses, EBITDA of $53 million or 11.7% of revenue.
The effective tax rate in the quarter was a benefit of 64%.
We also recognized $1.9 million of gross costs, specifically related to COVID-19, employee and facility safety.
Greenbrier continues to have a strong balance sheet and we are well positioned for the recovery that is emerging, including cash of $628 million and borrowing capacity of over $220 million, Greenbrier's liquidity remains healthy at $850 million plus another $149 million of initiatives in process.
In the quarter, Greenbrier began extending the maturities of its long-term debt with the issuance of $374 million of 2.875% senior convertible notes due in 2028.
Concurrently, we retired $257 million of senior convertible notes due in 2024, and maybe from time-to-time retire additional 2024 notes in privately negotiated transactions within the limitations of applicable securities regulations.
As part of the convertible note issuance process, we repurchased $20 million of our outstanding common stock.
Turning to capital spending, leasing and services is expected to spend approximately $130 million in 2021, reflecting continued investments into our lease fleet, primarily at GBX Leasing to maximize the tax benefits I spoke to earlier.
Manufacturing and wheels repair and parts capital expenditures are still expected to be about $35 million for the year, with spending focused on safety and required maintenance.
Today, Greenbrier's Board of Directors announced a dividend of $0.27 per share, which is our 29th consecutive dividend.
Looking ahead, Greenbrier expects the fourth quarter to be the strongest performance of the year.

Summary:
Our revenues of $450 million which increased over 50% from Q2.
Adjusted net earnings attributable to Greenbrier of $23.3 million or $0.69 per share excludes $3.6 million or $0.10 per share of debt extinguishment losses, EBITDA of $53 million or 11.7% of revenue.
Looking ahead, Greenbrier expects the fourth quarter to be the strongest performance of the year.