Intermodal , Drayage and Chassis

Special Report

inadequate to handle freight demand , causing shippers to worry whether their product will move downstream in enough time to generate revenue .”

Flexibility to negotiate

Union Pacific Railroad ( UP ) seeks rate increases in California while conceding to flat or lower rates in several inland markets , according to a pricing matrix compiled by the company that the Journal of Commerce has obtained .

Aggregate pricing for low-volume shippers , which sets the ceiling for negotiations with customers moving higher volumes , shows proposed increases of 5.9 % in Southern California and 3.1 % in Northern California , effective Feb . 1 .

Max-Atlas claims Ocean Trailer incorrectly labeled 1,330 chassis as built in Vietnam . Sheila Fitzgerald / Shutterstock . com

“ Rates only go up significantly when the supply is insufficient or inadequate to handle freight demand .”

However , UP has shown flexibility to negotiate more aggressive rates to keep incumbent customers or take business away from competitors .

“ If UP really wants the lane and it fits well within their network , they ’ re willing to help us retain existing business and compete against J . B . Hunt ,” said a non-asset intermodal marketing company ( IMC ) executive . “ Other BNSF partners are also offering attractive rates to take business from UP .”

The need to work aggressively to keep or win business has fostered pessimism about the first half of the year among intermodal carriers and brokers .

“ The magic date for me is June ,” a second non-asset IMC executive told the Journal of Commerce . “ Either truckload capacity will have shrunk considerably and the market dynamics have shifted , or it ’ ll be another tough year for carriers .”

BNSF and UP seem reluctant to raise rates in inland markets such as Chicago , Memphis , Minneapolis and St . Louis , with proposed rates flat or lower than a year ago , according to pricing documents from UP and BNSF partners that the Journal of Commerce has had access to .

Amazon is adding pressure to the domestic intermodal market by leveraging its fleet of more than 20,000 branded containers . The e-commerce giant is courting shippers with very aggressive rates to fill its boxes on backhauls from the inland to the West Coast in a bid to balance its freight flows originating from the West Coast , according to two intermodal shippers that spoke with the Journal of Commerce .

email : ari . ashe @ spglobal . com

Canada investigating imported chassis over alleged Chinese components

By Ari Ashe

The Canada Border Services Agency ( CBSA ) is conducting an “ anti-circumvention ” investigation into whether British Columbia-based chassis manufacturer Ocean Trailer violated trade regulations meant to protect Canadian manufacturers against chassis subsidized by the Chinese government .

The investigation comes after Canadian chassis manufacturer Max-Atlas International filed a complaint against rival Ocean Trailer with the CBSA , Canada ’ s counterpart to US Customs and Border Protection . Max-Atlas alleges that Ocean Trailer purchased chassis from a Vietnamese manufacturer that sourced key components from China and failed to pay the necessary countervailing and antidumping duties .

Max-Atlas ’ complaint is reminiscent of a recent case in the US , in which Dorsey Intermodal was found to have evaded said duties . The same Vietnamese company , Truong Hai Group Corporation ( THACO ), is involved in

18 Journal of Commerce | February 3 , 2025 www . joc . com