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The Pool of Pools now has just 25,000 chassis, down from 80,000 when it began in 2015. Siri Stafford / Getty Images the changing environment at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex from a primarily pool-owned and-operated chassis market to a trucker-owned or-leased market.
In 2015, almost 80 % of the chassis in Southern California were controlled by PoP members. That number has flipped to 75 %-80 % trucker-owned or-leased because of changing operating conditions that call for trucker and customer control of the chassis, Gilene said.
“ We have seen incidents of inadequate support when PoP chassis were short, or simply not having the right number of chassis at the right location.”
He also said the move to leave PoP was based in large part on feedback from customers who were interested in more of a hybrid operating model that offered both a pooltype product and a daily product for customers who can use the chassis however they wish and be billed a daily rate.“ Depending on what the customer is looking for, depending on what the motor carrier is looking for, we’ re going to offer both options in the market,” Gilene said.
An outdated solution
The Pool of Pools was formed in Los Angeles-Long Beach in 2015, when container lines serving the US market ceased their decades-long practice of providing chassis to beneficial cargo owners( BCOs) for a nominal fee with each booking. At the same time, a group of trans-Pacific container lines formed the G6 alliance, with the six member carriers serving all 12 container terminals in the port complex. This created logistical problems for carriers in repositioning the chassis where they were needed.
The ports and their stakeholders decided to develop a neutral, or“ grey,” chassis pool to eliminate the frustrating and costly requirements that truckers faced— delivering a container to one terminal but the chassis to another because of different ownership of the assets.
The IEPs said that while each company has its own business model, they feel the transition out of the Pool of Pools will be seamless to truckers and their customers.
“ DCLI remains committed to a comprehensive chassis pool solution to the LA-LB market,” said Mike O’ Malley, DCLI’ s chief administrative officer.“ We intend to maintain our terminal footprints, allowing motor carriers to pick up and drop off chassis at marine terminal and rail locations across the region.”
While the Pool of Pools was the right solution for the post-2015 environment, motor carriers this past year have dealt with several problem areas in the port-related supply chain regarding inland point intermodal( IPI) and container handling chassis moves, said Robert Loya, CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association.
“ We have seen incidents of inadequate support when PoP chassis were short, or simply not having the right number of chassis at the right location,” Loya said. He emphasized factors stemming from ocean carrier specialized pools that result in the“ deoptimization” of fleets due to inherent inefficiencies, such as“ increased triangulation, a higher frequency of split returns, lost driver time and increased costs.”
As the IEPs enter the post-Pool of Pools era, Loya sees several red flags the IEPs must address, including whether the port’ s rail ramps will still be considered start / stop locations for the chassis providers; how demurrage will be handled if there are insufficient chassis for inland point intermodal moves and appointments are missed; and how potential billing complications will be handled for equipment picked up under the PoP rules but returned after June 1.
Loya is also concerned about dual transactions— or the ability of a trucker to drop off a container and pick up another on the same trip— which are critical for efficiency.
“ There must be a mechanism to handle the interchange of these chassis without incurring extra fees,” he said.
email: bill. mongelluzzo @ spglobal. com
36 Journal of Commerce | June 1, 2026 www. joc. com