Midyear Drayage & Chassis Report

Special Report

Rise of private chassis fleets forces IEPs , railroads to rethink operations

By Michael Angell

Chassis providers and railroads are having to adjust their businesses to accommodate the large supply of truckercontrolled chassis now vying for merchant haulage of ocean containers . Although the US Federal Maritime Commission ( FMC ) has ruled in favor of greater chassis choice , shippers and truckers say they still run into roadblocks using their own wheels , particularly at inland rail ramps .

Mike O ’ Malley , senior vice president at Direct Chassis- Link ( DCLI ), told attendees at the Agricultural Transportation Coalition ’ s annual meeting in Tacoma , Wash ., in late May that motor carriers ’ usage of owned or directly leased chassis has doubled over the last seven years .

“ At the ports , we ’ re not facing an issue of chassis availability . Today , where we see the majority of issues is on the inland side .”

The switchover from chassis from intermodal equipment providers ( IEPs ) and equipment pools particularly stands out at inland locations . O ’ Malley said that its Memphis pool is now handling less than 60 % of the volume from its ocean carrier customers , down from 95 % four years ago .

In Chicago , trucker-controlled chassis are used in more than half of container moves . s _ oleg / Shutterstock . com

18 Journal of Commerce | June 17 , 2024 www . joc . com