Maersk to Set Up National Chassis Pool

Maersk Line is setting up a nationwide chassis pool in the United States that will make its fleet of chassis available for lease by drayage companies, ocean carriers, marine terminals and railroads.

The first phase of the nationwide rollout will begin in the third quarter in the Port of New York and New Jersey region, where Maersk will offer a fleet of over 5,000 chassis to industry users.

As the program rolls out, the U.S. subsidiary of the Danish carrier will make its total U.S. fleet of 90,000 chassis available through Maersk Equipment Services Corporation, the maintenance and repair management group that has been providing chassis to Maersk Line.

MESC, in turn, will provide leasing and pool management services through a new division, Direct ChassisLink.

The company will charge a daily fee for the use of its chassis, but is still developing the fee structure for the new pool, which will be issued in July. “We haven’t worked it out yet, but it will be much like the fees that the pool operators in the ports charge,” said Andy Chinigo, the Maersk vice president who is heading the initial phases of the project.

He said in an interview that trucking companies that lease Maersk chassis will be required to sign a contract under which they assume liability for the equipment and provide coverage through their own insurance policies, just as they are required to do for the cargo they transport.

Chinigo said Maersk Line will not contribute its chassis to the six regional chassis pools that have been set up in recent years by Consolidated Chassis Management, a subsidiary of the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association. Maersk equipment will only become part of other chassis pools where the port authority requires it, such as in the Port of Virginia.

The company said the new business model for its chassis fleet will fundamentally change its carbon footprint. It estimates that the program will cut carbon dioxide emissions by over 4,000 tons a year when the program is rolled out nationwide.

“Truckers will be able to utilize the same chassis for multiple moves at different terminals, and for different Lines, driving out inefficiencies and providing the supply chain benefits that only the user controlling the chassis can deliver,” said Chinigo.

“When fully implemented, it will improve port air quality and reduce port area congestion. The present chassis model has outlived its time. We can influence the carbon footprint that our industry creates through this approach,” he said.