Truckers Criticize Maersk Plans

New York-New Jersey port truckers said they support the concept of chassis pools, but aren't happy with Maersk's planned Direct ChassisLink program, and won't support it without changes.

After hearing the complaints at a two-hour meeting Ju;y 14 with several dozen members of the Association of Bi-State Motor Carriers, Maersk officials said they would do what they could to address the truckers' objections. However, they defended the planned chassis pool and said that Maersk will stick with its scheduled Aug. 3 date.

John Mizerek, director of business development and commercial planning at Maersk, said the company's goal is a universal pool that would prevent truckers from wasting time and fuel on unnecessary trips to exchange various lines' chassis at terminals. He and other Maersk officials said they hope other lines will participate in the pool. "We believe a neutral chassis pool would have substantial environmental benefits," Mizarek said.

Maersk officials said their plan would not change existing chassis-inspection procedures at terminals. They also emphasized that pool chassis would be made available to other ship lines and railroads that agree to the pool lease's terms, and that participation by additional lines would maximize the pool's effectiveness.

Truckers complained that the pool's $11 daily fee for chassis use would cause backups at terminals on Fridays, when users would seek to avoid the daily fee over the weekend. They also said truckers would have have problems passing fees to shippers that negotiate free use of chassis from Maersk or other ship lines. "We're going to end up eating a lot of that money," said Tom Heimgartner, president of Best Transportation.

They also said Maersk's planned pool is designed for chassis leasing, not interchange. Jeff Bader, president of the Bi-State association, said this would complicate insurance by requiring a trucker to tell its insurer exactly which chassis are leased each day, while an interchange agreement allows coverage based on the average number of chassis a trucker uses. In addition, Michael DeStasio, vice president of The Insurance Centers in Clark, N.J., said a lease arrangement would subject the trucker to separate deductibles for the container and chassis instead of a single one for both.

Bader also said the Maersk pool should have adopted the Uniform Intermodal Interchange Agreement, the industry's standard contract covering the exchange of intermodal equipment. Andrew Chinigo, Maersk’s vice president, special projects, said Maersk "is not trying to make it more onerous on the trucking companies."