JOC Staff | Jan 28, 2013 3:06PM EST
The Surface Transportation Board has granted its permission for motor carriers to use co-op pools to acquire and share intermodal chassis.
The STB’s regulatory clearance brings the North American Chassis Pool Cooperative a step closer to operation. The NACPC was formed last October as a cooperative for drayage carriers that want to buy chassis for sharing in pools.
The co-op’s members are a small group of motor carrier companies that are also members of the ATA’s Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference.
Under federal law governing motor carriers, STB approval is required before motor carriers may “pool or divide traffic or services or any part of their earnings.”
The NACPC is the first motor carrier entity to seek and gain approval to operate within the evolving chassis pool marketplace.
Container ship lines have been disengaging from ownership and operation of chassis in the U.S. market, and encouraging a shift toward increased motor carrier responsibility for the equipment.
Organizers of the trucker chassis co-op say motor carriers want to retain a say in managing the chassis through participation in the pool, and to upgrade the quality of equipment they use.
Last fall, IMC Companies, a member of NACPC, purchased more than 1,500 intermodal chassis from ocean carrier OOCL (USA) and put them into Consolidated Chassis Management’s Mid-South co-op pool for dedicated use by OOCL.
