b"24American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comChassis: An overlooked aspect of intermodalismBy George Lauriat, AJOTTransitions.Oftenthechassis,exponentially. like the equipment itself, is the pieceBut to understand how the chas-in the story left behind when talkingsis business grew and where it might about trucking, particularly intermodalbegoing,itsworthtakingalook trucking. Yet the chassis has been asbackwardsathowitevolved.Mike much the story over the past 24 monthsWilson, CEO of Consolidated Chas-asanyotherfeatureofthetruckingsis Management (CCM) in an article businessmaybe even more. (see AJOT.com Jan. 26, 2023) entitled ConsiderinFebruary,theFed- Theevolutionofcontainerprovi-eralMaritimeCommission(FMC)sioning in the US described the early ruled on ocean carrierversionofthechas-chassispracticessisbusinessmodel, providingananswerInthisstraightfor-toalongstandingwardmodel,ocean disagreement betweencarriersownedand/truckinggroupsandor leased their chas-somespecificchas- sis.Amotorcarrier sisproviders.Also,would pick up ocean thereistheevolu- carrier As box and tionofthechassiswould use ocean car- The East Coast's Premier Conferencepools themselves withrier As correspond- on Shipping, Ports, Logistics, & TradethelaunchofSouthingchassis,which Atlantic Chassis Poolwas provided free of 3.0(SACP3.0).Inchargeforthecon- October 4-6, 2023 | Norfolk, VA | VMAsymposium.comshort, there is a lot oftainermoveaspart interest in the chassisofthelinesservice businessbeyondtheMike Wilson, CEO, CCM offering.headlines. But this, ocean-Throughthelensofabusinesscentricbusinessmodel,asWilson outsider,thechassisbusinessmightdubbed it, became a lot more compli-seemprettysimplewiththreeprin- cated as the ocean carriers exited the cipal partsa truck, a chassis, andbusiness, For the first 40-plus years the box on top. But there is a nuancedof containerization, up until the early complexitytothesethreemoving2000s,itwasocean-carriercentric. partsandthecargotheytransport.To some carriers, providing chassis to And in recent years the layers of com- customers was viewed as a competi-plexityofthebusinesshavegrowntiveadvantage,whileotherswanted to exit the chassis business because itpooling.was not a core part of their expertise.Thebasicideabehindthechas-Moreover, given the line had minimalsis pool was that ocean carriers would physical control over the use of theircontributechassistoapool chassis, they believed it would be morewhoseoperationwouldbeshared efficient for others to operate them. amongthecontributinglines.The pool concept fit in well with the box t HEc omplExB usiNEss of carriers own movement toward carrier c Hassisp ools alliances with many of the same goals In the 1990s a solution to the oceanimprovedequipmentutilization, carrierschassisdilemmaemerged:increased velocity, and reduced costs. But as Wilson explains the pool systemevolved,Overthenext15 years,thosepoolingarrangements began to take off in several different forms, including port terminal pools, carrier alliance pools and cooperative gray pools.Almost immediately it was clear that this piecemeal approach to pool-ing wasnt quite the panacea the car-riersexpected.In2005,theocean carriersundertheOceanCarrier EquipmentManagementAssocia-tion (OCEMA) decided to create the ConsolidatedChassisManagement (CCM)toadministertheircoopera-tive gray pools.Buttheoceancarriersgotan unexpectedjoltin2008withthe Great Recession and began divesting themselves of their chassis business, opening the door for chassis leasing companies to become the major con-tributors to the chassis pools. Thechassisleasingcompanies took over the role of providing chas-sis to the trucking companies, BCOs (beneficialcargoowners)andother stake holders involved in the shipping (CHASSIScontinued on page 30)"