Over ILWU objections LA-LB aims for grey chassis pool in FebruaryTHE START of a neutral, interoperable, a grey chassis pool is expected to commence next month over objections of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), says Los Angeles port director Gene Seroka.But labour cooperation is vital because pool operators have deals with unions like the ILWU or International Association of Machinists (IAM) to do maintenance and repair on the truck trailers or chassis, reports Newark's Journal of Commerce.Now the ILWU demands to inspect all outbound chassis at marine terminals, but the ports of LA and Long Beach have agreements with chassis providers, DCLI, TRAC Intermodal, Flexi-Van and SSA Marine.The deal calls for working toward a phased approach to introduce the grey chassis by February 1. At first the ILWU appeared amenable and the US Justice Department said it would not oppose the idea on antitrust grounds. But the employers' Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) has since complained of union slowdowns, and it has been lately made public that chassis are a big obstacle in the contract talks.That appeared to mean that having a grey chassis regime by February was impossible. Nonetheless, Mr Seroka said he is "still very hopeful" that February will usher in the first phase of the programme.He said a "pool of pools" concept had been worked out in which the major equipment owners would share their chassis with complete interoperability with truckers able to pick up a chassis/container combination at any of the 13 marine terminals or stop-start locations in the harbour and return the chassis to any of these locations.Lack of chassis interoperability has been a major cause of port congestion. Truckers still must bring a container to one terminal, but then must take the chassis to another because it belongs to another operator without a contract with the first.Mr Seroka said leasing companies have been busy developing rules for the grey chassis pool, and setting up computer systems to track and trace the trailers, alert users where they are needed and flag out-of-service chassis.He said developing a programme to manage 95,000 chassis in the port complex and identifying vacant sites where the equipment can be stored is on schedule, but labour problems remain unresolved.The PMA says the ILWU has made difficulties by stepping up chassis inspections, turning a five-point inspection into a 10-point inspection, and tagging chassis defective when there was nothing wrong with them.The ILWU fears chassis leasing companies, which are not PMA members, will take repair and maintenance work to cheaper off-dock locations, ending union overstaffing of these operations.When SSA Marine last year took over two adjacent terminals in Oakland that IAM mechanics, the number of mechanics employed to do the work went from 80 ILWU men to 16 IAM men.
WORLD SHIPPING
12 January 2015 - 20:42
Over ILWU objections LA-LB aims for grey chassis pool in February
THE START of a neutral, interoperable, a grey chassis pool is expected to commence next month over objections of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), says Los Angeles port director Gene Seroka.
WORLD SHIPPING
12 January 2015 - 20:42
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