THE number of ocean containers leaving West Coast ports rose month on month in February for the first time since at least 2008, a sign that carriers are more willing to let their boxes move inland intact, at least in the short term.
The box movement has also caused chassis pools to tighten in the Midwest and South-Central US, according to IHS Media.
International intermodal volume, known as inland point intermodal (IPI), grew 8.4 per cent out of the Pacific Northwest and 6.1 per cent out of the Southwest in February compared with January, according to the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). Before this year, IPI volume dropped at least 10 per cent sequentially in five consecutive Februarys.
Non vessel operating common carriers (NVOs) say that ocean carriers are willing to take IPI bookings on a spot basis but are still hesitant about committing to IPI in long-term agreements.
Chassis lessors say shippers and trucking companies are still holding onto equipment too long, but the lessors are confident that better communication with railroads will prevent another meltdown similar to what occurred on BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad last summer.
The supply of marine chassis is tighter today than when IPI volume cratered in the fourth quarter of last year, but NVOs and trucking companies also said that the situation is not as severe as nine months ago.
Mike O'Malley, senior vice president of government and public relations for chassis lessor DCLI, said truckers and shippers still hold onto chassis longer than pre-pandemic times. 'Street dwell for our marine chassis fleet averages nearly seven days and has more than doubled in markets like Los Angeles/Long Beach and Memphis,' Mr O'Malley said in a statement.
Jonathan Freeman, president of Jack Freeman Trucking, said chassis are getting tight in Chicago. 'We try to start booking chassis at 4 am, and not returning chassis over the weekend,' he said.
Tina Cozzi, operations manager for drayage provider Land Transportation in Chicago, said the three pool operators in Chicago are all short on chassis.
BNSF Railway is placing containers on the ground in Logistics Park Chicago. BNSF and Union Pacific Railroad normally run wheeled ramps across the us - placing containers onto chassis before a trucker comes in the terminal. Grounding boxes is a strong signal BNSF or UP is low on chassis.
Annmarie Kerr, president of Kansas City Drayage, said UP is grounding containers as TRAC chassis are hard to locate.
'The chassis situation is dire for TRAC chassis to haul CMA CGM containers,' she said. 'UP will ground the boxes until they get TRAC chassis and will not unstack the boxes, even if we bring in our own private chassis. They continue to charge rail storage [demurrage] fees but will not let us get the container.'
UP said in a statement Friday it believes getting the longest-dwelling containers out of a terminal is the best strategy for shippers, adding it communicates with stakeholders every day about conditions inside its intermodal terminals.
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The box movement has also caused chassis pools to tighten in the Midwest and South-Central US, according to IHS Media.
International intermodal volume, known as inland point intermodal (IPI), grew 8.4 per cent out of the Pacific Northwest and 6.1 per cent out of the Southwest in February compared with January, according to the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). Before this year, IPI volume dropped at least 10 per cent sequentially in five consecutive Februarys.
Non vessel operating common carriers (NVOs) say that ocean carriers are willing to take IPI bookings on a spot basis but are still hesitant about committing to IPI in long-term agreements.
Chassis lessors say shippers and trucking companies are still holding onto equipment too long, but the lessors are confident that better communication with railroads will prevent another meltdown similar to what occurred on BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad last summer.
The supply of marine chassis is tighter today than when IPI volume cratered in the fourth quarter of last year, but NVOs and trucking companies also said that the situation is not as severe as nine months ago.
Mike O'Malley, senior vice president of government and public relations for chassis lessor DCLI, said truckers and shippers still hold onto chassis longer than pre-pandemic times. 'Street dwell for our marine chassis fleet averages nearly seven days and has more than doubled in markets like Los Angeles/Long Beach and Memphis,' Mr O'Malley said in a statement.
Jonathan Freeman, president of Jack Freeman Trucking, said chassis are getting tight in Chicago. 'We try to start booking chassis at 4 am, and not returning chassis over the weekend,' he said.
Tina Cozzi, operations manager for drayage provider Land Transportation in Chicago, said the three pool operators in Chicago are all short on chassis.
BNSF Railway is placing containers on the ground in Logistics Park Chicago. BNSF and Union Pacific Railroad normally run wheeled ramps across the us - placing containers onto chassis before a trucker comes in the terminal. Grounding boxes is a strong signal BNSF or UP is low on chassis.
Annmarie Kerr, president of Kansas City Drayage, said UP is grounding containers as TRAC chassis are hard to locate.
'The chassis situation is dire for TRAC chassis to haul CMA CGM containers,' she said. 'UP will ground the boxes until they get TRAC chassis and will not unstack the boxes, even if we bring in our own private chassis. They continue to charge rail storage [demurrage] fees but will not let us get the container.'
UP said in a statement Friday it believes getting the longest-dwelling containers out of a terminal is the best strategy for shippers, adding it communicates with stakeholders every day about conditions inside its intermodal terminals.
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