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Truck Drayage Productivity Guide (2011)

Chapter: Chapter 8 - Container Chassis Supply Time and Delays

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Page 64
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 8 - Container Chassis Supply Time and Delays." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2011. Truck Drayage Productivity Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14536.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 8 - Container Chassis Supply Time and Delays." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2011. Truck Drayage Productivity Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14536.
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Page 65
Page 66
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 8 - Container Chassis Supply Time and Delays." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2011. Truck Drayage Productivity Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14536.
×
Page 66
Page 67
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 8 - Container Chassis Supply Time and Delays." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2011. Truck Drayage Productivity Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14536.
×
Page 67
Page 68
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 8 - Container Chassis Supply Time and Delays." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2011. Truck Drayage Productivity Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14536.
×
Page 68
Page 69
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 8 - Container Chassis Supply Time and Delays." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2011. Truck Drayage Productivity Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14536.
×
Page 69
Page 70
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 8 - Container Chassis Supply Time and Delays." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2011. Truck Drayage Productivity Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14536.
×
Page 70

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64 Chassis Logistics Chassis logistics are a uniquely prominent issue at U.S. ports for two reasons. First, chassis are far more complex and subject to damage than containers, are subject to highway safety require- ments, and account for the great majority of equipment-related delays and problems. Second, in the United States, chassis are normally provided by the ocean carriers and usually stored and main- tained on the marine terminal. As of 2007, there were roughly 650,000 international chassis in the United States (and about 160,000 domestic chassis). About 90% of the international chassis were provided by individual ocean carriers or alliances, with the rest provided by others (neutral or cooperative pools or motor carriers). The chassis is usually owned by the ocean carrier and interchanged with the container, so chas- sis ownership must ordinarily match container ownership. An APL container must be on an APL chassis, a Maersk container on a Maersk chassis, etc. A drayage firm with permission to pick up a container from one carrier would not have permission to use another carrier’s chassis to do so, despite complete physical interchangeability. The cost, delay, productivity, and capacity penalties associated with container logistics are largely avoidable. Provision of container chassis by ocean carriers at the marine terminals is a legacy of containerization’s origins in the United States The original Sea-Land System, as envisioned and implemented by Malcolm McLean, functioned as a trucking company with a waterborne line-haul. As such, Sea-Land provided the chassis to let the marine containers operate as truck trailers. This practice set the pattern for other U.S. operators and has persisted in the United States, where the land area in terminals permits either wheeled storage or the maintenance of on-site chassis fleets. Everywhere else in the world container chassis are supplied by customers, truckers, or off- terminal pools, and are brought to the marine terminal by the drayage driver. Drivers in other countries do not interchange chassis with the ocean carriers or terminal operators. Costs or delays in obtaining a chassis are therefore an internal drayage company issue in those countries, and of no concern to the marine terminals (as long, obviously, as the chassis is functional). Container chassis logistics can become a drayage bottleneck in several of the following ways where drayage drivers: • Incur delays in locating and attaching a serviceable chassis in grounded marine terminals, • Incur delays in repairing or swapping unserviceable or mismatched chassis in wheeled marine terminals, • Are delayed by chassis condition issues at inbound or outbound gates, and • Are required to make extra trips to obtain or drop a chassis at a second location (a “split delivery”). C H A P T E R 8 Container Chassis Supply Time and Delays

Container Chassis Supply Time and Delays 65 On-Terminal Chassis Supply Once in the container yard there are three principal ways for a drayage driver to locate and hook up to a container or chassis. 1. By locating a container already mounted on a chassis at a wheeled terminal. 2. By locating a bare chassis and taking it to a container stack where a lift machine will mount the container in a stacked terminal. 3. By locating a bare chassis and taking it to a designated zone where a lift machine will bring and mount the container in a transfer zone terminal. The driver must first locate the correct unit. Containers on chassis are identified by an alphanu- meric combination indicating ownership and number, such as APLU 123456. “APL” indicates American President Lines, “U” indicates a container, and “123456” is the number of the specific unit. Most containers also have a distinctive color and logo. Bare chassis also are identified by an alphanumeric combination such as APLZ 245789, where “APL” again indicates “American Presi- dent Lines,” “Z” indicates a chassis, and “245789” is the specific unit number. Chassis may or may not be painted and lettered distinctively. If the container is not already mounted, as in a wheeled operation, the driver must choose a chassis that matches the container in length (20-ft, 40-ft, 45-ft, or “extendable”) and ownership. In many cases, the chassis must be owned or controlled by the same ocean carrier that owns or con- trols the container. Where there are vessel-sharing agreements or terminal chassis pools, other rules may apply. With a “neutral” chassis pool, any chassis of the correct length may be used with any container. Special containers may have special chassis requirements. For a refrigerated container, the chas- sis must be mounted with a “genset,” a motor/generator combination to supply electric power to the refrigeration equipment. Overweight containers and tank containers may require special 3-axle or drop-frame chassis, often supplied by the drayage firm. Chassis Equipment Issues Once the driver has located the mounted container or a suitable chassis, the driver must check the condition of the chassis. An over-the-road container chassis (Figure 8–1) is a far more complex piece of equipment than a container, and includes multiple systems that must all function correctly to be serviceable. • Landing gear—The chassis landing gear must be intact, straight, and crank up and down easily. Landing gear can be bent or jammed and the “sand shoes” at the bottom are sometimes missing. LIGHTS TWIST LOCKS LANDING GEAR MUD FLAPS Figure 8–1. Over-the-road container chassis.

• Twist locks—The four twist locks that secure the corners of the container to the chassis must be operable. These are fairly robust assemblies, but are sometimes damaged or jammed. • Tires—A 40-ft chassis usually has eight tires, all of which must have adequate tread depth and inflation. The typical practice is to thump the tires with a heavy metal bar for a rough check. • Mud flaps—The mud flaps must be present and in good enough condition that the driver will not be cited on the road. • Brakes—Chassis air brakes must apply and release properly once hooked to the tractor. Some drivers carry simple tools to adjust brake shoes on the spot. • Lights—Lights and lenses must be intact and operate correctly. Lenses are typically set into the rear bumper for protection, but are still vulnerable to damage. The connectors to the trailer must also be in good condition—damage or corrosion from the salt environment can be a problem. • License, registration, and inspection tags—For road service, the chassis license and registration sticker must be current, and any required inspection stickers up to date. • Structure—The chassis must be structurally sound, without damage, twisting, or “racking” (hor- izontal misalignment). In addition to the possible effects of age and traffic accidents, chassis can be structurally damaged when stacked or stored in the terminals (Figure 8–2). The operating environment for container chassis is inherently difficult. The container load- ing process is often rough. Chassis are often parked in rough ground and stacked for storage in slow periods. At some terminals, they are stored vertically in racks. At customer locations, they are pushed up against loading dock bumpers. In rail intermodal terminals, they often are crowded into makeshift parking areas. Sideswipe and corner collisions are common in all of these facilities. Chassis condition is critical from the following three perspectives: 1. Safety and liability. Drayage firms and their drivers are acutely aware of safety risks and poten- tial liabilities connected with chassis condition. Firms and drivers that perform short transfers in the port area may be less careful, but established professional firms that dray containers over public roads through urban areas have little tolerance for unsafe equipment. 2. Damage disputes. The chassis and the container it carries are interchanged to the drayage firm and the firm becomes liable for any damage beyond ordinary wear and tear. The chas- sis will be inspected when it is returned to the marine terminal, and the drayage company can be billed for any necessary repairs. The cost of even a minor repair, such as a broken light lens, can easily exceed the company’s profit on the move. Moreover, the administra- tive burden of dealing with damage claims and repair bills can exceed the amount of the bills themselves. 66 Truck Drayage Productivity Guide Figure 8–2. Stacked chassis.

3. Highway citations. Drayage operations are subject to the same highway laws as other truck movements, and complaints about the condition of drayage equipment often lead local police or highway patrol officers to pay special attention to trucks entering or leaving the port. Cita- tions for defective equipment are costly. The laws affect the operation of defective or unsafe equipment, not the ownership, so it is the driver who is cited. If the chassis passes all of these checks, the driver is ready to either leave with the mounted con- tainer or take the chassis to have a container transferred from the stacks. If the chassis has a minor problem such as low tire pressure, a broken tail light lens, or a missing mud flap, the driver usually has the option to take the chassis to a roadability canopy or similar facility, to be fixed on the way out. In well-run terminals drivers generally choose this option rather than searching for another chassis because it takes less time (i.e., a few minutes). When the chassis has a more serious problem, such as structural damage or non-functional land- ing gear, most drivers will search for another chassis rather than waiting to have the first one fixed. If the container is already mounted on an incorrect or defective chassis, the driver must choose between (1) waiting to have it fixed, (2) waiting for a chassis “flip,” or (3) choosing another unit. In the workshops, the study team learned that the driver will typically spend around 30 minutes trying to resolve such a problem before switching to another transaction. Serious delays can occur when there is no suitable chassis in good condition immediately available. Chassis parking takes up valuable terminal space, so many terminals stack extra chas- sis or store them vertically in racks. Drivers sometimes find that the suitable chassis in good con- dition are thus inaccessible. The terminal operator may prefer to have the driver wait while an available chassis is fixed rather than dispatch terminal employees and equipment to retrieve another chassis from the stack or rack (and ocean carrier equipment policies may enforce this preference). Drivers also sometimes report having to move one or more chassis on the ground to gain access to a good one. A clear inefficiency, one that is common to most terminals, is that once a driver has inspected a chassis and found it defective, he does not mark it or identify it in any way so that future drivers do not engage in the same futile process. Thus, there is a possibility that the same bad chassis can cause a series of delays for multiple truckers before it is repaired or removed. Ultimately, the decision as to whether a chassis is rejected or accepted is entirely dependent on the judgment of the driver. Furthermore, the same driver will accept or reject a specific chassis dependent on the situation. For example, if no additional chassis remain that are roadworthy, the driver will select a non- roadworthy chassis and have it repaired prior to leaving the terminal. Chassis Flips Containers are mounted before the driver’s arrival in a wheeled operation. If the container has been mounted on the correct chassis, there is no delay. In exceptional cases where the container has been mounted on the wrong chassis due to error or expediency, the container must be trans- ferred to a correct chassis before the driver can take it out of the terminal. A chassis “flip” of this kind can easily result in a delay of an hour or more. The incorrect chas- sis with the container, a correct bare chassis, and a lift machine must all be brought together for the transfer. Although it may not be the drayage driver’s obligation to do so, the fastest way to accomplish this is often for the driver to find a correct chassis and pull it to the loaded one. The transfer is commonly made by a mobile lift machine. Chassis flips of this kind are also one of the few significant bottlenecks at rail intermodal terminals. Container Chassis Supply Time and Delays 67

Chassis Supply Solutions FMCSA Chassis Roadability Rules New chassis roadability rules promulgated by FMCSA1 took effect in 2010. The Final Rule on Chassis Roadability was published by FMCSA in December 2008. In summary, it calls for the following: • Identification of a single Intermodal Equipment Provider (IEP) for each chassis (by December 2009), • IEP establishment of inspection, maintenance, repair, and recordkeeping programs (by Decem- ber 2009), • A standardized audit trail of driver Roadability Component Defect (RCD) reports, Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports (DVIR) and repair records, and • USDOT number applied to all chassis (by December 2010). The key effect is to hold IEPs responsible for maintaining chassis to FMCSA standards, and to establish a corresponding audit trail. Ordinarily, there is no law against owning a defective or sub- standard chassis, but there are laws against operating unsafe equipment on public roads. The bur- den has thus previously been placed disproportionately on the drivers and motor carriers, who must either find a good chassis or wait to have one fixed. Too often, this situation led to drivers using substandard chassis rather than incurring the economic loss from delay. The standardized audit trail will help ensure that IEPs actually maintain chassis on schedule and repair defects noted by drivers. Drayage firms and drivers all have stories about defective equip- ment that was put back in service without repairs, defective chassis that clogged terminal parking areas for long periods, and drivers that were charged for preexisting damage. The primary impacts on port drayage should be as follows: • Reduced frequency of trouble tickets and delays related to chassis defects; and • Reduced chassis search time due to fewer, better chassis at the terminal. These results coincide with some of the chassis pool benefits. These benefits are not automatic; realizing them may require significant enforcement activity by FMCSA. The final rule provides for periodic “roadability reviews” by FMCSA with the possibility of civil penalties or removal of equipment from service for violations. The new roadability rules may create incentives for terminals to devise and implement a process for drivers to tag substandard chassis and for maintenance personnel to fix them. Under current practice, substandard chassis may sit in the parking area indefinitely, causing congestion and delay. Ocean carriers are usually reluctant to authorize repairs as long as records show there to be chassis on hand. The current de facto process is that a chassis is fixed only when a drayage driver decides it is the best one available and pulls it to a roadability canopy or other maintenance site. Near-Term Solutions: Neutral Chassis Pools Neutral chassis pools are an obvious near-term means of reducing chassis-related CY bottle- necks. The practice of chassis pooling is spreading at inland rail terminals as well as at marine con- tainer terminals. As described above, these are multiple pooling approaches. From the drayage perspective, the various options are all effective if they • Improve the quality of chassis, reducing the need to search for a good unit or to have a sub-par unit fixed; 68 Truck Drayage Productivity Guide 149 CFR Parts 385, 386, 390, et al., December 17, 2008.

• Eliminate the need for chassis flips due to mismatched container and chassis; and • Reduce the need to reposition empty chassis. An EPA SmartWay publication2 notes the following: Common chassis pools can provide a more efficient management of terminal assets, increase the volume of goods through the port, and free-up space used to store chassis on port lands. Additional fuel savings from reducing miles traveled while switching chassis is dependent on the size of the port facility and its physical layout. Pooled chassis can also facilitate the implementation of virtual container yards (VCY) and empty container yards (ECY), reducing the number of empty container movements, congestion and wait times at terminal gates. Terminal Pools Terminal pools are often maintained at terminals operated by independent stevedores (such as SSA) that have multiple client ocean carriers. Where the terminal pool is the only chassis source, it effectively becomes a neutral chassis pool. Where a terminal pool just supplements carrier chassis supply at the same terminal, it would not have the same advantages as a neutral pool. Cooperative Pools The cooperative chassis pooling concept was pioneered by Maher Terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey. The multiple lines calling at Maher’s Terminal contributed chassis to the pool, initially in proportion to their container volumes. The pool was able to achieve a 25% reduc- tion in the number of chassis required to serve the combined volume. Chassis condition also was improved. Consolidated Chassis Management (CCM) pools currently include over 100,000 chassis at pools serving the South Atlanta and Gulf port areas as well as inland points such as Chicago, the Ohio Valley, Denver, and Atlanta. CCM is an affiliate of the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association (OCEMA), and was established in 2005 to develop, own, and operate chassis pools. The CCM pools are assembled from chassis contributed by the 20 ocean carrier members and pool participants and leased from independent fleets such as Flex-Van and TracLease. All CCM pool chassis must meet FMCSA standards. The unitary Pool Concept implemented by CCM cre- ates a single pool at each facility, allowing leasing companies with neutral pools in place to become contributing users in the CCM pool. Folding in the neutral pools also accommodates ocean carri- ers that are not CCM members. Actual operational management of CCM pools is performed by either Flex-Van Leasing Co. or Seacastle Chassis/Trac Lease, depending on location. Third-Party Pools A good example of a third-party pool is the TRAC Metro Pool-Metz regional chassis pro- gram. The pool currently charges $9 per day and is accepted at eight marine terminals located in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Staten Island, and Northern New Jersey as well as six rail intermodal terminals. The pool contains more than 14,000 chassis and serves 17 marine shipping lines. Typ- ically, the lines pay the chassis charges. The advantage for the motor carrier is that it can make double moves as long as the service involves participating lines, railroads, and/or marine termi- nals. TRAC is responsible for normal wear and tear. The motor carrier pays only for damage. TRAC is responsible for keeping the pool equipment in balance. Repositioning costs are charged to members responsible for deficit situations. Direct ChassisLink APM/Maersk is in the process of changing the way in which the firm supplies chassis. The Maersk Equipment Service Company, Inc. (doing business as Direct ChassisLink Inc.) is now Container Chassis Supply Time and Delays 69 2A Glance at Clean Freight Strategies: Common Chassis Pools for Drayage, U.S. EPA Office of Transportation & Air Quality, Washington, D.C., undated.

providing Maersk fleet chassis to motor carriers for $11/day. The effort began in the Port of New York and Northern New Jersey rail terminals and container yards in late 2009. The system now involves 16,000 chassis, 25 locations, and 10 states. The structure of this pool permits Maersk to operate efficiently in a wheeled environment as the motor carriers can conveniently off-hire chassis in several locations. In addition, Maersk provides a discount when chassis use is tied to free time Maersk provides to its customers. Long-Term Solutions: Trucker/Third-Party Chassis Supply Chassis condition and supply is a perpetual point of contention between drayage firms, marine terminal operators, and ocean carriers. Chassis are a source of trouble for all concerned as follows: • Ocean carriers incur the expense of providing, maintaining, and managing chassis only in the United States. Chassis supply is a management headache and a cost center to be minimized whenever possible. Given a choice, ocean carriers would probably exit the chassis business. • At marine terminals, chassis supply uses up valuable space, ties up lift equipment, and requires far more maintenance equipment and labor than containers. Given a choice, terminal operators would probably also exit the chassis supply business and move the function off-terminal. Some terminals have already moved chassis functions off-terminal whenever possible. • Drayage firms and their drivers begrudge the time spent locating chassis, the time spent dealing with chassis condition, the need for chassis flips, extra trips to reposition chassis, and adminis- trative time and cost for resolving damage and liability issues. Given a choice, many drayage firms would prefer to provide chassis themselves (with appropriate compensation), or have chassis provided by customers or third parties. A potential long-term strategy would be for ocean carriers to stop providing chassis and shift to the systems used in other countries. That shift also would bring port drayage in line with other trucking sectors, all of whom typically supply their own trailers. Changing to a trucker, customer, or third-party chassis supply would eliminate • The need to identify or inspect chassis at marine terminal gates, or to document their inter- change (EIRs would still be needed for the containers themselves); • The need for drivers to locate a chassis at grounded terminals, or to spend time hooking up to chassis and testing chassis condition; • All trouble tickets, disputes, and other exceptions related to chassis (although equipment-related trouble tickets are a small portion of the total); • The need for chassis flips for mismatched chassis and container combinations; • Roadability canopies and chassis maintenance and repair (M & R) functions at marine termi- nals; and • The need to store chassis at marine terminals, thereby freeing up substantial space. It is likely that elimination of carrier-supplied chassis also would relieve marine terminals of the need to supply generator sets for refrigerated containers. Such a change would likely also eliminate wheeled operations at marine terminals, which is itself a logical evolutionary step for the industry. A shift to trucker, shipper, or third-party chassis sup- ply would also affect the operation of rail intermodal terminals, which are almost all wheeled. 70 Truck Drayage Productivity Guide

Next: Chapter 9 - Marine Terminal Container Yard Congestion »
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TRB’s National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) Report 11: Truck Drayage Productivity Guide is designed to help improve drayage productivity and capacity while reducing emissions, costs, and port-area congestion at deepwater ports.

The guide includes suggestions designed to help shippers, receivers, draymen, marine terminal operators, ocean carriers, and port authorities address inefficiencies, control costs, and reduce associated environmental impacts of truck drayage.

The guide identifies and quantifies the impacts of bottlenecks, associated gate processes, exceptions (trouble tickets), chassis logistics, congestion, and disruption at marine container terminals. The impacts are described in terms of hours, costs, and emissions that were estimated using the Environmental Protection Agency’s DrayFLEET model.

A CD-ROM, which contains the final report on the development of NCFRP Report 11 and its appendices, is included with the print version of NCFRP Report 11.

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