Upturn in new/remanufactured chassis ahead?

   Investment in new chassis for international 20-foot and 40-foot containers “went off the edge of a cliff” around 2007, but Stuart James, vice president of sales at Hyundai Translead, believes a resurgence could be coming “very soon.”
   “At some point, someone is going to have to spend and invest in the international fleet,” he said.
   Even if they do not need to be replaced or fully remanufactured, he said many chassis would benefit from a good cleaning, paint job, replacement of cracked members, anti-lock brakes, and LED lights.  
   Maersk formed Direct ChassisLink Inc. in 2009 and subsequently decided to sell its chassis business in 2012. That exit was imitated by most liner companies and reduced demand for chassis, as did the more efficient use of equipment through chassis pools.
   Investment in new international chassis and routine maintenance, already spotty, “pretty much came to a standstill,” James said.  
   Manufacturers, however, have seen continued demand for chassis to haul 53-foot domestic containers. Hyundai Translead, which employs 4,500 people at its factory in Tijuana, Mexico, will probably build more than 40,000 trailers, but just 5,000-6,000 chassis this year.
   “I think you can make the assumption that all the chassis manufacturers are operating well below their theoretic capacity for production,” James said.
   Other manufacturers of chassis include China’s CIMC, Wisconsin-based Stoughton, Cheetah of Berwick, Pa., and Hercules Enterprises of Hillsborough, N.J.
   James said most remanufactured chassis today are aimed at the domestic market as regulations permit aged 20-foot or 40-foot chassis to be remade into 53-foot chassis.
   Remanufacturing, James explained, is attractive because the typical road trailer travels 100,000 miles per year while the typical container chassis travels 8,000-15,000 miles. The same axles are used on both types of equipment.
   Effectively, “at the end of a 20-year useful life, given the chassis axle has been reasonably well maintained,  it’s got two years taken out of it,” he said.

This article was published in the February 2015 issue of American Shipper.