Chassis rental rates rise

   Flexi-Van increased its per-diem rates to $20 for its West Coast chassis pools, effective Jan. 1. Rates also increased in other parts of the country, ranging from $17 to $19 per day.
   The company cited rising labor and maintenance costs as the reason for the price adjustment. The company has also incurred extra expense relocating hundreds of chassis from Houston to Southern California at a cost of about $750 apiece to meet the demand there.
   Philip Connors, Flexi-Van’s executive vice president, signaled in an American Shipper online story before Thanksgiving that a rate adjustment was in the wings to cover the costs of repositioning, extra mechanics to repair out-of-service equipment, as well as rising prices for tires and parts.
   Flexi-Van has not had to feed its pools with new orders, but the inventory overhang from the recession is beginning to dwindle and the company will soon have to evaluate when to make additional capital expenditures, he said. The only time Flexi-Van currently orders new assets is for customers with dedicated contracts.

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