COMPANIES CHALLENGE CONTAINERSHIP OPERATORS IN U.S./PUERTO RICO TRADE

COMPANIES CHALLENGE CONTAINERSHIP OPERATORS IN U.S./PUERTO RICO TRADE    FFE Transportation Services Inc., a subsidiary of Frozen Food Express Industries Inc., and International Transport Logistics Inc., a non-vessel-operating common carrier based in Jacksonville, Fla., have entered into a joint venture to provide trailer service into and out of Puerto Rico, using ships and barges from ports in Florida and New Jersey.
   The venture will compete against the container operators, who operate mainly to and from the port of Jacksonville.
   The joint venture’s freight will be carried by FFE’s 53-foot temperature-controlled highway trailers. The venture will cater to temperature-controlled and non-temperature-controlled cargoes.
   “Currently the market is dominated by 40-foot refrigerated ocean containers,” a spokesman for FFE said.
   Contrary to the container-on-chassis mode, the highway trailer carrying cargoes is loaded at the shipper’s dock, driven on and off the ship at the port and the freight is not touched until it is delivered to the buyer, the companies said.
   Bernard Sain, president and chief executive officer of International Transport Logistics, estimates that this process will reduce costs and eliminate the potential for damage to temperature-sensitive goods.
   The 53-foot highway trailers also provide more capacity than containers, the companies said.
   “But we do not expect this service to be an overnight success,” a spokesman for FFE said. “The ocean carriers own the containers and contractually obligate shippers into and out of Puerto Rico for a certain number of container shipments a year. We expect our business to expand as the contracts expire,” the spokesman added.
   Frozen Food Express Industries is the largest publicly owned temperature-controlled carrier of perishable goods in North America. Its services extend from Canada, throughout the 48 contiguous United States, into Mexico.