OOCL: No chassis in Boston, Miami
Shipping line OOCL said in a customer advisory it would no longer provide chassis for container yard or store door shipments of import and exports originating or destined to facilities in or around Boston and Miami.
“All motor carriers, either working as suppliers for OOCL or OOCL customers, must provide chassis for these shipments,” the Hong Kong-based carrier said in an advisory to customers.
Increasingly, routinely providing chassis to U.S. customers has been seen as an untenable practice by some shipping executives.
In most countries, truckers provide chassis, and the growing expense of buying, maintaining and storing U.S. chassis fleets is seen as too expensive by some carriers.
More carriers are pooling equipment in ports or regionally to reduce costs, and last year Maersk Line overhauled its chassis business by placing its chassis equipment under a new subsidiary that leases chassis to truckers. Begun in the New York-New Jersey area, Maersk has been gradually expanding that program to other parts of the country.
