Peak season chassis pool fails to attract bidders

Port of Long Beach said it will revise its request for bids to provide and operate the important drayage equipment.    It appears to be back to the drawing board for the Port of Long Beach’s plan to create a pool of container chassis for shippers to use during peak season.
   A shortage of chassis was one of the factors that was blamed last fall and winter for congestion at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. As a result, Jon Slangerup, the port’s chief executive vowed that his agency would acquire a fleet of 3,000 chassis of its own for customers to use during the busy season.
   But Lee Peterson, a spokesman for the Port of Long Beach said Monday a request for bids to provide and operate the equipment for the pool had not resulted in any offers.
   The port is weighing its options on whether to put a revised bid out to attract more interest so it can create the pool of equipment, he added.
   At a meeting of its commissioners last week, Michael Christensen, senior executive lead for the port, said an off-dock yard that the port has created for truckers and shippers to drop containers on chassis is getting heavy use, nearing capacity.
   Peterson said that the lot can hold about 900 containers on chassis, and is seeing about 150 units in turnover each day. The lot is used by both importers and exporters for short term storage of both loaded and empty containers.