Chassis availability is one of the top three factors about which motor carriers are most concerned.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. ‒ In a nationwide survey of motor carriers recently conducted by Direct ChassisLink, Inc. (“DCLI”), a key finding was that chassis availability is one of the most important considerations for drayage providers.

DCLI is dedicated to ensuring that marine chassis pools are stocked with equipment so that motor carriers have access to the chassis they need, when and where they need them. “Our Operations and Logistics teams spend an average of 190 man-hours per week planning chassis repositioning,” said Ron Joseph, COO and EVP of DCLI. “They analyze the inventories available in pools across the country combined with information about import/export demand forecasts provided by ocean carriers, rails, and ports to ensure equipment supply is balanced with demand.”

Planning for chassis relocations is only part of the equation – the other part is actually getting the chassis where they need to be. DCLI works with hundreds of drayage providers to execute the planned moves on a daily basis to ensure that chassis are available to meet the demand forecasts. “Chassis relocation is a major part of what DCLI does,” said Joseph. “In 2017, DCLI spent millions of dollars executing relocations. It’s an investment we are proud to make to better serve our customers.”

Introducing new assets to the marine chassis pools is another way that DCLI works to improve chassis availability. In the past three years, DCLI has added more than 11,000 brand new pieces of marine equipment to our chassis fleet and we’ll be adding several thousand more by year’s end. When combined with the benefits of equipment pooling and import/export forecast data analysis, the additional units help us cover our customers’ growing demand without having to increase the number of chassis one-for-one with the growth in the volume of container moves. “Investment in new assets combined with proactive logistics is how we meet our customers’ needs,” said Bill Shea, CEO of DCLI. “It’s this combination that allows us to have chassis where they’re needed, when they’re needed rather than letting them sit idle somewhere they’re not.”