The Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association (OCEMA), Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), Jacksonville Port Authority (JaxPort), North Carolina State Ports Authority (NC Ports) and Consolidated Chassis Management LLC (CCM) are one step closer to launching the new South Atlantic Chassis Pool (SACP 3.0).

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) concluded its review of the proposed South Atlantic Multiport Chassis Pool Agreement this weekend. Under the law, the FMC has 45 days to consider a filed agreement and either reject it or allow it to go into effect. After rigorous scrutiny and oversight, which included a request for additional information from the Parties and an open public comment period, the FMC allowed the Agreement to go into effect on November 26, 2022. “The regulatory go-ahead is a major step for the joint effort by the Ports and carriers to transform chassis provisioning in the South Atlantic,” said Jeffrey Lawrence, OCEMA Executive Director. “This will benefit all stakeholders in the entire supply chain.”

The SACP 3.0 is designed to infuse the pool with new high quality chassis by placing the responsibility for procuring assets with a single provider, CCM. SACP 3.0 takes the best qualities of existing pool models and combines them to offer a safe, reliable, cost efficient, and scalable premium service. “SACP 3.0 represents a unique public-private cooperation between port authorities and ocean carriers to create an integrated chassis provisioning system in the Southeast region,” said Griff Lynch, Executive Director, GPA.

The Pool will be the largest fully interoperable pool in the U.S., with over 60,000 chassis available to motor carriers, shippers, and ocean carriers at multiple port and inland locations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. “The SACP 3.0 provides an essential service and a vital intermodal extension to our port infrastructure,” said JAXPORT CEO Eric Green.

SACP 3.0 will be owned by a subsidiary of OCEMA and managed by CCM, but subject to forward looking operating parameters agreed with the ports. Chassis rates will be made available to pool users through a publicly available tariff. “SACP 3.0 is designed to quickly respond to changes in dynamic cargo volume growth to meet customer needs with a modern and reliable chassis supply,” said Brian Clark, Executive Director, NC Ports.

“The SACP 3.0 represents the next logical step in the evolution of interoperable pools in the U.S. The new pool represents a leap forward in terms of supply chain efficiency and resilience,” said Mike Wilson, Chief Executive Officer, CCM. The SACP 3.0 is slated to start in October 2023.