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The Harbor Trucking Association announced it is supporting a new venture — the Trucker Chassis Connection — to reduce congestion around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Difficulties related to the availability of chassis have been blamed as a major factor in congestion problems around the ports. The association is in accord with other business and government organizations in the area that are looking to improve the way port truckers get the equipment needed to move freight out of port terminals.
"It’s going to ensure reliability, because we’re going to be using an app, Chassis Finder, to make sure chassis are available," Harbor Trucking Association executive director Weston LeBar said.
The new program was announced as a partnership between HTA and Chassis Finder — a Kansas company operating an online system for trucking companies that want to lease available trailers. LeBar said the trade group’s member companies would be able to use the new chassis pool on
June 1.
Initial plans call for 200 chassis to be set aside for trucking companies doing business at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach with another 50
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chassis set aside for the Port of Oakland.
For now, the new chassis pool represents a small number of trailers when compared to the roughly 80,000 chassis that three major equipment-leasing firms have gathered into a "pool of pools" or "gray pool." Direct Chassis Link, Flexi-Van Leasing and TRAC Intermodal formed the new pool in March to allow truckers to use chassis interchangeably instead of having to worry about whether the equipment is contractually tied to a particular shipping line.
Val Noel, chief operating officer of TRAC Intermodal, said the three companies are still refining their methods of evaluating how well the pool may be improving flow of goods at local ports, but said developments so far have been encouraging.
"It’s been getting better and better, in our opinion, each and every week," he said.
The Long Beach Harbor Commission voted May 11 to seek bids from companies interested in operating another planned chassis pool intended to alleviate any persisting equipment shortages.
For more of the Press Telegram story: www.presstelegram.com
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