Ports and carriers plan to add up to 50,000 chassis in southeast US
The ports and carriers that are part of the South Atlantic Chassis Pool (SACP) have signed a letter of intent to increase and upgrade the pool. Through this joint effort, the Georgia Port Authority (GPA), Jacksonville Port Authority (Jaxport), North Carolina State Ports Authority (NC Ports) and the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association (OCEMA), an association of 10 major international container carriers, will add up to 50,000 new high-tech intermodal chassis to the pool over the next 18 months.
The SACP is the largest fully interoperable chassis pool in the US, covering the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Jeff Lawrence, Executive Director of OCEMA, said, “All stakeholders in the intermodal chain have felt the strain of sustained high volumes over the past 15 months. The ports have challenged us to work with them to build a true chassis utility that will deliver the most resilient, efficient and environmentally sound regional chassis fleet this country has ever seen. With the close cooperation of the three major ports and 10 major ocean carriers, we believe that objective is very achievable.”
The ports also asked Consolidated Chassis Management (CCM) to join the project. Mike Wilson, CEO of CCM, said the upgraded SACP – dubbed ‘SACP 3.0’ – will enhance the current SACP through “a unique public/private cooperative effort.”
