There are lots of opinions about the role that chassis play in the supply chain. How can you tell perception from reality?

Below are three commonly-held perceptions related to chassis and our view of the real story. Take a read through and see if you agree.

About chassis quality…

PERCEPTION:

Poor chassis quality in pool environments can impact my schedule.

REALITY:

Once upon a time, that statement might have been true. But those days are coming to an end. We’ve converted over 25,000 of our pool chassis to radial tires and over 80% of our fleet to LED lights. And with over 11,000 brand-new chassis added to our fleet in the last three years, we’re committed to continually improving our equipment.

About chassis availability…

PERCEPTION:

As shipment volumes have increased, an insufficient number of available chassis is constraining resources at ports and rails.

REALITY:

Chassis providers like DCLI operate off of total import/export demand forecasts provided by ocean carriers, rails, and ports. We are in the business of using data to reposition assets to where they’re needed, when they’re needed rather than letting them sit idle somewhere they’re not. When combined with the benefits of equipment pooling and a focus on proactive logistics, the forecast data provides key information we use to cover our customers’ demands. And we can do this without having to increase the number of chassis one-for-one with the number of containers.

About chassis productivity…

PERCEPTION:

Using pool chassis is less productive for truckers than having their own equipment.

REALITY:

Having access to on-terminal pool chassis can significantly benefit truckers’ productivity when compared to sourcing their own equipment. Such access can expedite turn times since the container can be pre-mounted to a chassis before the trucker arrives to pick it up. It can also increase the probability of street-turn success, which reduces the frequency of empty returns to the terminal.