DCLI makes New Orleans its first market with 100% radial tires; all DCLP chassis at Gulf Ports will be radial by the end of 2021.

Direct ChassisLink, Inc. (“DCLI”) is pleased to announce that it has completed the conversion of its New Orleans chassis fleet to radial tires. This is the first market to be completed in the company’s push to have all of its pool chassis running on radial tires by the end of 2023.

DCLI accelerated its radial conversion program in the Gulf Port markets after exiting CCM’s Gulf Cooperative Chassis Pool last year. Since then, DCLI invested millions of dollars replacing older, bias-ply tires with radials, which are much more durable and better suited for the hot weather truckers encounter in the Gulf. “Exiting the GCCP gray pool in early 2020 provided us with an opportunity to upgrade our equipment,” said Ryan Houfek, DCLI’s chief commercial officer. “And making that investment enabled us to better serve truckers across the region through our DCLP competitive pool.”

DCLI expects to convert 100% of its chassis operating in the rest of the Gulf Port markets, including Mobile and Houston, to radial tires in 2021. Radial tire conversion offers several benefits including reducing the number of tire changes per chassis each year, saving approximately 60,000 tires annually, and improving fuel efficiency to help lower fuel consumption by as much as 10%. As radial tire conversion work continues in the Gulf, truckers in New Orleans are already benefiting from a radialized fleet. “Since DCLI switched from bias ply to radial tires, we have noticed considerably fewer service calls,” said Joseph Landwerlin, owner and president of Landwerlin Trucking, a New Orleans-based drayage provider. “These upgrades allow us to run our business more efficiently with the end result being higher profitability.”

Having radial tires on chassis also helps with the efficiency of port operations. “Chassis are a critical component of the Port of New Orleans ecosystem and our customers expect quality equipment that will operate efficiently,” said Brandy Christian, President and CEO of the Port of New Orleans. “We appreciate the investment made by DCLI in providing port drivers with upgraded chassis equipment and are proud that our market is the first that the company is fully converting to radial tires.”

To be absolutely certain we have not missed any DCLI pool chassis in the New Orleans market that need radial conversion, we are launching a program to enlist truckers’ help with “capturing” any such units. If you happen to see a DCLP chassis that hasn’t yet been converted, please contact us at noradials@dcli.com. We will direct you to drop the chassis at one of our NOLA start/stop locations so that it can be scheduled for its upgrade. As a token of our appreciation, we will send you a $100 Amazon gift card when the chassis is brought into the specified location.

You can track DCLI’s radial conversion program online to see progress in the rest of the Gulf Port markets and Memphis.