On Tuesday, September 17, around 300 people gathered in Long Beach for the Containerization and Intermodal Institute’s Connie Award celebration. This year, the Connie was presented to our CEO, Bill Shea, in recognition of his 30 years of work in the intermodal industry u2013 in particular, the innovations he has put into practice around chassis leasing and provisioning models. During his acceptance speech, Shea remarked on this aspect of his work in the industry saying “In the past 10 years, Ocean Carriers have joined Alliances to share assets but remain fierce competitors. Likewise, equipment providers have collaborated in pooling arrangements in certain markets like Los Angeles and Long Beach, while offering proprietary products and services in other markets to meet unique customer requirements and demand. There is no one-size-fits-all model for equipment pooling in the US, and the free market environment is the best avenue to develop innovative solutions linking equipment provisioning models with global supply chain networks.”

Shea started his career with Itel Rail Corporation. Years later, he co-founded Kelley Transportation Services then was the key executive who oversaw the creation of DCLI, formerly the chassis leasing division of Maersk, as a stand-alone business. He was also the thought-leader behind the creation of the Pool of Pools in 2015, the gray daily-use chassis pool that operates in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Shea also engineered DCLI’s acquisitions of REZ-1 and IAS, now called Blume Global, to provide asset management and logistics software services to railroads, ocean carriers, logistics companies, motor carriers, and BCOs.

Presently, Shea serves on the Board of Directors of DCLI and Blume Global and on the Board of the International Institute of Container Lessors. In addition to his work in the intermodal industry, Shea has a long history serving charitable organizations and founded three charity wine auctions that have raised over $40 million for children’s causes. He also sits on the advisory board of Family House, Inc., an 80-unit facility that houses families whose children are undergoing treatment for life-threatening illnesses at the University of California San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital.

We are very proud to honor Bill Shea and the impact his vision, leadership, and boundless determination has had on our company and our industry.

Click below to watch the video in recognition of Bill’s Connie Award presented courtesy of the Port of Long Beach.