New sixty thousand strong South Atlantic Chassis Pool announced

The Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association (OCEMA), Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT), North Carolina State Ports Authority (NC Ports), and Consolidated Chassis Management LLC (CCM) have signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding to establish a new South Atlantic Chassis Pool (“SACP 3.0”) based on a single provider pool model. The new pool will start in October 2023.

“The SACP 3.0 will refurbish and replace chassis to improve fluidity and keep pace with the tremendous container trade growth across the South Atlantic,” said Griff Lynch, Executive Director, GPA.

The pool will offer 60,000 chassis to truckers, beneficial cargo owners, ocean carriers and other port users. Under the new structure, the SACP will transition from the current multi-contributor chassis pool to a single provider utility type pool. Chassis rates will be made available to pool users through a publicly available tariff. The pool will continue to be owned by a subsidiary of OCEMA and managed by CCM, but subject to forward looking operating parameters agreed with the ports.

“Chassis are a vital link in the supply chain and we are committed to ensuring our customers continue to have access to a modern and dependable chassis supply,” said JAXPORT CEO Eric Green. “The enhanced SACP 3.0 is responsive to swings in chassis demand, providing cargo customers throughout the Southeast with a reliable chassis supply to meet their evolving needs.”

The SACP 3.0 is designed to infuse the pool with new high quality chassis by placing the responsibility for procuring assets with a single provider, CCM. The single provider model takes the best qualities of both the current gray pool and proprietary models and combines them to offer a safe, reliable, cost efficient, and scalable premium service.

“The SACP 3.0 provides a single management entity that ensures a robust chassis availability in the South Atlantic region and the ability to respond nimbly to the exponential cargo volume growth our ports are experiencing,” said Brian Clark, Executive Director, NC Ports. The SACP will continue to be the largest fully interoperable chassis pool in the U.S., with over 75 locations in the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

Jeffrey Lawrence, OCEMA Executive Director said, “This joint effort by three major U.S. ports and ocean carrier partners is a great example of a public/private effort that will ensure port users, including U.S. exporters and importers, truckers, rail roads, and ocean carriers, as well as the ports themselves, will receive access to the most resilient, efficient, and environmentally sound regional chassis fleet in the U.S.”

“SACP will continue to leverage its proven technology and management expertise to drive innovative chassis provisioning options that address changing customer and market needs as well as business demand,” said Mike Wilson, CEO of CCM. “The truly collaborative effort between the ports, OCEMA and CCM has always been essential to the success of SACP and continues to be the key to taking SACP 3.0 from concept to reality.”

A filing with the Federal Maritime Commission reflecting the new pool arrangement is expected in the near future.