Spot shortages of chassis continue to plague terminal operators in Los Angeles-Long Beach, seven months after the portwide “pool of pools” was rolled out by chassis-leasing companies with the intention of eliminating that very problem.

When a terminal does not have sufficient chassis to handle import loads, containers back up on the docks and congestion can develop quickly, especially in a port complex that averages more than 5,000 container moves per vessel call.

Ports on both coasts are developing programs designed to address the chassis shortages that have developed over the past year since most shipping lines sold their chassis to the big three leasing companies, TRAC Intermodal, DCLI and Flexi-Van.

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