UNP - Union Pacific Corporation

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Trucking companies have offered to use their own chassis as a temporary solution until the intermodal equipment providers (IEPs) — TRAC, DCLI, and Flexi-Van Leasing — can supply enough chassis, but UP has refused these overtures under its “no cherry-picking” policy, while also not waiving fees.

The Federal Maritime Commission, which has ruled that container availability is a precondition for demurrage, does not have authority over US railroads.

The Surface Transportation Board cannot officially intercede either, despite oversight authority, because containerized rail was deregulated in the 1980s.

UP argues yard workers must concentrate on unloading containers from trains, rather than deconstructing and reconstructing stacks all day. The storage fees are meant to “encourage the IEPs to increase their chassis inventory,” according to a June 7 UP email provided to JOC.com by one of the three NVOs.

UP’s chassis usage policy

UP’s policy not only prohibits the trucker-owned chassis solution, but also outlines how TRAC, DCLI, and Flexi-Van chassis are being used on incoming trains rather than on the stack.

If TRAC provides 500 chassis, for example, then UP puts them on containers arriving that day, not the 500 containers sitting the longest.

UP will mount containers in the stack only when surplus chassis are available, according to the June 7 email.