This will be followed by 1.79 million TEUs in the first half of 2010, it said. “These new additions are expected to push the idle fleet past 2 million TEUs by the end of 2009 or early 2010, depending on the strength of demand growth over the next 12 months,” Alphaliner said. This would be equivalent to nearly 15 percent of the global fleet.
NEW YORK-NEW JERSEY port truckers say they back the concept of chassis pools but aren’t happy with Maersk’s planned Direct ChassisLink program, and won’t support it without changes. After hearing the complaints from members of the Association of Bi-State Motor Carriers, Maersk officials said they would try to address the truckers’ objections. But they defended the planned chassis pool and said Maersk would stick with its scheduled Aug. 3 launch. John Miz-erek, director of business development and commercial planning at Maersk, said the universal pool would prevent truckers from wasting time and fuel on unnecessary trips to exchange various lines’ chassis at terminals. Maersk wants other lines to participate in the pool. The carrier said its plan would not change existing chassis-inspection pro-
cedures at terminals. Maersk also said pool chassis would be available to other ship lines and railroads that agree to the lease terms. Truckers complained they would have problems passing fees to shippers that negotiate free use of chassis from Maersk or other ship
lines. They also said the pool’s $11 daily fee for chassis use would cause backups at terminals on Fridays, when users would seek to avoid the daily fee over the weekend.
RAIL INDUSTRY SOURCES expect a Senate committee to unveil a bill soon that would overhaul railroad regulation and revamp the Surface Transportation Board. With the Senate’s summer recess looming, time is short. Staffers for Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., have been meeting in closed sessions with railroad executives, shippers and rail labor officials to redraw the economic regulations overseen by the STB. Shippers, sometimes joined by unions, have complained for years that the regulators lean too much in favor of the rate-setting power of railroads against demands from customers or communities for better service or competition in freight pricing. Rockefeller has not said when he will offer up his bill, but several sources involved in the talks said they expect him to try to get it through his committee before the Aug. 10 recess begins, so the full Senate could take it up when lawmakers return in September.
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