U.S. EPA Office of Transportation & Air Quality ! EPA420-F-06-002 ! (734) 214-4767 phone ! smartway_transport@epa.gov !

www.epa.gov/smartway

Common Chassis Pools can help trucking companies save fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 

minimizing unnecessary truck movements and idling associated with switching chassis. Drayage trucks 

using pooled chassis could save up to 0.8 gallons per trip, reducing Nitrogen Oxide and Particulate Matter 

emissions. 

What is the challenge?

Fuel consumption and turn times for 

drayage trucks are increased through 

the common practice of picking up and 

dropping off chassis that belong to 

different terminal operators. Most 

chassis are owned and maintained by 

individual terminal operators or 

steamship lines, and are not permitted 

for use with containers from another 

carrier. With one acre required for every 

50 chassis, the storage of excess 

chassis requires space that could be 

allocated for more productive uses 

within the terminal. Port congestion 

associated with chassis storage can 

negatively impact terminal throughput, 

timeliness, and ability to compete as a 

shipping destination. 

Chassis switching can add up to an hour 

per trip, substantially reducing income 

for drayage truck drivers. Since trucking 

companies and truckers are typically 

paid by the trip, reducing gate turn-time 

is key to maintaining pay level, and 

driver retention. Chassis switching also 

increases fuel use, delivery times, port 

congestion, and air pollution. 

What is the solution? 

One option to reduce delays caused by 

switching chassis is the development of 

a port-wide common chassis pool. 

Participating shipping lines provide their 

own chassis for use by the pool, which 

can be managed and maintained by a 

subsidiary of the participating terminals, 

or a third party. This allows drayage 

trucks to use pooled chassis to serve 

multiple carriers and greatly reduces 

gate turn-times through greater 

streamlining of operations. 

Common chassis pools can provide a 

more efficient management of terminal 

assets, increase the volume of goods 

through the port and free up space used 

to store chassis on port lands. Additional 

fuel savings from 

reducing miles traveled while switching 

chassis, is dependent on the size of the 

port facility and its physical layout. 

Pooled chassis can also facilitate the 

implementation of virtual container yards 

(VCY) and empty container yards 

(ECY), reducing the number of empty 

container movements, congestion and 

wait times at terminal gates. 

The results are in . . . 

In October 2004, the Port of Virginia 

became the first U.S. port to require all 

chassis stored on site to participate in its 

Hampton Roads Chassis Pool II 

(HRCPII). By June 2005, HCRPII has 

achieved 100% participation from the 

port’s container shipping lines, 

managing over 15,000 chassis. Plans 

for the pool include the development of 

HCRP III in which a third party supplier 

will own all chassis. 

The pool has reduced the number of 

chassis stored on site by 5,000 to 6,000, 

A Glance at Clean Freight Strategies: 

Common Chassis Pools for Drayage
U.S. EPA Office of Transportation & Air Quality ! EPA420-F-06-002 ! (734) 214-4767 phone ! smartway_transport@epa.gov !

www.epa.gov/smartway

or 20% of the original fleet. This has 

resulted in 40 to 60 acres of land being 

recaptured for use by the terminals. 

HCRPII has been instrumental in 

keeping gate turn times below an 

average of 42 minutes, enabling 

terminals to accommodate the 

continued annual growth in container 

shipments occurring at the Port of 

Virginia. 

Local trucking companies have indicated 

that the number of moves their drivers 

are able to complete in a shift has risen 

dramatically. Local drivers who would 

previously only be able to complete two 

to three container moves per shift are 

now being able to move up to ten 

containers daily. This has allowed 

companies to provide a more reliable 

service while increasing company 

revenues and driver incomes. Marine 

and railroad terminals including the ports 

of Los Angeles Long Beach, Baltimore, 

Charleston and Savannah, have 

expressed an interest in port-wide 

common chassis pools. 

Next steps

Terminal operators and Port Authorities 

should consider the implementation of 

chassis pools to recapture terminal 

space, reduce gate turn times, and 

reduce air pollution and congestion in 

and around port facilities. Stakeholder 

meetings held early in the planning 

process can help terminals interested in 

adopting a common chassis pool 

determine which model best suits the 

needs of the individual ports.