NYK Line is extending its plan to phase out chassis services, dropping the equipment provision in Oakland and Minneapolis for import and export merchant haulage bills of lading, the Journal of Commerce reported.
The move is effective Sept. 1 and NYK said there will be no change to the chassis provision for carrier’s haulage shipments.
NYK’s action is part of a move by many carriers over the last year to get out of the long-standing practice of providing chassis for drayage moves at ports and inland terminals.
The decisions, a significant shift in shipping container services in a U.S. market that has always had use of the key equipment included in ocean transport charges, started spreading in the industry last year. Implementation has moved at an uneven pace, however, with many shippers complaining about the potential for patchwork solutions that will complicate supply chains while some carriers have quietly retained chassis services for large customers.
NYK said its policy change will not only “lower total cost but will also build greater flexibility for the trucker, minimizing inefficiencies in the performance of their daily work.”