Today, two prominent chassis providers in the Port of New York and New Jersey —  TRAC Intermodal and DirectChassisLink, Inc. (DCLI) — have collocated their operations on Bay Avenue in Port Elizabeth to provide greater efficiency in chassis supply and maintenance. 

“This development is another step in the Port of New York and New Jersey’s commitment to provide smooth and efficient port operations,” said Beth Rooney, assistant director of the Port Department at The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. “Now that larger, next-generation container vessels have begun to call our port, we need to make sure we have sufficient equipment on hand to handle what we expect to be a more robust flow of cargo. Further consolidating chassis locations and maintenance certainly helps to that end.”

Situated in a 31-acre yard with room for 4,000 chassis on Bay Avenue, Port Elizabeth, the new depot — operated by Columbia Coastal Services — is called the Elizabeth Chassis Depot. It will serve the interests of the broader port community rather than a single marine terminal, which was common practice in the past.  

Also, thanks to efficiencies established at the gate by the International Longshoremen’s Association, port officials expect that truckers will be able to  enter and exit the new depot twice as quickly as in the past.