GREEN BAY, WI— Schneider National is investing in its own intermodal service by creating a company-owned and managed chassis fleet for railroad movements.

“Establishing a company-owned chassis fleet gives Schneider complete control of assets used in an intermodal move and makes our service even more efficient for shippers,” says Bill Matheson, president of Intermodal Services at Schneider. “Only a handful of transportation companies have invested in their own chassis fleets.”

Schneider’s new chassis fleet will help solve a long-lingering issue in the intermodal segment: consistent access to lightweight, quality chassis when and where shippers need them.

Schneider says that investing in its own chassis fleet gives them more freight capacity per load – about 500 pounds.

They also say that the demand for chassis in shared pools often outstrips supply and that their new equipment will increase supply, allowing them to precisely match the number of customer orders to equipment availability.

Furthermore, they’ll have better control over the maintenance of its chassis, allowing them to maintain, identify issues and make repairs before they turn into critical breakdowns and costly delays.

“We’ve operated, maintained and managed tens of thousands of tractors, trailers and containers over the years,” Matheson says. “The addition of chassis to our equipment mix is a natural extension and once again demonstrates our commitment to Intermodal.”

Schneider got 600 chassis in late October and the new equipment has already been integrated into the company’s intermodal operations. The company expects to convert its entire North American intermodal operation to an owned-chassis model over the next two years.

The chassis purchase marks the third time in recent years that Schneider has heavily invested in its intermodal offering. The company invested in a container conversion in 2006 and completed its container tracking installation in August 2013.