Intermodal Chassis

An intermodal chassis is the wheeled trailer frame used to carry an intermodal shipping container over the road or around a terminal. The chassis has no enclosed body of its own; it is a frame with wheels and locking devices onto which a container is set so that the container can travel by truck.

How It Is Used

Intermodal shipping moves containers across more than one mode of transport - rail, highway, and, for a large share of the world's freight, ocean ships - without unpacking the freight. A great many of the containers that move by rail in North America arrive or depart by sea, so the chassis is often the link that gets an ocean container to and from the railhead. While a container rides the railroad on a flatcar or in a well car, it has no road wheels of its own. To move it the last miles between the rail terminal and the shipper or consignee, the container is lifted onto a chassis, which is then pulled by a road tractor like any other trailer. At the terminal, the container is lifted off the chassis and placed on the train, and the empty chassis is returned to the pool for reuse.

Why It Matters

The chassis is the link that lets a single container move seamlessly between rail and road. Its standardized size and locking points match the container so that the same box can be carried by truck, by rail, and by ship without handling the goods inside. Because chassis are shared resources at busy terminals, their availability and condition are an important part of keeping intermodal traffic flowing.