What is a container chassis?

A wheeled steel frame with landing gear, a kingpin and locking devices that carries a shipping container on the road as a trailer.

Who provides chassis in the US?

Mostly leasing companies, through chassis pools. Shipping lines once supplied them with the container but have largely sold them off; outside the US, truckers usually own their own.

Can a shipping line make me use its chosen chassis provider?

In the US, the Federal Maritime Commission found rules tying truckers to a designated chassis provider unreasonable in its 2024 decision in Docket 20-14, and opened a further inquiry into chassis practices in 2026.

Term

Container chassis

A container chassis is the wheeled steel frame a truck pulls to carry a shipping container on the road, with locking devices that hold the container in place. In the US most chassis come from leasing companies through pools rather than from truckers, and the chassis and the container are often supplied by different companies.

Also called chassis, intermodal chassis, chassis poolUpdated 12 October 2026

What a chassis is

The Uniform Intermodal Interchange Agreement defines a chassis as a steel frame with wheels, landing gear and a kingpin, with locking devices that secure a container so it can travel as a wheeled vehicle. US federal safety rules count chassis as intermodal equipment, alongside trailers.

Who provides it

Outside the US, motor carriers have generally owned and run their own chassis.
In the US, shipping lines long supplied chassis with their containers, then sold them off — an industry account names Evergreen as the last major line to sell, in 2019.
Leasing companies are now the main owners of chassis in the US pools, according to 2015 testimony by the Federal Maritime Commission's chairman.
The UIIA states that the provider of the chassis and of the container need not be the same party.

Choosing a chassis

Shipping line rules that tie a trucker to one designated chassis provider have been found unreasonable — the Federal Maritime Commission's decision in Docket 20-14 in 2024 — and the Commission opened a new inquiry into chassis practices in 2026.

Worked example: two clocks

Because the chassis and the container can come from different providers, a slow move can run up two daily charges at once. Suppose a pool charges USD 32 a day for its chassis and the line charges USD 100 a day in container per diem after 4 free days, and the container stays out 7 days.

Chassis: 7 × 32 = USD 224 · Container: (7 − 4) × 100 = USD 300 · Total = USD 524

The chassis is often charged from day one; the container only after its free days — check both agreements.

The mistake people make

Watching only the container's free time. The chassis under it is a separate rental with a separate bill, and in the US it may come from a third company entirely.

FAQ