CLARIFICATION: FFE-ITL PUERTO RICO SERVICE A ôPARTNERSHIPö WITH CARRIERS
A new temperature-controlled trailer service between the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico is 'a partnership arrangement with ocean carriers' slot-charter space contract agreements,' said Jason Sain, chief operating officer of International Transport Logistics, a partner in the venture.
FFE Transportation Services Inc., a subsidiary of Frozen Food Express Industries Inc., and International Transport Logistics Inc., a non-vessel-operating common carrier based in Jacksonville, Fla., are providing the service using ships and barges from ports in Florida and New Jersey.
'This service covers only a niche market for temperature-controlled products that have a high cube requirement shipped between Puerto Rico and points in the continental U.S., Mexico and Canada, where it becomes costly and on-compensatory for ocean 40-foot reefer containers and chassis to be positioned in these areas so far from the port,' Sain said.
FFE has a fleet of 3,500 53-foot refrigerated trailers positioned in these markets. 'This concept helps the ocean carriers obtain efficiencies where high-cost, reefer maintenance positioning expenses and loss of utilization occur when sending reefers to far from the port,' Sain said.