Seacastle revives TRAC name
Seacastle Chassis said Monday it has changed its name to Trac Intermodal.
The chassis market “is facing new dynamics that it has not previously experienced,” said Steve Rubin, president and chief executive officer, in a message on the company's Web site.
He noted the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s “new federal chassis roadability law will be enforced this year, requiring chassis operators to have a well-defined, high-quality systematic maintenance and record-keeping program. In addition, several steamship lines have started the process of not providing chassis as a 'free' service to its customers.”
Trac said it has a fleet of about 245,000 active chassis and containers, and is the largest provider of marine and domestic chassis operating throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Operations include long-term leasing, short-term rentals through neutral pool programs and pool/fleet management through the company’s proprietary PoolStat system.
TRAC traces its history back to the 1968 formation of Interpool Ltd., a container leasing company that provided dry freight containers under long-term leases.
In 1986, with a fleet of about 35,000 chassis, Interpool's founders formed Trac Lease Inc. to take advantage of the growing demand of shipping lines and trucking companies for chassis rentals.
Two years later, Interpool Inc. was formed as the parent company of the container and chassis businesses. In 1993, after a successful public offering, Interpool Inc. began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Interpool remained a public company for 14 years and was acquired in July 2007 by funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group.
The chassis business was rebranded as Seacastle Chassis, and Monday the company has now changed that to TRAC Intermodal.
In 2007, Fortress filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission to take its container, chassis and containership business public as Seacastle Inc. But those plans were withdrawn in 2009.
This year Seacastle filed plans with the SEC to take its container business public under the name SeaCube Container Leasing Ltd., but that offering has not been completed.