Because of bad weather, the winter months are especially dangerous for truckers. With an abundance of roadside jackknifes and overturned trailers, motor carriers everywhere are ready to kiss the ice and snow goodbye.
However, in the coming weeks as a slushy winter turns to wet spring weather, fleets and their container chassis will still feel the effects of winter. The risk of rusting, deteriorating chassis will be the result, and it’s not only a surface problem, but a safety problem as well.
Container chassis play an often unseen but yet critical role in transportation. According to the Intermodal Association of North America, 95% of all manufactured goods are moved at some point in a container. As the backbone of intermodal transport, the safety of your container and, therefore, your load rests on the dependability of your chassis. The majority of America’s fleets put freight on years-old and worn-out chassis, many of which may be structurally unsafe for both the driver and the public at large. They may look all right, but after years of exposure to punishing road conditions, the integrity of the entire chassis could be at risk.
Chassis are exposed to water year-round – from rain, snow and ice to the constant splashing of water by its tires. In fact, chassis are especially susceptible in the winter not only because of the icy conditions but also because the salt solution covering many roads can be highly corrosive and virtually impossible to remove from hard to reach places.
Fleet owners and drivers equally expect a level of durability and longevity to come standard with their chassis. A motor carrier would understandably rather focus on its business instead of worrying about the quality of its chassis and the potential lost revenue as a result of chassis breakdown. That’s why the industry needs a chassis that delivers peace of mind as its top feature.
For this reason CIE Manufacturing (formerly CIMC Intermodal Equipment) created the Revere Chassis line. A Revere chassis offers a 10-year warranty on all non-wear parts, including its KTL powder coat paint system, wheel ends, landing legs, brake chambers and slack adjusters, as well as its electronic harness and lights. The Revere’s long-lasting components provide greater safety and enable the chassis to be in service longer than most trailers on the road. The efficiency of CIE’s premier line of chassis also reduces the need for repairs that typically result in painstakingly slow downtimes.
Producing over 180,000 chassis for the American market to date, CIE is the world’s largest manufacturer of intermodal container chassis.
As part of the Revere specification, CIE presents the industry’s highest-quality powder coating, called KTL, which is an environmentally friendly application that is resistant to cracks, peels, chips, scratches and corrosion. It also has superior color retention, and the gloss of a luxury car. While minimum standard primer coating thickness is 20 microns, and minimum standard topcoat thickness is 60 microns, the Revere KTL powder coat paint system boasts minimum primer coating thickness of 25 microns, and minimum standard topcoat thickness of 75 microns. And with a 10-year warranty, no other manufacturer even comes close.
“CIE continues to drive the evolution of intermodal by listening to our customers and creating innovative products that deliver to them unprecedented quality, safety and total low cost of ownership,” said CIE Executive Vice President Trevor Ash. “No matter the economic climate or challenges that lay in front of us, CIE pushes forward, taking the intermodal industry to the next level.”
At the time of this writing all countries are feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. CIE Manufacturing has taken the necessary steps to protect our employees in any way possible, and our hearts go out to everyone affected as we face a new ‘normal’ together.
We would especially like to bring attention to all the truck drivers who during the worst of the pandemic continue to keep the global supply chain moving, and keep the economy running. They are not in a profession where they can stay home and isolate themselves, or take days off until the worst has passed. Every day they strive to keep our stores stocked and our businesses open, and we Thank You.
