Crowley Continues Container Equipment Acquisitions with 5,105 New 45-foot (102” wide) Containers and 40- and 45-foot Chassis
(Jacksonville, Fla.; July 14, 2006) – Crowley Maritime Corporation is acquiring 5,105 pieces of equipment for use by the company’s liner services group to meet the growing needs of customers shipping cargo between the U.S. and Central America, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. The new equipment includes 1,811 new 45-foot (102 wide) high-security containers, 1,813 45-foot chassis and 1,481 40-foot chassis.
Delivery of the 45- foot containers and their chassis began in June while delivery of the 40-foot chassis began in February. The remaining equipment is expected to be received within the next four months. New units are being deployed into Crowley’s services as soon as they are received.
“We continue to modernize and expand our equipment fleet with those types of containers our customers most prefer,” said Tom Crowley Jr., company chairman, president and CEO. “It is our desire to have the right high-quality equipment throughout all of our service areas when and where customers need it.”
The new containers will complement an order placed in March 2005 for 1,400 new 53-foot (102 wide) containers and chassis, which were received in stages between August and December of 2005. In addition, 457 new 40-foot high-cube refrigerated containers and 380 gensets were also recently received and distributed between the Latin America and Puerto Rico/Caribbean liner services groups.
The new 45-foot containers meet and exceed all new and amended ISO Standards for Freight Container Door security applications. Not only is all door hardware secured to the doors with special round headed huckbolts, each of the four handle locations are designed to accept high security seals with an additional seal location that will allow the right side door to be locked to the door frame. The doors feature heavy-duty plates at the top and the bottom with the bottom one designed to accept an additional security device. New features this year are the addition of a heavy-duty plate on the inside of the left door and cast door handles with anti-theft design features. The combination of these security enhancements and upgrades deters and prevents unauthorized access to containers and loaded cargo. Shipment integrity, from point of origin to delivery, is a premier requirement for customers and government anti-terrorism programs.
While many Crowley containers on chassis are used in the company’s Roll-on/Roll-off (Ro/Ro) services, having containers that can be lifted on and off chassis also provides flexibility to shippers who use Crowley’s Lift-on/Lift-off (Lo/Lo) services.
Oakland-based Crowley Maritime Corporation, founded in 1892, is primarily a family and employee-owned company that provides diversified transportation and logistics services in domestic and international markets by means of four operating lines of business: liner services, logistics services, petroleum services and marine services. Other services provided within these business lines include contract towing and transportation; ship assist and escort; energy support; salvage and emergency response; vessel management, and petroleum and chemical transportation, distribution and sales. Additional information about Crowley its subsidiaries and business units may be found on the Internet at www.crowley.com.
# # #