Crowley buys more boxes

JANUARY 4, 2016 — Crowley Maritime Corp.’s liner services group is ringing in the new year with a $25.5 million investment in new cargo carrying equipment.

The units, all built to Crowley’s specialized structural and security standards, will include 325 x 20-foot chassis; 500 x 45-foot (102-inch wide) dry containers; 600 x 53-foot (102-inch wide) dry containers; 400 x 53-foot chassis and 440 generator sets (gensets), some of which are underslung and some that are nose mounted.

This latest upgrade to the equipment fleet follows the company’s recent acquisitionmonth of 400 new 40-foot, high-cube refrigerated (reefer) cargo containers for use by perishables customers in Central America and the Caribbean.

“While we transport many different types of cargo, including that which is oversized, or otherwise not suitable for a container, the majority of cargo we carry throughout our trade lanes is containerized, and as such, we must continue to enhance our fleet to ensure we have the right equipment in the right locations when it is needed by our customers,” said Steve Collar, Crowley senior vice president and general manager, international liner services.

“In this new selection of equipment are 600, 53-foot containers designed specifically for our Puerto Rico customers,” said John Hourihan, senior vice president and general manager, Puerto Rico services. “These oversized boxes have a capacity of almost 4,000 cubic feet maximizing the value for shippers of low density, high-cube cargo like furniture or department store merchandise.”

Production of the 500 45-foot containers has been completed by CIMC in China. These containers will leave for the U.S. at the end of December and arrive in Port Everglades and Jacksonville, FL., by the end of January where they will begin to assimilate throughout Crowley’s network. The remaining equipment is expected to arrive within the first half of 2016.