Nov 22, 2002 12:00 PM, Gary Macklin

Frozen Food Express, Dallas TX, and International Transport Logistics, Jacksonville FL, have announced a joint venture to provide refrigerated trailer service to and from Puerto Rico using 53-ft vans on ships and barges sailing from ports in Florida and New Jersey. Using 53-ft highway trailers instead of 40-ft marine containers will improve the quality of service and productivity for shippers and receivers in Puerto Rico, the two companies say. With trailers, product is loaded by the shipper and not handled again until it reaches destination, unlike container shipment that usually requires freight to move to a port by trailer for subsequent stuffing into a container. In addition, containers require the availability of highway chassis for delivery after arrival in port. Taking port handling of freight and chassis out of the equation improves productivity for all parties to a move. Reduced handling also lower the potential for freight damage, Bernard Sain, president of ITL says. The size of highway trailers compared to marine containers reduces the total number of vehicles needed to supply receivers on the island. Using 53-ft vans instead of 40-ft containers can reduce the number of shipments by up to 30%, FFE says. The FFE/ITL service will provide eight sailings per week.