How to start hauling 1st container load drayage

I don't know about Michigan, but Chicago area, most containers are already on wheels. When they're not, the chassis still is part of the pickup, ie, the chassis pool is at the rail yard, and your booking would include it.

 

I leased my tractor to a company in Green Bay, power only, and they dealt with Hub Group, that specializes in intermodal. While I did that in the late 80s, out of Chicago, I did okay, and intermodal has come a long ways. With driver shortages and the inevitable pileups, intermodal is clearly the thing of the future. If I was to do it again, I'd get my own spread axle aluminum chassis, and just do live lifts and pickups. The chassis they provide are all pool chassis, some still with tube tires , no brakes, and no sliders. Be advised, shippers tend to "load the wagon, it's just going on the rail",,,and the container is already heavy, be able to scale 48,000, hence the spread axle. Most loads were regional, say 4-500 miles, and many times, I returned the box empty. That may have changed. I knew guys that just did crosstown moves and made a killing. Hope you have a big motor, those cans pull hard. There are other shippers, but this Hub seemed like the best one.
Owner Operators | Supply Chain Logistics | Hub Group

 

When I did Cans and pigs back in the early 80’s, I couldn’t wait to get out of it. The settlements sucked, along with the OOS equipment and long waiting lines. Only reason I lasted a couple of years, the settlement was there every week, so I could pay my truck off. Those years were my learning days. I learned a lot from going to company driver to O/O. I have absolutely no idea how the intermodal industry runs today here in SoCal. But I do see mostly all immigrants behind the wheel hauling them.

 

I retired from a company that had an intermodal side in addition to LTL/warehousing.

When the steamship lines stopped providing 'free' chassis we started to lease our own, we had over 700 by the time I retired.

Long term [then] we got them around $5.00 a day vrs the port's $12.00 a day plus we charged the customer $25.00 a day.

Some were more to lease but they were the most adaptable, able to haul a loaded 20, or loaded 40 and /or 45, as well as, two MT 20's with spread axles, onboard tire air systems, LED lights and radial tires; kinda a swiss army knife of chassis.

Being in the UIIA and having steamship/rail terminals on your 'provider list' is only 1/2 the battle.

You need a customer -or- two.

We had a solid group of customers mostly close to our warehouse and serviced them to the nth degree, so much that a new warehouse for a major on-line retailer [NOT Amazon] tossed a poorly performing carrier and called our company on the reccomendation of their neighboring warehouses.

We asked a higher rate and provided excellent service and they were happy.

You need to find a customer -or- two.

 

Check out this channel, most questions you have are answered on this channel

 

Not sure if it’s different where you are but in SoCal there’s so many extra bs you have to purchase (insurances, scac code, UIIA Cert.) that realistically the best option is to get cans from Knight, JBHunt, etc. .