Safety, Cost Control and Best Practices

Budd Lake, NJ. September 7, 2017. After extensive collaboration with TSE Brakes, Inc., Consolidated Chassis Management is pleased to announce the creation and implementation of TSE's new TSE-REX™ (Rapid EXchange Push Rod system, designed to better meet the demands of our industry. The system, equipped with Variable Clocking Technology (VCT™), will create significant savings in labor and parts expense for industry participants.

Within the industry, bent push rods have been a major concern caused by the way chassis are designed being incompatible with how they are stored on terminals to reduce footprint. Push rods would bend easily when chassis are stacked and with the design of the old chamber, every push rod had to be cut to length. There were numerous occurrences where this was not being done properly and installation of the new chamber negatively impacted brake operations, forcing the replacement of the entire brake chamber in addition to the bent push rod The innovative TSE-REX™ Rapid EXchange Push Rod system will utilize pre-cut push rods with fixed clevis, helping mechanics replace the push rod to the exact length required based on slack adjuster configuration, reducing errors that would have an effect on proper braking.

"With so many chassis, maintenance is a key cost driver for us. We are continuously analyzing data to determine root causes of our maintenance spend," said Jon Poelma, Chief Operating Officer/Senior Vice President. "We identified bent push rods as one of those root causes. TSE Brakes listened to our concerns and worked with us to develop this new game changing design."

The Variable Clocking Technology introduces to the industry an unparalleled level of efficiency, providing mechanics the ability to clock the air ports and eliminate airline chaffing. This allows for greater efficiency in replacing the push rod, decreases the number of air hoses that need to be replaced and reduces DOT citations.

Going forward units identified as requiring a chamber replacement will receive the new TSE-REX™ Rapid Exchange Push Rod system. CCM will gauge cost savings and down time and will communicate to members as more units are converted to the new chamber. It is all about safety, cost control and maintenance best practices.

About CCM

Consolidated Chassis Management is the leading cooperative chassis pool manager, managing the combined fleet of multiple contributors to provide maximum equipment availability and facilitate ease of participation to all involved in intermodal freight transport. CCM supports all chassis provisioning models and enables participants the ability to choose their chassis provider through CCM's Customer Choice Program. CCM works closely with steamship lines, railroads, ports and motor carriers at over 300 locations nationwide.

If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Ken Tock at 973-298-8900 or at ktock@ccmpool.com