---
title: "chassis: Definition and Meaning | NPSA"
description: "A chassis is a skeletal semi-trailer built to carry a container. It has twistlocks at the corners that lock into the container's corner castings."
url: https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/chassis
publisher: National Portable Storage Association (NPSA)
phone: "(816) 960-6552"
email: info@npsa.org
---

Delivery equipment

# chassis

A chassis is a skeletal semi-trailer built to carry a container. It has twistlocks at the corners that lock into the container's corner castings. Chassis are used with tractors to move containers on roads between ports, rail yards and depots.

## Why it matters

The chassis is the trailer under a container for road moves. Twistlocks hold the box in place. Operators see chassis at ports and rail yards, and some storage companies use them for truck-to-yard moves. A container on a chassis does not unload on the ground by itself. A crane, reach stacker or other lift must remove it. A common mistake is to think a chassis can place a box at a customer's yard. Another is to forget the chassis size must match the container length. Federal rules also cover how chassis and other intermodal equipment are interchanged with motor carriers. Confirm size, load rating and who provides it.

[Read: Container delivery equipment: Tilt-bed, roll-off, side-loader, and crane trucks](https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/guides/container-delivery-equipment)

Definition source: [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container_chassis)

## Related terms

[### corner casting A corner casting is a cast steel fitting at each corner of a container. Eight of them sit at the corners. Cranes, twistlocks and lashing gear grip them to lift, stack and secure the box. They are also called corner fittings.](https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/corner-casting)[### semi-trailer A semi-trailer is a trailer built so that part of its weight rests on the truck that pulls it. Federal motor carrier rules define a semitrailer as a motor vehicle, other than a pole trailer, that another motor vehicle draws and that bears partly on the towing vehicle.](https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/semi-trailer)[### reach stacker A reach stacker is a vehicle that handles intermodal cargo containers in terminals and ports. It has a telescopic boom that lifts, carries and stacks loaded containers several high. It grips them by the corner castings. It is built for heavy, high-volume yards.](https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/reach-stacker)[### flatbed truck A flatbed truck has a flat, level bed with no sides or roof. It can be a rigid truck or a tractor with a trailer. A flatbed can haul a container but needs a crane or forklift at the drop site to unload it.](https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/flatbed-truck)[### ISO container An ISO container is a freight container built to the ISO series 1 standards, such as ISO 668 for classification and dimensions and ISO 1496 for specification and testing. The standards let boxes fit the same ships, trucks and handling gear worldwide.](https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/iso-container)[### intermodal container An intermodal container is a standardized, reusable container that can move between ships, trains and trucks without unloading the cargo. It has fittings for handling, securing and stacking. Most dry freight containers use a closed steel box with doors at one end.](https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/intermodal-container)

[All 220 terms](https://npsa.preview.multisites.ai/glossary)

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