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Nearly two years after Maersk Line, the world’s largest ocean carrier, shook up the system for delivering freight containers from U.S. ports by requiring drayage truckers for the first time to pay rental fees for chassis, three trade groups are trying to foster an orderly transition to a new intermodal reality.

It took years for the trucking industry to get Congress to place responsibility for intermodal freight chassis road worthiness in the correct place. In 2005, legislators specified that the providers of the equipment — and not the fleets that were using them to move freight — had to ensure that the units met all safety standards.

As a new federal chassis rule is taking effect this spring, frequent errors are hurting intermodal fleets’ safety records and saddling them with violations that were supposed to be charged against chassis providers, according to industry officials.

Spot shortages of intermodal chassis are surfacing and uncertainty is building about the future chassis supply as truckers take more responsibility for the equipment that traditionally came from ocean carriers, industry officials said.

More equipment options are unfolding for truckers as they take on additional responsibility for chassis formerly supplied by ocean carriers.

Drayage carriers said they are pressing ocean cargo lines for more details about plans to make truckers responsible for supplying intermodal chassis.

Intermodal fleets expect a tough financial and operational transition period as ocean carriers move the responsibility for chassis onto carriers that make international cargo deliveries, according to several carrier officials.

The movement that is shifting chassis management responsibility to drayage carriers gathered more momentum this month, as a major lessor launched a plan aimed at fleets and the largest ocean carrier expanded a chassis rental program.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it has dropped a requirement that truckers submit a chassis condition report even if the equipment is not defective.

Two more of the world’s five largest shipping companies announced plans to gradually pull out of the U.S. chassis supply business just as new federal chassis safety rules are being implemented.